Otn.teledermSF® allows doctors to securely send photographs of a patient’s skin condition and other relevant health information to an Ontario-based dermatologist. The dermatologist reviews the file and provides a diagnosis and treatment plan to the referrer. Telederm allows timely access to dermatologists, reducing the cost, inconvenience and stress of travel for patients.
OTN
OTN Teledermatology is a free service allows primary care physicians to securely send a digital photograph and brief description of patient’s skin condition to a dermatologist.
Here are five pearls to benefit most from OTN Teledermatology:
1) Ensure to provide essential OTN Teledermatology referral information:
Referring GP info: GP name, MOH/billing (not CPSO) number, phone number
Patient information: correct name, DOB, valid health card and correct version
Ideally, one issue per patient consult and avoid multiple submissions
Brief relevant history, pertinent positives and negatives
Details of drug plan: e.g. work plan or ODB
Good pictures, i.e.... | |
There has been such tremendous feedback from the Primary Care community about Telederm. I don’t have all the data back from the recent satisfaction survey, but preliminary results indicate that service is highly valued.
It is likely that your colleagues at other Family Health Teams (FHTs) would be most interested in your Telederm experience and to that end I would encourage you to submit an abstract for the 2014 Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO) Conference.
While more than 270 FHTs and 1,000+ family physicians across Ontario use the Telederm program, there are many more who still need to hear about how they can get a derm consult for their patients in 5 days... | |
After more than 11,000 dermatology consults, Otn.teledermSF received a facelift on December 20th, 2013. The user interface is quite similar to the previous version so users shouldn’t find it to be too much of an adjustment.
Here is a summary of the changes and instructions on how to use the new features. If you have any questions or comments, please contact the OTN Customer Care Centre at 1-855-654-0888.
Old version appearance
New version appearance
Highlights
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One consistent piece of advice we always hear from users of OTN services is this… “Make it simple”. Making things simple is, well, hard! For example, it would be ideal if Otn.teledermSF, OTN’s store forward dermatology program, could be integrated with EMRs so that data could automatically pre-populate the required fields. With at least 15 popular EMRs in use in the province, the task of integration is challenging (and expensive). OTN, however, is certainly looking at ways to do this.
One simplification we have been able to apply is the elimination of the need to use VPN for Telederm. Effective immediately, users of Otn.teledermSF no longer need to login via... | |
We interrupt our regularly scheduled Telederm blog for an important announcement: Otn.teledermSF is getting a facelift! Having processed over 10,000 dermatology consults, Otn.teledermSF will be upgraded to a new version (with the decidedly pragmatic name of 7.0.8) which incorporates improvements based on feedback we've received from our users.
The upgraded version will be available in December and OTN will provide lots of advance notice of the change to the new version as well as any necessary training materials.
Here are some of the new features:
Mac compatibility. Until OTN started providing Otn.teldermSF to primary care providers around the province, I did not fully appreciate just how many FPs/GPs are using Mac computers. Once... | |
Not long ago, my wife and I took a road trip to Montreal from Toronto. I take highway driving "seriously" and was very focused on the road. It was a beautiful day and we drove along watching the scenery roll by in a blissful contemplative silence…or so I thought. When we hit Kingston my wife couldn't contain herself anymore, "What’s with you?! You haven’t said a word!". Clearly we had different expectations of my driverly duties.
I have had the opportunity to speak with many of the dermatologists participating in OTN’s TeledermSF program. Trust me, I’m not suggesting that any of the derms are in anyway approaching any kind of acrimony that I managed to achieve with my driving partner.... | |
Back in 2007 OTN’s primary focus was extending telemedicine – in the form of real-time videoconferencing – beyond hospitals, but we were also examining how to expand our program offerings. “Store forward” – an application that allows information to be sent to a secure server where it can be downloaded at another time – had been used for years in the United States, in particular, at Veterans Affairs and the Alaska Federal Health Care Access Network (AFHCAN). There were also a number of papers and presentations delivered at ATA on store forward use in dermatology. OTN decided to... | |
OTN is an independent, not-for-profit
organization funded by the
Government of Ontario.