Changing paradigms in dermatology: information technology

Medicine and specifically, dermatology, is undergoing enormous changes in the way in which it is practiced. Much of this is a result of a fundamental change in the manner in which information is exchanged through information technology. With the advent of more advanced telecommunications, imaging capabilities and information transfer, the very ways in which we examine patients, develop diagnoses and plan treatments as dermatologists have changed dramatically. This chapter will briefly review the development of personal computers and the Internet, as well as changes in telecommunications capabilities and how these changes have already altered how we see patients and care for them, as well as how new advances may continue to change the world of medicine and dermatology in the near future.