BACKGROUND: Dermatology consultation has been shown to have a significant beneficial impact on admitted hospital patients with concurrent or newly diagnosed skin conditions. This study aimed to determine the change in diagnosis and management after dermatology consultation in a tertiary Australian referral hospital. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of dermatology consultations for hospital inpatients from June 1, 2018, through November 11, 2019, was performed. Demographic and clinical data were extracted from electronic medical records, and a chi-squared test was used to analyze categorical variables. RESULTS: There were 306 consultations during the period of interest. The male to female ratio was 1:1 with a median age of 63. Consultations were most often requested by medical teams (69%), and the majority of patients seen in the emergency department were discharged home (86%). In 44% of cases, the requesting team did not provide a diagnosis; in the cases where it did provide a diagnosis, it was changed 57.9% of the time. The most commonly misdiagnosed conditions were dermatitis and skin infections. Dermatologists established or changed management in 82% of cases, and a total of 676 suggestions were made for management. CONCLUSION: The results of this review reinforce the value of dermatology input in the diagnosis and management of hospital in patients. Ensuring maintained presence of hospital-based dermatologists has the potential to improve diagnosis and management of cutaneous issues early on; by extension, this can minimize unnecessary investigations, improve the quality of healthcare, reduce hospital burden, and facilitate outpatient follow-up.
BACKGROUND: Dermatology consultation has been shown to have a significant beneficial impact on admitted hospital patients with concurrent or newly diagnosed skin conditions. This study aimed to determine the change in diagnosis and management after dermatology consultation in a tertiary Australian referral hospital. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of dermatology consultations for hospital inpatients from June 1, 2018, through November 11, 2019, was performed. Demographic and clinical data were extracted from electronic medical records, and a chi-squared test was used to analyze categorical variables. RESULTS: There were 306 consultations during the period of interest. The male to female ratio was 1:1 with a median age of 63. Consultations were most often requested by medical teams (69%), and the majority of patients seen in the emergency department were discharged home (86%). In 44% of cases, the requesting team did not provide a diagnosis; in the cases where it did provide a diagnosis, it was changed 57.9% of the time. The most commonly misdiagnosed conditions were dermatitis and skin infections. Dermatologists established or changed management in 82% of cases, and a total of 676 suggestions were made for management. CONCLUSION: The results of this review reinforce the value of dermatology input in the diagnosis and management of hospital in patients. Ensuring maintained presence of hospital-based dermatologists has the potential to improve diagnosis and management of cutaneous issues early on; by extension, this can minimize unnecessary investigations, improve the quality of healthcare, reduce hospital burden, and facilitate outpatient follow-up.