VisualDx, the leading diagnostic clinical decision support tool for physicians, announced an expansion of their partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the largest integrated health care system in the U.S. The one-year license will give clinical staff in more than 1,200 of the VA’s health care facilities nationwide access to VisualDx’s add-on feature, DermExpert, to improve diagnostic accuracy in skin-related conditions.
DermExpert, which utilizes VisualDx’s extensive image library and Apple’s CoreML (machine learning) technology, allows a clinician to simply take a photo of a patient’s skin to have the image analyzed within the app by a form of artificial intelligence (AI). The DermExpert AI automatically recognizes features seen on the skin which is critical to better recognizing and diagnosing disorders presenting with skin lesions or rashes. The VisualDx app reveals diagnostic possibilities and displays these diagnoses linked to more images and information. Because VisualDx plus DermExpert utilizes Apple’s CoreML, the patient’s photo is analyzed on the phone and is not saved, making the application HIPAA compliant.
“DermExpert can assist providers as they diagnose patients presenting with a skin condition, potentially avoiding the need for a costly or time-consuming dermatologist referral and supporting improved experiences for both patients and their family members,” said Dr. Neil Evans, VA internist and a clinical leader of VA’s mobile health program. VA clinicians will be trained to use the image analysis feature over the next month and will begin using it with patients immediately.
More than 65 percent of skin complaints are seen by non-dermatologists, and 15 percent of all primary care visits include skin-related issues. DermExpert helps emergency medicine, urgent care and primary care professionals make smarter, faster and more accurate diagnoses.
“Non-dermatologist physicians receive approximately 19 hours of dermatology training during medical school,” said Dr. Art Papier, practicing dermatologist and CEO of VisualDx. “As technology becomes more advanced, clinical decision support tools are equipping non-specialist physicians with the data they need to make more accurate diagnoses or get second opinions with the click of a button. Not only are tools like VisualDx and DermExpert improving diagnostic accuracy, but they are also easing the minds of patients across the country.”
The VA has licensed VisualDx since 2010, and the add on of DermExpert makes the VA one of the first major health systems in the U.S. to license this new feature offering. To learn more about VisualDx and DermExpert, please visit https://www.visualdx.com/dermexpert.
VisualDx is an award-winning diagnostic clinical decision support system and a standard electronic resource at medical schools and in hospital and clinic settings. VisualDx combines clinical search with a database of more than 120,000 of the best medical images in the world, plus medical knowledge from experts to help with diagnosis, treatment, self-education, and patient communication. Expanding to provide diagnostic decision support across general medicine, VisualDx brings increased speed and accuracy to the art of diagnosis. Learn more at www.visualdx.com.
