Improving cooperation between general practitioners and dermatologists via telemedicine: study protocol of the cluster-randomized controlled TeleDerm study

Table 2 Primary and secondary endpoints, data sources and evaluation methods

Secondary endpoints (intervention group)					Primary endpoint (both groups)
Patients	GPs	Dermatologists	GP team staff	Teledermatology software/KSYOS (process evaluation)	Routine data
Care provider/customer satisfaction, description of technical processes with their advantages and disadvantages				• Number of teleconsultations • Time until dermatologist answers • Number of physical referral recommendations • Number of queries by dermatologists after teleconsultation • Type of disease treated by teleconsultation • Duration of complete teleconsultation process • Result of dermatologic consultation	• Number of referrals to dermatologists by GPs • Ambulatory dermatologic diagnoses • Ambulatory patient contacts with GPs and/or dermatologists due to skin conditions (including EBM^a keys) • Number of clinic referrals due to skin conditions
• Quality of life (DLQI, questionnaire) • Satisfaction with dermatologic care/telemedicine (questionnaire, interviews)	Appraisal of feasibility, practicability and barriers for implementation (interviews)
	• Number of reports by dermatologists after consultation (KSYOS and GP PMS) • Time until dermatologist report completed (PMS)	• Recommendation of physical referrals by teledermatologists

DLQI Dermatology Life Quality Index, EBM Einheitlicher Bewertungsmaßstab, GP general practitioner, KSYOS teledermatology system, PMS patient management software
^aPhysician’s fee table used to encode what kind of procedure is performed in an outpatient setting and how much money will be paid for it; data are transferred from a practice to the Kassenärztliche Vereinigung and then generate a defined amount of income for the physician