Application of Telemedicine for Dermatological Emergency Patients (Telederm)

After admission to the emergency room each dermatological patient is routinely assessed to Manchester Triage System (MTS) by the nursing staff. Thereby data are collected for anamnesis followed by randomization in two equal study groups.

Patients of group A (control group) wait routinely until the dermatological investigator in charge arrives at the emergency room. Once the dermatological investigator is on site, he gives a diagnosis and proposes a therapy.

For Patients of group B (teledermatology) study-related photographs of the skin lesion and anamnesis data are uploaded to the hospital information system "medico". Those data can directly be processed by the dermatological investigator in charge who enters his diagnosis and his therapy proposal.

Subsequently an internal control is carried out as the same investigator comes personally to the emergency room to check its telemedical diagnosis and therapy proposal.

Finally both time periods patients have to wait in the emergency room for their diagnosis and therapy are compared with each other.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Dermatological Emergency
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: Telemedicine for dermatological emergency patients

Detailed Description

After admission to the emergency room each dermatological patient is routinely assessed to Manchester Triage System (MTS) by the nursing staff. Thereby data are collected for anamnesis (duration of symptoms, allergies, self-medication, medical history) followed by randomization in two equal study groups.

Patients of group A (control group) wait routinely until the dermatological investigator in charge arrives at the emergency room. Once the dermatological investigator is on site, he gives a diagnosis and proposes a therapy.

Time is measured from the patients admission to the emergency room up to the personnel diagnosis and therapy by the dermatological investigator in charge.

For Patients of group B (teledermatology) first of all study-related photographs of the skin lesions are taken with a tablet. After that the registration of the consult "teledermatology" is carried out by the emergency investigator in charge, who uploads the photographs as well as the data for anamnesis to the hospital information system "medico". The consult "teledermatology" can directly be processed by the dermatological investigator in charge who enters his diagnosis and his therapy proposal.

Time is measured from admission to the emergency room up to the telemedical diagnosis and therapy by the dermatological investigator in charge.

Subsequently an internal control is carried out as the same investigator comes personally to the emergency room to check its telemedical diagnosis and therapy proposal.

Finally both time measurements are compared with each other.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 100
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Germany
  • Aachen, Germany, 52074
    • Uniklinik RWTH Aachen

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male or female aged ≥ 18 years
• Written informed consent prior to study participation
• Adults who are contractually capable and mentally able to understand and follow the instructions of the study personnel.
• Dermatological emergency patient

Exclusion Criteria:

• Male or female aged < 18 years
• Missing informed consent prior to study participation
• Patient has been committed to an institution by legal or regulatory order
• Persons in dependence from the sponsor or working with the sponsor
• Participation in another clinical trial within the previous 2 months

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: A: Control group; Patients of group A wait routinely until the dermatological investigator in charge arrives at the emergency room. Once the dermatological investigator is on site, he gives a diagnosis and proposes a therapy.
Experimental: B: Telemedicine for dermatological emergency patients; For Patients of group B study-related photographs of the skin lesion and anamnesis data are uploaded to the hospital information system "medico". Those data can directly be processed by the dermatological investigator in charge who enters his diagnosis and his therapy proposal.	Procedure: Telemedicine for dermatological emergency patients; Study-related photographs of the skin lesion made by a tablet and anamnesis data are uploaded to the hospital information system "medico". Those data can directly be processed by the dermatological investigator in charge who enters his diagnosis and his therapy proposal without being on site.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Waiting time [min]	Time is measured from the patients admission to the emergency room up to the personnel/telemedical diagnosis and therapy by the dermatological investigator in charge.	1 emergency visit [approximately 2 hours]

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of differences between the personally and the telemedical diagnosis and therapy proposal	An internal control is carried out as the same investigator comes personally to the emergency room to check its telemedical diagnosis and therapy proposal.	1 emergency visit [approximately 2 hours]

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: RWTH Aachen University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Luigi Villa, Dr. med., RWTH Aachen University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Marsden J, Windle J, Mackway-Jones K. Emergency triage. Emerg Nurse. 2013 Jul;21(4):11. doi: 10.7748/en2013.07.21.4.11.s11. No abstract available.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 14, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): December 31, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 12, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 14, 2016
• First Posted (Estimate): July 19, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 31, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 28, 2018
• Last Verified: August 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Telemedicine; Patients; Emergency Room; Manchester Triage System
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Disease Attributes; Emergencies; Dermatologic Agents
• Other Study ID Numbers: 16-033

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED