A 9-Year Teledermoscopy Service in New Zealand: Retrospective Service Review

Abstract

Background: A teledermoscopy service was established in January 2010 wherein patients attended nurse-led clinics for the imaging of lesions of concern and remote diagnosis by a dermatologist. Objective: This study aims to review the number of visits, patient characteristics, the efficiency of the service, and the diagnoses made. Methods: We evaluated the waiting times and diagnoses of skin lesions for all patient visits from January 1, 2010, to May 31, 2019. The relationships between patient characteristics and the diagnosis of melanoma were specifically analyzed. Results: The teledermoscopy clinic was attended by 6479 patients for 11,005 skin lesions on 8805 occasions. Statistically significant risk factors for the diagnosis of melanoma and melanoma in situ were male sex (P