Derm for Primary Care, a visual-based online training course, teaches primary care providers how to treat dermatology cases, not refer them
MACON, GA (June 17, 2014) – A new online training program that teaches primary care physicians (PCPs), nurse practitioners and physician assistants how to treat common dermatologic conditions and perform common office procedures launched today.
Derm for Primary Care is a novel new online educational program specifically geared toward non-dermatologic physicians, nurses and physician assistants. The program teaches them how to correctly diagnose and effectively manage the majority of common skin care problems that routinely present to their practices on a recurring basis.
David E. Kent, MD, a dermatologist in Macon, Georgia, created the self-paced online training program, which includes insights and tips he has learned over decades of providing dermatologic care and serving as a referral source for primary care providers.
The healthcare consulting firm Harris Williams & Co. estimates that the $10 billion dermatology market will exceed $13 billion by 2017. Primary care practices can earn a share of that market by providing dermatology services, increasing revenue by more than $60,000-100,000 per year by seeing one to three new dermatology patients daily, according to Kent.
“For 27 years I have regularly managed patients referred to me by primary care physicians,” says Kent, founding partner of Dermatologic Surgery Specialists in Macon. “Now I’m teaching PCPs how to keep those patients and the added revenue in house. Clinical dermatology skills are an important addition for a primary care practice.”
Despite over 25 percent of patients having at least one skin complaint when presenting to primary care providers, dermatology is not emphasized in primary care medicine. Existing educational opportunities for these trainees are not standardized.
Primary care providers are well equipped to successfully manage these patients, they just have not had an effective self-paced training opportunity.
Derm for Primary Care focuses on common skin problems that routinely present to a primary care practice. The program teaches PCPs how to:
- Recognize patterns & key diagnostic clues for everyday skin diseases
- Apply important management principles with specific treatment plans
- Determine when a management plan isn’t working, what to change & why
- Distinguish between look alike conditions
- Master common office procedures such as skin biopsies & cryosurgery
- Manage patient expectations & improve outcomes
- Evaluate patients on return visits, categorizing by Improvement, No Change or Worsening of Problem, and determine the “next step” to improvement
- Manage adverse events from medications and minor diagnostic or therapeutic procedures
- Select appropriate pharmaceuticals, especially for branded products, with easy identification and use of applicable discount cards and coupons.
Individual dermatology learning modules cover the most common skin disorders—acne, atopic dermatitis, eczema, seborrheic dermatitis and precancerous and cancerous lesions—plus 16 additional clinical topics. Derm for Primary Care provides essential education in an easy-to-implement format due to the following key features:
Visual learning: blending hundreds of photos and videos with text and audio to emphasize what to look for—and how to know what you are looking at.
Clinical scenarios: real-patient examples demonstrate how to develop treatment plans and adjust them to changing conditions.
User-friendly: self-paced learning at home or at work.
Real-time assistance: PC/Mac/tablet/smart phone access gives providers concise diagnostic and management guidelines in the practice setting.
Online training: allows PCPs and their staffs to avoid the lost time and costly travel of going to out-of-town trainings.
With the new skills learned through Derm for Primary Care, PCPs can get a quick return on their investment. By bringing in one to three new dermatology patients a day, the program is likely to pay for itself within a month of implementation.
LEARN MORE ABOUT DERM FOR PRIMARY CARE
Please visit DermForPrimaryCare.com, where you will find a complete listing of the program’s educational modules and a more in-depth explanation of content. You can view a sample of the online learning experience, examine the pricing and purchase options, and find out about updates, accessibility and additional features.
Image Credit: Cover Image
