Case Study: How Teledermatologist helped little Lachy in Mount Gambier

Technology is at its best when it bridges the gaps that geography creates, and few gaps matter more than access to specialist medical care for rural and remote communities.

Not long ago, Teledermatologist received a referral for a five-month-old baby from Mount Gambier with an undiagnosed, painful rash affecting his whole body.

What would usually happen to Lachy?

• Book a consultation with a metropolitan Dermatologist, the closest being hundreds of kilometres away
• Wait months for the appointment
• Parents take time off work
• A long car trip with a distressed infant
• Accommodation and travel costs on top
• A brief consultation, then the long trip home

What happened instead

Within a week of the referral, Lachy and his parents visited their local medical centre and, with their GP alongside, had a thirty-minute video consultation with a Perth-based FACD Dermatologist, coordinated from Newcastle. The rash was diagnosed, a prescription issued and a treatment plan created, and the symptoms resolved.

One family, one local appointment, no road trip. That is what teledermatology is for.