Funder: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Australian Government
The Australasian College of Dermatologists received federal government funding to improve the distribution and supply of specialist medical training in regional, rural and remote areas of Australia. COH was commissioned to carry out two studies as part of this project:
Study 1: A better understanding of teledermatology in Australia
This study aims to understand how teledermatology is being used and apply this information to optimise and maximise national supervisory capacity and efficiency. COH is identifying teledermatology services (both public and private) in Australia and recruiting representatives to participate in interviews. The work involves looking at different models-of-care as well as barriers and enablers of identified services.
Literature reviews will also used to identify and describe different telehealth models of care for dermatology published internationally in peer-reviewed journals, and a realist synthesis will summarise what factors were found to support a successful teledermatology service.
Study 2: Implementing a teledermatology platform for FATES
This study investigates teledermatology platforms that can be used to support remote supervision of trainees, including a literature review and a market scan.
Key topics being looked at are use cases, workflows, architecture, data governance, patient privacy, and patient identification. A market scan of teledermatology platforms currently available in Australia is being undertaken to ascertain the most appropriate platform for training and supervision requirements; and to identify any limitation in teledermatology platforms. This involves identifying suitable vendors, inviting them to participate, and undertaking interviews and surveys.
