What's New In Digital Health

As teledermatology services have gained popularity in recent years, so has the software's benefits. Built on a foundation of streamlining care and increased accessibility, teledermoscopy services such as DermEngine have become a popular example of a service designed to alleviate some of the many pressures found in the dermoscopy industry (such as dermatologist shortages and long patient wait times). 

Reduced Costs
One of the largest benefits of teledermoscopy services (in addition to allowing for potentially life-saving care) is its cost efficiencies. For example, the retrospective analysis of Dutch primary care teledermoscopy data from 2009 to 2020 demonstrated a notable decrease in patient referrals to dermatologists, with GPs referring 68.0% fewer patients when teledermoscopy was available. This reduction resulted in an estimated cost savings of €144.18 ($164.65) per patient or a 50.2% cost reduction per teledermoscopy consultation.¹ By effectively managing more cases within primary care through teledermoscopy, healthcare providers can optimize resource utilization and lower the costs of patient care.

Saves Time

Another beneficial factor of teledermatology platforms is their ability to save time for medical experts and patients alike. A study conducted in Cordoba, Spain, between January 2017 and April 2019, demonstrated that teledermoscopy led to a 58% reduction in referrals to dermatology specialists.² This reduction in referrals resulted in substantial time savings, including 550 working hours that would have otherwise been spent on patient transfers and consultations. If teledermatology were more widely implemented, providers could potentially see more patients in less time compared to traditional methods. While in-person visits often involve several hours, including wait times, teledermoscopy and its associated processes—such as submission, retrieval, and decision-making—can be completed in an average of just 5.4 minutes, as reported by one performance analysis of 18,738 consultations.³

Increases Patient Engagement

A third and final benefit of teledermoscopy services that is often overlooked is its ability to keep patients engaged in their skin health plan. By equipping patients with user-friendly mobile dermoscopes such as MoleScope they are empowered to take skin imaging into their own hands. By using the free associated app users can run guided monthly skin checks, ABCD tests, and send the images to a dermatologist in their area (if available) for a quick review. In doing so, patients learn to recognize the signs of skin cancer and become actively involved in maintaining their skin health and ensuring that any suspicious moles are send for feedback immediately and securely for optimized care.

Conclusion
By offering a wide variety of benefits including cost efficiency, streamlined workflows and increased patient engagement teledermoscopy is quickly becoming the new standard of care in advanced dermatology services. As a result, patients receive faster care with greater chances for early detection while dermatologists are empowered to focus on a wider number of cases and reduce unnecessary visits.

-The MetaOptima Team