The Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center and the Family Health Center of Worcester are two of seven Massachusetts community health centers sharing a $900,000 pilot for a skin-screening technology that has shown it can be effective in reducing the number of visits to the dermatologist.
The health centers will use a technology created by Boston-based 3derm to take a picture of a patient’s skin condition, and then transmit that photo to a dermatologist, who can determine whether or not an appointment is necessary, according to Antonia McGuire, president and CEO of the Kennedy CHC.
A study conducted by the practice of UMass Memorial Health Care doctor Thomas Scornavacca Jr. found 3derm’s technology was just as effective at diagnosing skin conditions as was an in-person visit to the dermatologist.
