Pediatric Teledermatology: Improving Access in an Academic Children’s Hospital

Vulnerable populations often struggle to receive quality care, whether because of barriers to treatment such as travel, cost, limited mobility, or lack of a quality support system. Those patients with chronic conditions suffer immensely from sporadic care, which will result in costly care episodes in urgent care or the ER.

The Challenge: Facilitating healthcare for the 72% of Kenyans who live outside of urban areas and face long journeys to seek care in a health system that’s already buckling from overcrowded hospitals and healthcare worker scarcity.

University of Utah Health (UUH) is the Mountain West’s only academic healthcare system, serving patients in predominantly rural settings in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, western Colorado, and much of Nevada. UUH encompasses five hospitals, 12 community care centers, 6 schools and colleges, a health plan covering 190k people, the UU Medical Group, numerous institutes and centers, and one of the United States’ largest reference labs. With such a broad and deep reach, UUH trains most of Utah’s clinicians – physicians, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, and other healthcare professionals. This is UUH’s story.