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Real‐time teledermatology clinics in a tertiary public hospital: A clinical audit
Author(s) -
Miller Bradley J,
Finnane Anna,
Vun Yin,
Halloran Sean,
Stapelberg Anesce,
Soyer H. Peter,
Caffery Liam
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
australasian journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.67
H-Index - 53
eISSN - 1440-0960
pISSN - 0004-8380
DOI - 10.1111/ajd.13322
Subject(s) - teledermatology , medicine , referral , audit , outpatient clinic , telemedicine , family medicine , metropolitan area , telehealth , rash , medical emergency , health care , dermatology , management , pathology , economics , economic growth
Background Our metropolitan hospital provides a real‐time videoconference teledermatology clinic to enable patients in rural and remote Queensland to access a specialist for dermatology care. Methods Retrospective clinical audit of all patient referrals to the videoconference teledermatology clinic for a two‐year period. Results A total of 483 consultations for 178 patients were conducted by the teledermatology clinic. Most patients were from remote and very remote regions of Queensland with a mean distance from our metropolitan hospital to the patient’s town of residence of 1295 km. The most common reason for referral, as per the referral form, was rash (32%), followed by acne (12%) and dermatitis (11%). Most (78%) referrals came from general practitioners. Around 8% of patients seen in the teledermatology clinic were converted to in‐person review; 81% of patients were managed via teledermatology, and 10% of patients did not attend the scheduled teleconsultation. Conclusion The outpatient teledermatology clinic run through the Telehealth Centre of a metropolitan hospital is an effective way of delivering a general dermatology consultation service to rural and remote patients in a timely manner.