The Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) recently deployed Medweb’s SmartConsult Teledermatology telemedicine application across the province of Ontario, Canada via OTN’s TeledermSF program. The area covers over 415,000 square miles which is the size of Texas and Montana combined with a population of 13.5 million residents.
With Medweb’s SmartConsult Teledermatology, referring physicians can use almost any camera to obtain images of a skin condition and then be able to forward the image along with dermatology-specific patient information for a consultation.
Medweb’s SmartConsult Teledermatology extends the expertise of limited dermatology resources to primary care providers and their patients throughout the province. In the past year, OTN has performed over 8,400 dermatology consults across 3,300 users with an average wait time of less than five days. Continued exponential growth is forecasted for the coming year.
The wait time to see a dermatologist plus the projected growth for dermatology consults are key drivers for the OTN Teledermatology initiative. The further a patient lives from a major metropolitan area, the longer the wait time. For example, patients who reside just an hour or more from Toronto can wait six to 12 months or more for a face-to-face appointment with a dermatologist.
After OTN’s TeledermSF program was implemented, the average wait time for dermatology consultations has plummeted to less than five days, In addition, the program is creating a cost-effective efficient referral process with increased collaboration between the referring physician and the specialist. It is also freeing up dermatologists’ regular office hours to see more complex patients face-to-face.
Medweb will be exhibiting their TeleDermatology solution along with all of the company’s telemedicine apps at the 2014 American Telemedicine Association Annual Meeting to be held May 18-20 in Baltimore Maryland. For more information, go to www.americantelemed.org.
For more information on Medweb’s SmartConsult Teledermatology telemedicine application, go to www.medweb.com/?q=dermatology and for information on OTN’s TeledermSF program, go to http://otn.ca/en/members/telederm.