Table 68: Number of patients referred to dermatologist from outside metropolitan areas 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 source Current nos. Projected growth 2012-13 GP 126,800,000 A medicare claims Britt (2013) Pop growth 1.7% B ABS Skin conditions 16.9/100 C identified by GPs encounter Britt (2013) Nos of skin 21,429,200 21,793,496 22,163,986 22,540,774 22,923,967 C*A*B=D events seen by GPs across Australia GP divide Metro 68.8% E Rural 31.2% F Number of skin 14,743,290 14,993,926 15,248,822 15,508,052 15,771,689 E*D=G events across Australia seen by metro GP Number of skin 6,685,910 6,799,571 6,915,164 7,032,721 7,152,278 F*D=H events across Australia seen by rural GP GPs refer skin 7% Britt conditions to (2013) dermatologist Rural GPs refer 4% Britt, to dermatologist 2001 J Rural pts At 7% 468,013.73 475,969.96 484,061.45 492,290.50 500,659.43 I*H=K referred to dermatologist Rural patients At 4% 267,436 271,983 276,607 281,309 286,091 J*H=L referred to dermatologists From Table 68 above it is assumed that due to the shortage of dermatologists in rural areas, the barrier of length of travel and ability to travel large distances and workplace commitments that as noted above, currently rural GP only refer 4% of patients with a skin complaint requiring specialist dermatology services compared to the Australian average of 7% (Britt, 2001). To estimate the Medicare benefits paid for dermatology services to rural patients the following assumptions are included in Table 69. The take up of delivery of specialist dermatology services by videoconferencing has been very low which may reflect a number of issues: The need the sufficient bandwidth to enable adequate vision for the dermatologist. Expert advice is that Skype is not adequate
Table 68: Number of patients referred to dermatologist from outside metropolitan areas 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 source Current nos. Projected growth 2012-13 GP medicare claims 126,800,000 A Britt (2013) Pop growth 1.7% B ABS Skin conditions identified by GPs 16.9/100 encounter C Britt (2013) Nos of skin events seen by GPs across Australia 21,429,200 21,793,496 22,163,986 22,540,774 22,923,967 C*A*B=D GP divide Metro Rural 68.8% 31.2% E F Number of skin events across Australia seen by metro GP 14,743,290 14,993,926 15,248,822 15,508,052 15,771,689 E*D=G Number of skin events across Australia seen by rural GP 6,685,910 6,799,571 6,915,164 7,032,721 7,152,278 F*D=H GPs refer skin conditions to dermatologist 7% Britt (2013) Rural GPs refer to dermatologist 4% Britt, 2001 J Rural pts referred to dermatologist At 7% 468,013.73 475,969.96 484,061.45 492,290.50 500,659.43 I*H=K Rural patients referred to dermatologists At 4% 267,436 271,983 276,607 281,309 286,091 J*H=L From Table 68 above it is assumed that due to the shortage of dermatologists in rural areas, the barrier of length of travel and ability to travel large distances and workplace commitments that as noted above, currently rural GP only refer 4% of patients with a skin complaint requiring specialist dermatology services compared to the Australian average of 7% (Britt, 2001). To estimate the Medicare benefits paid for dermatology services to rural patients the following assumptions are included in Table 69. The take up of delivery of specialist dermatology services by videoconferencing has been very low which may reflect a number of issues: The need the sufficient bandwidth to enable adequate vision for the dermatologist. Expert advice is that Skype is not adequate
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