Real‐time teledermatology clinics in a tertiary public hospital: A clinical audit

Abstract

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.

Auditing the Audits: A Systematic Review on Different Procedures in Telemedicine

“…Of this sample of the studies considered, eleven were retrospective, three prospective, and eleven were unspecified (Tables 1 and 2). All articles included different clinical diseases and medical disciplines: dermatology [23][24][25][26], sexual health [27], psychiatry [28], neurology [29,30], geriatrics [31], ophthalmology [32][33][34][35], physiology [36], orthopaedics [37][38][39], respiratory failure [40], paediatric diabetic [41], injury/illness [42], mixed [43,44], radiology [45], and atrial fibrillation [46], N.S. [47].…”

Teledermatology in the provision of biologics through COVID‐19 in a rural dermatology practice—A retrospective review

“…Dermatoses, such as infantile haemangioma or acne. [7][8][9] We advocate for ongoing investments into electronic infrastructure which can support and promote telehealth.…”

Dermatological presentations to a regional Victorian hospital emergency department: A 1‐year audit

“…Patients with dermatological conditions who live a long distance from medical facilities could also benefit from telehealth services following initial in‐person assessment. Rural telehealth services for dermatology are being increasingly trialled and utilised, the benefits of which are becoming more evident 21,22 …”

“…Rural telehealth services for dermatology are being increasingly trialled and utilised, the benefits of which are becoming more evident. 21,22 Lower acuity triage categories made up the most presentations to this regional ED. A total of 82.5% (n = 1225) ≥18 years of age and 90% (n = 350) of presentations ≤17 years of age classified as ATS 4 and 5.…”