Nordahl Larsen Rebekka, Kvorning Ternov Niels, Kidholm Kristian, Vestergaard Tine
Department of Dermatology and Allergy Centre, Odense University Hospital, Kløvervænget 15, Odense, 5000, Denmark, 45 65412705.
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
JMIR Dermatol. 2025 May 30;8:e66782. doi: 10.2196/66782.
Skin cancers are the most frequent types of cancer, and the incidence continues to rise. Teledermoscopy is a promising tool in the diagnostic process of potential skin cancer, and new technologies are constantly being developed. However, little information is available on how teledermoscopy affects physicians' time consumption.
This study aimed to investigate whether teledermoscopy can shorten the diagnostic process for physicians examining skin lesions suspected of skin cancer.
We recorded the time primary care providers, dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and pathologists spent examining lesions suspected of skin cancer, with and without teledermoscopy. Furthermore, we looked at five different diagnostic pathways, which reflected the most common ways through the Danish health care system for patients with suspected skin cancer, to estimate the total amount of time physicians spent examining these lesions with and without teledermoscopy.
A total of 118 time recordings were obtained. With teledermoscopy, the diagnostic process was significantly shortened for dermatologists (P=.008) but prolonged for primary care providers (P=.03). While the use of teledermoscopy saved time in one of the diagnostic pathways, it increased the time spent in the four others.
Our research suggests that the implementation of teledermoscopy could save time for dermatologists and potentially plastic surgeons and pathologists, provided that a sufficient number of benign skin lesions can be accurately diagnosed and excluded from further examination and treatment. In contrast, the implementation of teledermoscopy might prolong primary care providers' consultation time.
皮肤癌是最常见的癌症类型，且发病率持续上升。皮肤镜检查是潜在皮肤癌诊断过程中的一种有前景的工具，新技术也在不断发展。然而，关于皮肤镜检查如何影响医生的时间消耗，目前可用信息较少。
本研究旨在调查皮肤镜检查是否能缩短医生检查疑似皮肤癌的皮肤病变的诊断过程。
我们记录了初级保健提供者、皮肤科医生、整形外科医生和病理学家在有或没有皮肤镜检查的情况下检查疑似皮肤癌病变所花费的时间。此外，我们研究了五种不同的诊断途径，这些途径反映了丹麦医疗保健系统中疑似皮肤癌患者最常见的就诊方式，以估计医生在有或没有皮肤镜检查的情况下检查这些病变所花费的总时间。
共获得118次时间记录。使用皮肤镜检查时，皮肤科医生的诊断过程显著缩短（P = 0.008），但初级保健提供者的诊断过程延长（P = 0.03）。虽然在一种诊断途径中使用皮肤镜检查节省了时间，但在其他四种途径中却增加了时间。
我们的研究表明，皮肤镜检查的实施可能为皮肤科医生以及潜在的整形外科医生和病理学家节省时间，前提是能够准确诊断足够数量的良性皮肤病变，并将其排除在进一步检查和治疗之外。相比之下，皮肤镜检查的实施可能会延长初级保健提供者的会诊时间。
