Teledermatology in the US military: a historic foundation for current and future applications.

Historically, the US military has utilized centralized store-and-forward (S&F) telemedicine programs for health care providers in remote locations worldwide. In the civilian community, new methods and platforms for teledermatology have been created based largely on those used by the military to maximize access to and the efficiency of health care, including secure direct-to-consumer (DTC) mobile applications for patients, live interactive methods, and integrated S&F platforms for dermatology services within electronic health record (EHR) systems. By incorporating similar innovative teledermatology methods and platforms, the US military health care system may benefit from increased accessibility and productivity.