Original article published by Kate McDonald on 03 June 2014 (via Pulse Magazine):
Telehealth provider GP2U has partnered with teledermatology service SkinByDerms to allow patients and GPs to securely upload clinical photos to GP2U’s platform directly from a mobile phone to be reviewed by specialist dermatologists.
While SkinByDerms also offers a bulk-billed specialist dermatology service on its platform, the new partnership allows GPs to write a referral to a dermatologist and attach clinical photos through the GP2U app. The images are also attached to the patient’s file and stored for future viewing.
The app now contains a QR code that users scan with their device to allow photo uploads. It includes a default setting that means clinical images are not saved locally but removed from the device after they are uploaded, overcoming common privacy concerns.
GP2U founder James Freeman said the new functionality would allow GPs to conduct the referral process completely online, including booking an appointment with a SkinByDerms consultant. As part of the referral process, they will also be able to add standard questionnaires to the referral, send the referral through securely and then add the clinical images using the app.
The SkinByDerms team is led by dermatologists Shobhan Manoharan and Davin Lim, and supported by their team. A SkinByDerms spokesperson said the dermatology referral process is simple and provides a number of templates covering major skin conditions. This focuses the collection of relevant information to add to photos and saves GP time.
“The GP can grab the phone, take a digital image, and send it up to the patient’s file for viewing by the dermatologist using QR code scanning,” Dr Freeman said. “When you scan the QR code, it gives you a security token and patient ID and slips straight to the application for photo uploading.”
Patients can also upload their own photos by going to the GP2U homepage and logging in, he said.
“You see a QR code at the end of the booking process,” he said. “With your smart device, you open our app, click on the barcode scanner and scan the QR code. That will take you into the photo upload widget, and you upload your picture.
“Then if you go to the main site and have a look at your file, you find that it’s there. The doctors can then open the patient account and see the picture. It’s being transferred up to the cloud quite literally off your phone, so it is secure but also useful. It’s not a stand-alone app but a quite useful part of the process.”
Patients also have secure access to their file, including notes on past appointments, any medical certificate issued and medications prescribed. Last year, GP2U launched an online medications ordering, partnering with Terry White Chemists and Priceline Pharmacy to allow patients to pre-order prescribed medicines from their chosen pharmacy or have them delivered to their home.
It has also built in WebRTC functionality to allow patients and doctors to video conference through their browsers.
Dr Freeman also plans to add some more gadgets to the app, having already added one for weight monitoring. That allows patients to add their measurements to the app, which are then securely uploaded to their file. From there, their weight is graphed over time. He also plans to add this functionality for other common measurements like blood pressure and INR.