Application of Telemedicine for Dermatological Emergency Patients

Overview

After admission to the emergency room each dermatological patient is routinely assessed to Manchester Triage System (MTS) by the nursing staff. Thereby data are collected for anamnesis followed by randomization in two equal study groups. Patients of group A (control group) wait routinely until the dermatological investigator in charge arrives at the emergency room. Once the dermatological investigator is on site, he gives a diagnosis and proposes a therapy. For Patients of group B (teledermatology) study-related photographs of the skin lesion and anamnesis data are uploaded to the hospital information system "medico". Those data can directly be processed by the dermatological investigator in charge who enters his diagnosis and his therapy proposal. Subsequently an internal control is carried out as the same investigator comes personally to the emergency room to check its telemedical diagnosis and therapy proposal. Finally both time periods patients have to wait in the emergency room for their diagnosis and therapy are compared with each other.

After admission to the emergency room each dermatological patient is routinely assessed to Manchester Triage System (MTS) by the nursing staff. Thereby data are collected for anamnesis (duration of symptoms, allergies, self-medication, medical history) followed by randomization in two equal study groups. Patients of group A (control group) wait routinely until the dermatological investigator in charge arrives at the emergency room. Once the dermatological investigator is on site, he gives a diagnosis and proposes a therapy. Time is measured from the patients admission to the emergency room up to the personnel diagnosis and therapy by the dermatological investigator in charge. For Patients of group B (teledermatology) first of all study-related photographs of the skin lesions are taken with a tablet. After that the registration of the consult "teledermatology" is carried out by the emergency investigator in charge, who uploads the photographs as well as the data for anamnesis to the hospital information system "medico". The consult "teledermatology" can directly be processed by the dermatological investigator in charge who enters his diagnosis and his therapy proposal. Time is measured from admission to the emergency room up to the telemedical diagnosis and therapy by the dermatological investigator in charge. Subsequently an internal control is carried out as the same investigator comes personally to the emergency room to check its telemedical diagnosis and therapy proposal. Finally both time measurements are compared with each other.