About Cory L. Simpson, MD
Dr. Simpson is a board-certified dermatologist and Clinical Instructor at Penn Medicine. He specializes in the treatment of autoimmune blistering disease and is a member of the Teledermatology Task Force of the American Academy of Dermatology. I'm a dermatologist, so I'm not on the front lines of this pandemic. And thanks to public health measures, I may never be called to work at coronavirus drive-thru testing sites because we are flattening the curve of infections. Nevertheless, my clinic is reserved as a hospital “surge unit,” so I’ve converted to telemedicine to keep caring for patients—it’s easy to forget amidst a pandemic that other diseases persist and worsen if untreated. While many physicians have long petitioned our government to support telemedicine, a pandemic was able to do nearly overnight what years of letters to Congress failed to accomplish. Much of the red tape separating us from patients has been lifted to permit and pay for virtual visits—changes that should be permanent. However, not every dermatology visit is amenable to videochat or can be summarized in photographs. While most are familiar with less urgent diseases cared for by dermatologists, we are also consulted to help with potentially fatal drug reactions, skin blistering diseases, and rashes in the immunocompromised. Recently, I finished my turn “on call,” which means if a patient in the hospital develops a concerning rash, my inpatient colleagues can call for my advice. I had to go into the hospital to see a very ill patient and we needed a skin biopsy—you can't do that via telemedicine or from six feet away. Despite wearing a mask and taking all precautions, I still worried I might bring the virus home.
