The role of digital photography and electronic referral in the triage of patients with suspected skin cancer

Successful triage of patients referred to a skin lesion clinic using teledermoscopy (IMAGE IT trial)

“…Concordance of teledermoscopy to face-to-face diagnosis in this study was much higher than that reported in earlier trials. [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] This in part reflected the greater specificity that dermoscopy has over simple macro photography in the triage of lesions. 22,23,27 There was also good reproducibility of these data both within and between dermatologists (intraobserver and interobserver agreement) with clinical concordance being > 83% and j values > 0AE90.…”

“…Most teledermatology studies have been performed under experimental clinical settings with investigators preselecting lesions for evaluation. [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]37,41 This selection may bias the dermatologist and influence diagnosis. The use of a melanographer skilled in digital and dermoscopic imaging ensured consistently high image quality.…”

Diagnostic Value and Cost-Effectiveness of Good Quality Digital Images Accompanying Electronic Referrals for Suspected Skin Malignancies

“…Good quality digital images allow more accurate diagnosis, and therefore triaging. 3,4 To date, studies on the costeffectiveness of store-and-forward teledermatology systems have shown benefit to the patient and reduced waiting times, but not the overall cost to the hospital. [5][6][7] The aim of this study was to investigate the outcome and cost-effectiveness of good and poor quality photographs accompanying the electronic referrals for suspected skin malignancies.…”

Development of a Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer Detection Model

“…In an earlier study a triage system to identify suspicious skin lesions by a telephone screening method showed a decrease in waiting time [2]. Teledermatology has shown both an improvement of prioritization and a decrease in waiting time [3,4,5]. Attempts were made to educate the population by means of a brochure containing photographs for self-detection of melanoma.…”