--- description: Examining photos of skin conditions or moles often led to same conclusions as in-person consultations title: Teledermatology Gains Traction as Dermatologists Diagnose From Photos image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0d94cb6dfb384be/6986826af983e7697f04c680/187928720-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [skin cancer](/tag/skin-cancer/) ## skin cancer Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Dermatologists Can Diagnose Selfies Sent From Your Smartphone by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 14, 2014 8:15 PM CUT  woman taking selfie with cell phone woman taking selfie with cell phoneTara Moore— Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 14, 2014 8:15 PM CUT The future of dermatology may be as simple as sending your doctor a selfie of your curious-looking mole. A new [study](http://archderm.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1829638 "undefined") published in the journal _JAMA Dermatology_ takes a look at the field of teledermatology, which involves sending dermatologists photos of suspicious spots and getting a [remote diagnosis](http://swampland.time.com/2013/09/16/saving-u-s-health-care-with-skype/ "undefined"). According to the findings, this actually works pretty well. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania looked at 50 individual who were in the hospital and had a skin problem that needed a doctor’s assessment. All of the participants had an in-person consultation with a doctor, and the researchers also sent photos of their skin conditions to two independent dermatologists to diagnose for comparison. They discovered that when in-person doctors recommended a biopsy, the remote doctors who were going off of photos agreed 95% of the time. When an in-person doctor recommended same-day additional tests, the external dermatologists agreed 90% of the time. The ability to use your smartphone to get skin disorder diagnoses could make dermatology more efficient, and more accessible for people in rural communities who struggle to reach medical experts. Still, researchers need to confirm that teledermatology is as accurate as an in-person appointment, and that serious medical issues would not be overlooked. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7429/dermatologists-can-diagnose-selfies-sent-from-your-smartphone/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7429/dermatologists-can-diagnose-selfies-sent-from-your-smartphone/"},"headline":"Dermatologists Can Diagnose Selfies Sent From Your Smartphone","datePublished":"2014-02-14T20:15:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:24:38.880Z","description":"Examining photos of skin conditions or moles often led to same conclusions as in-person consultations","url":"https://time.com/7429/dermatologists-can-diagnose-selfies-sent-from-your-smartphone/","keywords":["skin cancer"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0d94cb6dfb384be/6986826af983e7697f04c680/187928720-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0d94cb6dfb384be/6986826af983e7697f04c680/187928720-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"selfie","caption":"selfie","creditText":"Tara Moore— Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/skin-cancer/","name":"skin cancer"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7429/dermatologists-can-diagnose-selfies-sent-from-your-smartphone/","name":"Dermatologists Can Diagnose Selfies Sent From Your Smartphone"}}]}] ```