Teledermatology in an emergency department: benefits and gaps

BMC Emergency Medicine

Research

Adinia Santosa¹  Nisha Suyien Chandran²  Zisheng Li³ 

[1]Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, 5 Lower Kent Ridge Road, 119074, Singapore, Singapore

[2]Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, 5 Lower Kent Ridge Road, 119074, Singapore, Singapore

[3]Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

[4]Emergency Medicine Department, National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore

[5]Department of Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

关键词: Telemedicine;    Health resources;    Emergency Medicine;    Dermatology;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12873-023-00854-2

 received in 2022-11-26, accepted in 2023-07-21,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundTeledermatology has provided new avenues through which dermatologists can provide healthcare. Teledermatology was introduced to the Emergency Department (ED) to enable immediate dermatological consult. We aimed to assess the impact of teledermatology on the management of dermatological conditions by emergency medicine physicians and subsequent health resource utilization.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective review of teledermatology referrals from the ED of our tertiary hospital in Singapore from June 2015 to December 2019. The dermatological conditions, the triaging and treatment recommendations were analyzed. Follow-up plans were recorded.ResultsBetween June 2015 and December 2019, 147 patients were referred from the ED via teledermatology; 11 (7.5%) were admitted, and 136 (92.5%) were recommended to be discharged with a dermatological diagnosis and management plan. If required, a follow-up appointment in the dermatology specialist clinic was arranged. Of the 136 patients who were discharged, 129 (94.9%) patients were provided with outpatient appointment in the dermatology clinic, out of which 110 patients returned for follow-up. 90 (81.8%) patients retained the initial teledermatology diagnoses and 20 (18.2%) patients had their teledermatology diagnoses revised after in-person review.ConclusionsTeledermatology allows for more efficient triaging of patients with dermatological conditions. Reliability between teledermatology and clinic-based examination is good. Patients may be managed mainly in the outpatient setting with appropriate specialty-directed treatment, return advice, and appropriately-triaged follow-up outpatient appointment.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023