WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zest Health, the leader in value-based care for inflammatory skin diseases, today announced results from a new quality-of-life improvement study demonstrating that its virtual dermatology program delivered significant, sustained quality-of-life improvements among patients with eczema and psoriasis. The findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Dermatology Practical & Conceptual (DOI: 10.5826/dpc.1603a7607) in partnership with the Arash Mostaghimi Lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Living with a chronic skin condition like eczema or psoriasis often extends far beyond the visible symptoms, with patients routinely suffering from physical discomfort, diminished productivity, and the emotional toll of managing a visible and unpredictable disease. For many sufferers, the long wait times and infrequent touchpoints of traditional dermatology care cannot keep pace with disease progression.

The analysis followed 329 patients with eczema and/or psoriasis who received rapid, multimodal access to dermatologic care through Zest Health’s virtual platform, which leverages technology for frequent multi-touchpoint care for patients. This care included synchronous video and audio visits, asynchronous messaging, disease-trigger identification, lifestyle interventions, and ongoing treatment adjustments.

Key findings:

  • Patients began the program with an average Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) of 11.6, representing substantial quality-of-life impairment. By final assessment, the average DLQI had dropped to 4.0, a 65% reduction in disease impact.
  • The share of patients with severe quality-of-life impairments dropped from 51% to 12% over the course of treatment.
  • More than a third of patients (35.6%) achieved a clinically meaningful improvement in quality of life within the first 12 weeks of care, with more than two-thirds (66.3%) reaching the same by their final follow-up.
  • Improvements were consistent across all three DLQI domains (symptoms, daily impact, and disease burden) and were comparable between patients with eczema and those with psoriasis.

“We tracked quality of life alongside clinical management because it reflects how patients are actually experiencing their condition day-to-day,” said Rachel Day, MD, FAAD, Chief Medical Officer at Zest Health and an author of the study. “Virtual care models make it possible to provide consistent, low-intensity monitoring on the patient’s schedule, rather than limiting care to pre-scheduled in-person visits. Seeing DLQI improve within the first few months of care and remain better over time is exactly the kind of impact we hope to have for people living with inflammatory skin disease.”

Quality of life and its impact on the cost of care

The study tracked patients’ quality of life using the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), a validated patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) used globally in dermatology. The DLQI measures the functional impact of disease on patients, including itch, and effects on daily activities, work, and relationships.

While the DLQI is the most validated tool for measuring skin disease burden, a 2025 systematic review found that it is used inconsistently in routine clinical practice. That gap is consistent with the incentive structure in traditional dermatology care, where fee-for-service reimbursement emphasizes treatment volume over outcomes. In this model, without incentive for multiple clinical touchpoints, the opportunity to reassess the state of the disease and the patient’s quality of life is lost. Ultimately, patients perceive lifetime reliance on biologics to be the only way to maintain stable skin—a costly link.

This has led to a sharp escalation in the economic burden associated with the use of biologics to treat psoriasis and eczema. A study published in JAMA Dermatology found that the average annual net cost of a first-line psoriasis biologic more than doubled between 2007 and 2021 to $47,125. Similarly, a 2026 study in Dermatology and Therapy found that as eczema symptoms worsen, so do pharmacy spending and outpatient costs. Further, Navitus’s 2025 Drug Trend Report found that overall specialty dermatology drug costs were up 30% from 2024 to 2025 and were forecasted to further accelerate, fueled in part by new immunology agents for conditions like psoriasis and eczema.

Patients with the most severe cases also lean more heavily on acute care. Research published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology found that these patients were substantially more likely to need an urgent care visit, an ED visit, or a hospitalization for their condition.

“Symptom severity is inextricably linked with utilization and the cost of care in dermatology,” said Olivia Deitcher, founder and CEO of Zest Health. “This data shows Zest’s model of continuous monitoring paired with personalized treatment adjustments can quickly produce meaningful improvements in quality of life, opening a path to revisiting treatments and avoiding costly escalations in care. For payers and employers evaluating this model, that reduction in economic burden is a meaningful data point alongside the clinical results.”

The Zest Health model uses frequent virtual visits with its clinical team and a whole-body care protocol to provide greater visibility into a patient’s progress for rapid flare response, ongoing personalized prescription medication adjustments, and step-downs in treatment when appropriate.

About Zest Health
Zest Health is a value-based, virtual dermatology solution for patients with chronic inflammatory skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. Zest’s expert dermatology clinicians meet members with convenient, next-day appointments for personalized, high-touch care. As part of its remission-centered approach, Zest partners with health plans and employers to proactively right-size what is one of the fastest-growing categories of specialty drug spend, improving patient outcomes and lowering pharmacy costs. Zest partners with national health plans and employers of all sizes across Commercial, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and Marketplace lines of business. Currently, Zest has access to over 20M lives and is available nationally. For additional information, please visit www.zesthealth.com.

PRESS CONTACT:

Stephanie Hicks
Cosmo PR
stephanie@cosmo-pr.com


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