Use of the mobile phone multimedia messaging service for teledermatology.
We examined the feasibility of using mobile phone Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) to send teledermatology referrals from a general practitioner to a dermatologist. Digital photographs of skin conditions in 40 consecutive patients were sent together with relevant clinical information to dermatologists at a university hospital. Two dermatologists separately assessed the MMS referrals. The suspected diagnosis, triage and management decisions were compared to those given after separate face-to-face (FTF) visits, and again after agreeing on a final clinical and/or histopathological diagnosis. Thirty-two patients (80%) were diagnosed with skin tumours and 8 patients (20%) with other skin conditions. Both dermatologists were able to make a correct diagnosis in 31 patients (78%) based solely on the MMS referral. They also provided adequate management recommendations for 98% of the patients. Adequate triage decisions after assessment of the MMS referrals were made for 34 (85%) and 38 (95%) patients by the two dermatologists. There was an inter-observer concordance of 68% for the teledermatology diagnosis, compared to 88% concordance after the separate FTF visits. The diagnostic accuracy and adequacy of the triage and management decisions achieved using MMS referrals were similar to those obtained with other store-and-forward teledermatology methods.
Department of Orthopaedics, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, 413 45 Gothenburg, Sweden. alexander.borve@vgregion.se
Alexander
A
Börve
Anna
A
Holst
Anette
A
Gente-Lidholm
Raquel
R
Molina-Martinez
John
J
Paoli
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D040421:Cell Phone; D003880:Dermatology / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D003951:Diagnostic Errors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019212:Multimedia; D015588:Observer Variation; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D055815:Young Adult