Using the Dermicus teledermatology platform in primary care for early diagnosis of skin cancer has been highlighted in an independent evaluation report by the Wessex Academic Health Science Network (WAHSN) Primary Care workstream.
Publish date:2022-02-08–Text:
Emma Hallenberg
Dermicus is a specialised teledermatology platform delivered by Gnosco, a successful healthtech company within Sahlgrenska Science parks Accelerator. Dermicus is flexible and can be set up for skincancer diagnoses, dermatology, wound management or as a secure medical photo sharing and consultation service.
A sunny climate and an aging population on the Isle of Wight make it one of the highest incidences of skin cancers in England, especially in skin lesions. Dermicus was selected as the teledermatology platform for the Isle of Wight via the WAHSN Innovation Surgery and forms a part of the Primary Care Demonstrator Site Programme.
Deployment of Dermicus at the Isle of Wight started in june 2019, and the Wessex AHSN was asked to conduct a real-world evaluation of the implementation of Dermicus primary care in the Island – particularly its impact on patient and clinician experience, any efficiencies generated, impacts on clinicians’ medical education related to skin cancer and the scope of its use.
This final report shows that Dermicus has reduced waiting times from 26 to 0.6 days, and if the expected 600 dermatology referrals were to be accessed through the platform, there would be annual savings of between £14,000 and £23,000. In addition to this it showed that the patients had an increased accessibility and got equal treatment.
