Transcript
When we talk about treatment plans for managing atopic dermatitis, for me, first and foremost, I think the most important thing, in addition to managing the condition and the associated comorbidities, is actually developing an actual written treatment plan.
We have preprinted treatment plans, but I think the most important thing we do, and what we do as part of our shared decision-making, is our team writes down, one by one, the treatment protocol. And that's going to be inclusive of what may be occurring in that background.
So, for instance, if I'm talking about improvement of skin infections, decreasing that Staph aureus burden, and treating the patient perhaps not only with emollients and some form of a topical anti-inflammatory, which is a corticosteroid, or whether it's one of our newer generation nonsteroidals, like topical Janus kinase inhibitors or topical PDE4 inhibitors, and most important with our systemic biologic therapies that we have in our toolbox, I think it's very critical to write down a bulleted treatment plan.
So patients themselves, or if it's children, the parents, know that order in which to manage not only the condition, but potentially, in improving the itch, understanding the management of those background comorbidities.
Now, some of the treatment plan might include, especially for our adolescents and even our adults, as part of that treatment plan and that written treatment plan as a reminder, to consider counseling, to make sure that there's a coordination of mental health care, because these patients are uncomfortable. They're in pain. They're itchy. They can't sleep.
