Mobile app dermatologist diagnosed by mobile phone

Cell phone app can spare a visit to the dermatologist?

02/21/2014

Patients usually have to take long waiting periods to get an appointment with the dermatologist. A new mobile app will help in the future. A photo taken of the skin problems with the mobile phone is then forwarded to a dermatologist via the app. The expert also gives a recommendation for action at the latest after two days via the app. Among medics, however, the offer is controversial. Many consider the mobile app especially for profiteering, because patients have to pay for their requests.

Mobile App should give recommendations for skin problems
When the skin starts to itch suddenly and a red rash becomes noticeable, most of the time you only have to go to the dermatologist. Then it's time to wait in the crowded waiting room. In many practices, the waiting time for an appointment is often several months. Simon Bolz and Simon Lorenz believe to have found a solution to the problem. The social scientist and the health manager, together with specialist Johannes Ring from the Technical University of Munich, have developed a mobile app that will enable faster access to skin medical recommendations. With „Goderma“ Patients can take pictures of their skin problems and send them to a dermatologist. He examines the photo and sends back a response with a recommendation for action within two days. For the advice seeker must pay 29 euros.

Many doctors are skeptical about mobile phone app for inquiries with the dermatologist
The technical implementation is straightforward. However, legally speaking, telemedicine is not easily enforceable in Germany. Thus, professional associations and medical associations are very skeptical. „Professionally, this is not allowed because there is a long-distance treatment ban for doctors, "says Sascha Rudat, spokesman for the Berlin Medical Association, to the news agency „dpa“ to consider. The quality of the photos and the data security could lead to problems. In addition, the expert sees little benefit for the patients through the mobile app. „If the advice is: Go to a dermatologist - what will that mean? "It will now be checked which doctors in Berlin work with the company. „We'll knock on their fingers, "warns Rudat.

Other experts are also skeptical. „This is a courageous undertaking, but a new and unknown medical and legal territory, "explains Klaus Strömer, President of the German Dermatologists' Association, to the news agency:" The colleagues who participated in the project so far are serious colleagues, yet the professional society remains critical. The participating doctors have yet to face a statement before the professional association Strömer hopes that they „In addition, the expert can hardly imagine how diagnoses are made by photo. „I can not ask a patient about their history, "says Strömer, adding that he does not want to leave patients alone with a suspected diagnosis, for example, of a malignant skin disease.

Health apps are already established in many countries
The two company founders still want to enforce the mobile app. They indicate numerous benefits for the patients. This would avoid long waiting times at the dermatologist and mild complaints could be differentiated beforehand from more serious ailments. „If you have an athlete's foot, you do not have to be a dermatologist, "explains Bolz to the news agency, but in the case of shingles, which must be treated urgently, the app is not an alternative to a dermatologist's examination, as it offers only a first orientation for those seeking advice.

The German Society for Telemedicine is facing the mobile app of the Berlin open. „We see many health apps as critical, because there is no medical expertise behind them, "explains spokesman Wolfgang Loos to the news agency. „But as long as doctors are involved, that can not be challenged. "But these services would always have to be paid for themselves.Whether the German Fernbehandlungsverbot in the Musterberufsordnung for doctors is still timely, Loos would probably with „No“ answer. Even the health insurance companies would eventually offer telephone emergency services. In Scandinavia, the US and France, e-heath strategies have been part of everyday life for some time.

In Germany, telemedicine is limited to a few fields of application
Many physicians and health experts are shying away from an expansion of telemedicine in Germany. Currently, clinics use the technology to better monitor heart disease and diabetics. Telemedicine has been used in South Brandenburg since 2010. Bernd Richter, dermatologist in Bad Liebenwerda, for example, is contacted by general practitioners via a secure network, if they need an assessment of the specialist. Often a photo of the skin problem is already attached. If Richter comes to the conclusion that it may be skin cancer, the affected patient immediately receives an appointment in his office. „Otherwise, there will be a wait of up to half a year, "Richter told the news agency „Goderma“ The dermatologist would not support. „I need my light magnifier. And I have to touch the skin. For all else, I would have stomach ache. "

Nevertheless, he would welcome a meaningful expansion of telemedicine. So doctors could skype with colleagues and patients. Also clinicians, surgeons and other specialists could be involved. That would be possible in nursing homes. „We have paths for patients here for so long. That could make their life much easier, "says Richter.

In Germany, however, there are further difficulties besides the legal problems of remote diagnostics. In many parts of Germany, there is no fast internet connection, which is a basic prerequisite for telemedicine. Especially in rural areas, the speed is too slow to make diagnoses consistently and reliably. (Ag)