Building a global teledermatology collaboration

Abstract

Skin disease is common in low-resource countries and is associated with significant morbidity. The disease burden is often heightened by lack of access to adequate diagnosis and treatment. Teledermatology is a growing healthcare delivery modality that allows access to subspecialty care at a distance. This article describes how a low-cost teledermatology program was launched through collaboration between the Medical College of Wisconsin and Hillside Healthcare International. Several factors are required for a teledermatology program to be successful, beginning with a partnership between two entities that targets a locally identified need and is mutually beneficial to invested partners. The program should utilize the expertise of each partner, be based on an agreed upon process with clearly defined objectives, and protect patient privacy. After a program is implemented, adaptation to address challenges and best meet the needs of all parties involved will allow for continued success and sustainability. This process can serve as a model for other programs desiring to establish similar teledermatology partnerships in an academic setting.

Use of Teledermatology to Improve Dermatological Access in Rural Areas

“…17 As an example, teledermatological models have been explored as a possible means of alleviating the restricted access and reduced costs to dermatologists in Australia. 18 Moreover, a practical aspect of teledermatology has been that it has had a profoundly visual facet intrinsic in its function, 19,20 which has also been inherent within the overall context of telemedicine. 21 This know-how has caused novel opportunities for employing teledermatology in resourcestricken areas.…”

International inter‐rater agreement in scoring acne severity utilizing cloud‐based image sharing of mobile phone photographs

“…Several studies have demonstrated the utility of teledermatology, or more specifically store-and-forward applications. These studies have ranged from demonstrating improved access to dermatologic care in medically underserved areas [11][12][13] to shortening consult times in inpatient settings, 14 to providing patients with direct to consumer teledermatology services. 15 Moreover, provider satisfaction has also been shown to be high using store and forward applications.…”

Long-Range Diagnosis of and Support for Skin Conditions in Field Settings

“…For the patient data to be secure, the sender and each recipient included must utilize a secure email service. Academic institutions with teledermatology links to developing countries via email platforms include Emory University to a teaching hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan [ 43 ]; the Medical College of Wisconsin to Hillside Healthcare International in Belize [ 44 ]; and the University of Basel, which is linked to several remote clinical sites globally [ 45 ].…”

“…Teledermatology methods have been utilized to extend dermatologic care to developing countries since the early 1990s. The benefits of utilizing eHealth technologies are many and reports of successful programs have been published from numerous centers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America [ 5 , 10 , 11 , 44 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 ]. The growing transition to mobile teledermatology applications is supported by reports of successful implementation including satisfactory diagnosis and management of skin disease, diagnostic concordance with traditional face to face visits, patient satisfaction and provider satisfaction [ 23 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 ].…”

“…The most important part of developing a new teledermatology initiative is a thorough local needs assessment of the area to be supported [ 12 , 44 ]. The first step in this process is evaluating the local healthcare environment.…”