TELEDERMATOLOGY - HIGH-TECHNOLOGY OR NOT

As an alternative to attending a conventional dermatology clinic, pati ents had a high-resolution conventional photographic image taken by a professional medical photographer. The photographic images were viewed by a dermatologist together with referral details from the general pr actitioner and any other relevant information from the patient's notes . From the images, a dermatological diagnosis was derived and a manage ment plan for each patient instituted. After treatment, histological a ssessment of the tumours allowed diagnostic accuracy to be determined. The preliminary diagnostic accuracy (71%) was greater than that of th e referring general practitioners (49%). However, when the diagnostic ability of the method to detect the nature of malignant lesions was ex amined, telemedicine was able to detect malignancies in 94% of cases c ompared with only 70% detected by general practitioners. The results o f the present study indicate that teledermatology is achievable using a low-technology, low-cost approach.