We undertook a retrospective comparison of two teledermatology pathways that provide diagnostic and management advice for suspected skin cancers, to evaluate the time from referral to diagnosis and its concordance with histology. Primary Care doctors could refer patients to either the Virtual Lesion Clinic (VLC), a nurse-led community teledermoscopy clinic or, more recently, to the Suspected Skin Cancer (SSC) pathway, which requires them to attach regional, close-up, and dermoscopic images. The primary objective of this study was to determine the comparative time course between the SSC pathway and VLC. Secondary objectives included comparative diagnostic concordance, skin lesion classification, and evaluation of missed skin lesions during subsequent follow-up. VLC referrals from July to December 2016 and 2020 were compared to SSC referrals from July to December 2020. 408 patients with 682 lesions in the VLC cohort were compared with 480 patients with 548 lesions from the 2020 SSC cohort, matched for age, sex, and ethnicity, including histology where available. Median time (SD) from referral to receipt of teledermatology advice was four (2.8) days and 50 (43.0) days for the SSC and VLC cohorts, respectively (p < 0.001). Diagnostic concordance between teledermatologist and histopathologist for benign versus malignant lesions was 70% for 114 lesions in the SSC cohort, comparable to the VLC cohort (71% of 122 lesions). Referrals from primary care, where skin lesions were imaged with variable devices and quality resulted in faster specialist advice with similar diagnostic performance compared to high-quality imaging at nurse-led specialist dermoscopy clinics.

Background The role of teledermatology for skin lesion assessment has been a recent development, particularly, since the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the ability to assess patients in person. The growing number of studies relating to this area reflects the evolving interest. Objective This literature review aims to analyze the available research on store-and-forward teledermatology for skin lesion assessment. Methods MEDLINE was searched for papers from January 2010 to November 2021. Papers were searched for assessment of time management, effectiveness, and image quality. Results The reported effectiveness of store-and-forward teledermatology for skin lesion assessment produces heterogeneous results likely due to significant procedure variations. Most studies show high accuracy and diagnostic concordance of teledermatology compared to in-person dermatologist assessment and histopathology. This is improved through the use of teledermoscopy. Most literature shows that teledermatology reduces time to advice and definitive treatment compared to outpatient clinic assessment. Conclusions Overall, teledermatology offers a comparable standard of effectiveness to in-person assessment. It can save significant time in expediting advice and management. Image quality and inclusion of dermoscopy have a considerable bearing on the overall effectiveness.

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BACKGROUND The role of teledermatology for skin lesion assessment has been a recent development, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the ability to assess patients in person. The growing number of studies relating to this area reflects the evolving interest. OBJECTIVE The objective of this literature review is to analyse the available research on store-and-forward teledermatology for skin lesion assessment. METHODS MEDLINE was searched for articles from 2010 up to November 2021. Articles were searched for relevance to the following areas: time management, effectiveness, reception amongst patients and healthcare professionals, image quality, equity of services, education potential, fiscal measures, and medicolegal issues. RESULTS The reported effectiveness of store-and-forward teledermatology for skin lesion assessment produces heterogeneous results, likely due to large variations in procedures. Most studies show high accuracy and diagnostic concordance of teledermatology compared to in-person dermatologist assessment and histopathology. This is improved through the use of teledermoscopy. Most literature shows improvement in time to advice and definitive treatment when utilising teledermatology. The main limitation relates to incidental skin lesions which are not able to be assessed by teledermatology. CONCLUSIONS Overall teledermatology offers a comparable standard of effectiveness to in-person assessment. It can save significant time in expediting advice and management. The significant number of incidental skin lesions in high-risk groups means it cannot completely substitute for an in-person assessment. The wide variation in the structure of local health systems and funding between countries and even within them means that the generalisability of teledermatology pathways described in research is difficult to predict.

Background The suspected skin cancer electronic referral pathway was introduced in 2017. It requires general practitioners to add regional, close-up, and dermoscopic images to a lesion-specific referral template for a teledermatologist to review and advise on management. The virtual lesion clinic is a nurse-led clinic used since 2010 to obtain high-quality images for teledermoscopy assessment. A limitation of both services is the absence of a full-body examination. Objective This study aims to evaluate the number of skin cancers missed during teledermatology assessment. Methods This is a retrospective review of skin lesion referrals to dermatology. Suspected skin cancer referrals made in the latter half of 2020 were compared with referrals to the virtual lesion clinic during a similar time period in 2016. Results The study included 481 patients with 548 lesions in the 2020 suspected skin cancer cohort that were matched for age, sex, and ethnicity to 400 patients with 682 lesions in the 2016 virtual lesion clinic cohort. A total of 41 patients underwent subsequent specialist review in the suspected skin cancer cohort compared to 91 in the virtual lesion clinic cohort. A total of 20% of the suspected skin cancer cohort and 24% of the virtual lesion clinic cohort were found to have at least one additional lesion of concern. The majority of these were keratinocytic skin cancers; there were 2 and 0 additional melanomas or melanoma-in-situ, respectively. The virtual lesion clinic nurses identified additional lesions for imaging in 78 of 400 (20%) patients assessed in the virtual lesion clinic. The teledermatologist determined (author AO) that 73% of these additional lesions were malignant. Of the 548 lesions, 10 (2%) in the suspected skin cancer group were rereferred, none of which had a change in diagnosis. Out of 682 lesions, 16 (2%) in the virtual lesion clinic cohort were rereferred, 6 (1%) of which had a change in diagnosis. Conclusions Patients diagnosed with skin cancer often have multiple lesions of concern. Single-lesion teledermoscopy diagnoses have high concordance with in-person evaluation and histology; however, we have shown that in-person examination may reveal other suspicious lesions. The importance of a full-body skin examination should be emphasized to the referrer. Acknowledgments The Waikato Medical Research Foundation provided financial support for the study. Conflicts of Interest None declared.