Quality assessment of a large primary GP skin cancer service in Auckland, New Zealand.

AIM: Waitemata District Health Board has implemented a new approach to the management of skin cancers by triaging lesions to specialist-trained general practitioners (GPSI) with the aim of reducing patient wait times and treatment costs. The primary outcome was to determine positive margin rates for the GP surgeons, with secondary outcome being infection rates. METHOD: A retrospective audit was conducted on all excisions (n=2,705) performed between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2016 by the 13 WDHB GPSIs. Electronic patient records were accessed to review data. Each lesion was classified into benign, in-situ (pre-malignant) and malignant categories. Surgical margins were analysed for non-melanotic skin cancers (NMSC) and determined as positive, close or negative. Infection rates determined by microbiology results and prescribing information and time to treat analyses were conducted. RESULTS: WDHB GPSIs performed 2,705 excisions, 1,887 (69.8%) of which were malignant lesions. Among the 1,486 NMSC excised, a positive surgical margin was observed in 51 (3.4%). There were 294 (10.9%) cases of infection in 2,705 excisions. Median time to treat was 31 days across all lesions. New Zealand papers from the last two decades estimate the NMSC positive margin rate among primary care physicians varies between 16-31%; most recent papers have published rates 6.8-9.5%.European publications describe positive margin rates ranging between 13.9-33.5%. CONCLUSION: This study validates the use of surgically trained GP surgeons and shows their integral role in managing the high volume of skin cancer in New Zealand.

Current Understanding of Seborrheic Keratosis: Prevalence, Etiology, Clinical Presentation, Diagnosis, and Management.

Seborrheic keratosis (SK) is among the most common cutaneous lesions, affecting some 83 million Americans. Biologically benign, SK lesions do not require removal for medical reasons unless histologic confirmation of the clinical diagnosis is required or the lesions are traumatized and/or become symptomatic. These macular or popular pigmented lesions are often of cosmetic concern to patients. In addition, their natural history of gradually increasing in size, thickness, and/or pigmentation often serves as the impetus compelling patients to present to a dermatologist for evaluation and skin cancer screening; SK is diagnosed and managed primarily by dermatologists. Data regarding SK prevalence and management from a survey of 594 practicing, board-certified dermatologists are summarized herein: Dermatologists report they diagnose an average of 155 patients per month with SK. Among SK patients presenting to dermatologists, 33% have more than 15 SK lesions and 67% have 15 or fewer SK lesions. On average, dermatologists treat 43% of their SK patients to remove lesions. Cryosurgery is the most common removal method. Other commonly employed removal methods include shave excision, electrodessication, curettage or a combination of these. While these procedures can be used to remove SK lesions effectively, each has potential drawbacks and careful patient selection is required to optimize cosmetic results particularly in skin of color patients and patients with thick or numerous lesions. While there is great interest from both patients and providers in a topical non-invasive treatment for SK, no effective topical therapeutic agent has been developed, and this remains an area of unmet need.

Frequency of seborrheic keratosis biopsies in the United States: a benchmark of skin lesion care quality and cost effectiveness.

BACKGROUND: Most seborrheic keratoses may be readily clinically differentiated from skin cancer, but occasional lesions resemble atypical melanocytic neoplasms. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the frequency, cost, and intensity of procedures performed that result in the removal and histopathologic evaluation of seborrheic keratoses. METHODS: Episodes of surgical removal of lesions that were identified as seborrheic keratoses by histologic identification were determined using Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data from 1998 to 1999. These episodes were defined by a histopathology procedure code that is associated with a diagnosis code for seborrheic keratosis. We then identified what procedure(s) generated the histopathology specimen. Biopsy and shave procedures were considered "low intensity," whereas excision and repair procedures were considered "high intensity." RESULTS: Dermatologists managed 85% of all episodes of seborrheic keratoses. Dermatologists managed 89% of seborrheic keratosis episodes using low-intensity procedures compared with 51% by other specialties. For nondermatologists, 46% of the treatment cost (9 million US dollars) to Medicare was generated from high-intensity management compared with 15% by dermatologists (6 million US dollars). CONCLUSION: There is a significant difference in the management of suspicious pigmented lesions between dermatologists and other specialists. This affects both the cost and quality of care.