The Impact of a Dermatology Information Source on Skin Problem Outcomes in Primary Care

Health care providers use a variety of computerized medical information sources to reduce knowledge gaps and support patient care decisions. Few studies have evaluated the impact of medical information sources on patient outcomes. Skin problems are the reason for many visits to primary care providers and result in a high percentage of referrals to dermatologists and return visits to primary care for the same skin problem. The objective is to evaluate the impact of primary care providers' use of a dermatology information source, VisualDx, on skin problems outcomes. The study design is a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Participants include primary care providers as clusters and their patients with skin problems. Providers are randomized to intervention group that refers to VisualDx when seeing a patient with a skin problem, or to the control group who does not. Patients have the randomized group status of the doctor they saw for the problem. Patients are interviewed to determine the problem status and how many follow-up visits they had for the problem at intervals after the index visit.