October Women's Derm Digest Editorial

 This October, we asked the members of the WDS Communications Committee to share one innovation, tool, technique, workflow, or practical insight they’ve learned or adopted this year that has improved how they support patients navigating skin-related cancer care or its dermatologic side effects. Whether it came from a WDS educational program, a colleague, or their own time in the clinic, each pearl is something you can take back to your own practice. Have one of your own? We’d love to hear it.

"Swallow the big frog first" is something I had heard in lectures years ago and this year I really tried to make it a conscious daily task. The difficult patient? Write that note first, immediately, and everything else is just easy!" - Dr. Eden Lake

 

"For patients who need to self-treat areas at home, for example field therapy with topical 5-FU/calcipotriene cream for multiple actinic keratoses, I take a picture of the areas they need to treat on their own phones and then mark them up with red circles through the Mark Up tool. That way, they have easy access to reference exactly where they need to apply the cream. This has helped my patients tremendously with both clear instructions and compliance, especially for those are elderly or have multiple areas to treat." - Dr. Jennifer Choi

 

"This year, I incorporated stabilized, professional-grade hypochlorous acid (HOCl) spray into my dermatologic surgery protocols for patients undergoing skin cancer treatment. Recognizing the importance of gentle, effective antimicrobial wound care, I now use HOCl as a preoperative skin cleanser and recommend it twice daily as a postoperative wound cleanser until the wound heals. This simple addition has helped streamline postoperative care while supporting a clean wound environment, minimizing irritation, and promoting healing." - Dr. Marianna Blyumin-Karasik

 

"This year our practice has incorporated Forus (formerly Tandem) to assist with prior authorizations, appeals and enrollment into patients assistance/bridge programs. We’ll even have the clinical staff add it to the pharmacy list with the intake of a patient with eczema or psoriasis to facilitate sending prescriptions through the AI-powered platform. While it’s not perfect, it’s certainly off-loaded busy work for our prior authorizations coordinator so she can do the tasks that only she can do." - Dr. Molly Stout

 

"This year, I’ve begun incorporating vascular lasers and erbium and CO₂ laser treatments to improve scar appearance following Mohs surgery. This approach has made a noticeable positive impact on patient satisfaction, particularly among those who have undergone multiple skin cancer surgeries. It has reinforced the importance of addressing not only successful tumor clearance but also cosmetic outcomes and quality of life as integral parts of comprehensive skin cancer care." - Dr. Nicole Salame

"I can now source Biafine through Ortho Dermatologics and so I dispense this in my practice and encourage patients who are going to be undergoing radiation to start using this before treatment and to continue through treatment to minimize radiation dermatitis and soothe their skin." – Dr. Noëlle Sherber