• Murat Orhan Oztas, Emel Calikoglu, Kiymet Baz, Ahu Birol, Meltem Onder, Tamer Calikoglu, and Mehmet T Kitapci.
• Department of Dermatology, Gazi University, Turkey. moztas@gazi.edu.tr
• J Telemed Telecare. 2004 Jan 1; 10 (1): 25-8.

AbstractWe studied the reliability of teledermatology diagnoses made using a Web-based system. Clinical photographs and information relating to 125 patients were placed on a Web server. Three dermatologists made the most likely diagnosis via a Web interface. The reference diagnosis was made in a face-to-face consultation with a fourth dermatologist; where appropriate it was confirmed histologically. The teledermatologists were correct in 57% of cases when viewing the images alone. Their diagnostic accuracy improved to 70% when additional clinical information was available. The rate of agreement between the teledermatologists ranged from 44% to 70% (kappa= 0.22-0.32). Seventy-seven per cent of the patients were correctly diagnosed by at least two dermatologists when clinical information was provided. A Web-based system appears to be reliable for teledermatology. A single well trained teledermatologist may give better results than a group of less well trained clinicians.

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