Trial reportBMC health services research2024
Early diagnosis of melanoma: a randomized trial assessing the impact of the transmission of photographs taken with a smartphone from the general practitioner to the dermatologist on the time to dermatological consultation.
Trial report in BMC health services research, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03137511 (Optimizing Access to Care Through New Technologies), which is not on this map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Optimizing Access to Care Through New Technologies: a Randomized Study Evaluating the Impact of Telephone Contact and the Sending by the General Practitioner of Suspicious Lesions Melanoma Photographs Taken With a Smartphone, on the Time Limit to the Consultation With a Dermatologist
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Identification of Dermatological Conditions Manageable in Primary Care: A Multidisciplinary Consensus Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Teledermoscopy-Assisted Referral for Cutaneous Melanoma: Diagnostic Timeliness, Histopathologic Severity, and Stage at Excision in a Comparative Cohort.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Teledermatology and Teledermoscopy for Melanoma Care Pathways: Timeliness, Diagnostic Performance, and Stage at Diagnosis: A Systematic Review.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Teledermatology vs. Face-to-Face Dermatology for the Diagnosis of Melanoma: A Systematic Review.Cancers · 2025Review
- Improving Melanoma Screening in Primary Care: The Experience of the Association of French General Practitioners Practicing Dermoscopy.Dermatology practical & conceptual · 2025Article
- The impact of tele-expertise in oncology: current state and future perspectives.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
- Increased use of Dermoscopy in Primary Healthcare Following the Implementation of Teledermatology in Southeast Sweden: A Retrospective Cohort Study of 2,137 Patients.Acta dermato-venereologica · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDifficulty obtaining a dermatological consultation is an obstacle to the early diagnosis of melanoma. On the one hand, patients survival depends on the lesion thickness at the time of diagnosis. On the other hand, dermatologists treat many patients with benign lesions. Optimizing patient care pathways is a major concern. The aim of the present study was to assess whether the e-mail transmission of photographs of suspected melanoma lesions between general practitioners (GPs) and dermatologists reduces the time to dermatological consultation for patients whose suspicious skin lesions ultimately require resection.
methodsWe conducted a cluster-randomized controlled study in primary care involving 51 French GPs between April 2017 and August 2019. A total of 250 patients referred to a dermatologist for a suspected melanoma lesion were included GPs were randomized to either the smartphone arm or the usual care arm. In the smartphone arm, the GPs referred patients to the dermatologist by sending 2 photographs of the suspicious lesion using their smartphone. The dermatologist then had to set up an appointment at an appropriate time. In the usual care arm, GPs referred patients to a dermatologist according to their usual practice. The primary outcome was the time to dermatological consultation for patients whose lesion ultimately required resection.
results57 GPs volunteered were randomized (27 to the smartphone arm, and 30 to the usual care arm). A total of 125 patients were included in each arm (mean age: 49.8 years; 53% women) and followed 8 months. Twenty-three dermatologists participated in the study. The time to dermatological consultation for patients whose suspicious skin lesion required resection was 56.5 days in the smartphone arm and 63.7 days in the usual care arm (mean adjusted time reduction: -18.5 days, 95% CI [-74.1;23.5], p = .53).
conclusionsThe e-mail transmission of photographs from GPs to dermatologists did not improve the dermatological management of patients whose suspicious skin lesions ultimately required resection. Further research is needed to validate quality criteria that might be useful for tele-expertise in dermatology.
trial registrationRegistered on ClinicalTrials.gov under reference number NCT03137511 (May 2, 2017).
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