Case Study: How Teledermatology helped a patient in Esperance
Less travel, faster access & simplified experience.
Not too long ago, a pregnant patient was referred to Teledermatologist, as their pregnancy had exacerbated a recurring skin condition. This skin condition required a dermatology specialist to oversee & define a course for treatment.
The patient lived in Esperance, Western Australia. Esperance is a small town 720 km east southeast of Perth. With an urban population of just 12,145 people, the closest Dermatologist specialist to this patient was anywhere from an 8 hour drive west, to a 23 hour drive east.
This would mean that not only would the patient need to travel a long distance to reach her specialist, but also, she would likely need to organise accommodation, along with associated costs, as well.
To make things more difficult the current waiting time to access a rural specialist is anywhere from 6 to 12 months. Time that someone in their second or third trimester does not have.
The below image is an indication of the remoteness of the Esperance community. The blue pin highlights where Esperance is located and the red pins highlight where Google was returning search results for near by “dermatologists”.
With the use of Teledermatologist, this patient had her consultation with her FACD qualified Dermatologist within just one week of the GP sending the referral.
Teledermatologist were able to help this patient by:
Providing her with access to a specialist without needing to travel & book accommodation.
Providing her with access to a specialist without needing to wait several months before they could be seen.
Providing her with simplified access to a specialist that works with her GP. The patient simply returned back to her GP’s practice for the specialist’s tele-dermatologist consultation.
Teledermatologist works with rural GPs and brings the dermatologists skills to the remote location via our telehealth platform.