Application of Telemedicine for Dermatological Emergency Patients

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.