title: Telehealth: the specialist perspective.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tele-Derm National is an online consultation and educational service in dermatology designed to meet the needs of doctors working in rural and remote Australia. In existence since 2003, it is hosted on the Rural and Remote Medical Education Online site, which is run by the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This article aims to explore the use and potential of store-and-forward teledermatology in the Australian context.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Doctors who use this service can manage the majority of their patients without the need for a face-to-face appointment with a specialist dermatologist and deliver similar outcomes. Using store-and-forward technology rather than videoconferencing, this site provides specialist diagnosis and management advice year round. All cases are answered within 24 hours of being submitted. There are benefits in terms of increased availability, as well as reduced time, cost and professional isolation. However, uptake remains low, potentially because of a lack of awareness, increased workload for referring practitioners and lack of financial incentives.
authors.affiliation: MBBS FACD FACRRM (Hon), Director of the Department of Dermatology, Mater Misericordiae Hospital, South Brisbane, and Dermatologist, Telederm National, QLD.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Muir
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D003880:Dermatology / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012424:Rural Population; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods*