Telemedicine in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications in Facial Plastic Surgery

The global COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprece-dented restraints on resource allocation and patient care. The rapidity with which the pandemic has spread has resulted in the depletion of hospital resources and increased health expenditures. 1 Additionally, the risk of occupational exposure for health care providers poses a significant barrier to the delivery of timely and effective patient care. Otolaryngologists, including facial plastic surgeons, are particularly at risk given the increased viral load within the upper aerodigestive tract and the aerosol-generating procedures performed. 2 Many medical organizations have responded by deferring elective cases and ceasing of nonessential services. Various evidence-based guidelines have been published regarding practice modifications during this time of pandemic, and the literature is continually evolving. 3 However, little is known regarding the length of time for which these pre-cautions may be implemented. Physicians are therefore faced with the difficulty of complying with new regulatory restrictions while attempting to provide patient care. While it to mitigate and further this safe patient care must continue to be prioritized. This is difficult in the outpatient facial plastic surgery setting in which in-person evaluation is often instrumental in management. In light of alternative approaches toward care be employed. Telemedicine, the services the use of communication effectively refer to transfer of static images or video between patients and via facilitate correspondence in become progressively feasible with the corresponding in availability of smartphones, webcam-enabled personal and high speed