Online consulting

If you can't visit Spot Check Clinic in person, send us a photo of your spot and receive an opinion using our online consulting service.

Online consulting is not a substitute for a full body skin check or a dermoscopic examination by an experienced skin cancer specialist.

It's available only to people who live in Australia who are previous patients of Spot Check Clinic.

Online consulting can be useful if:

  • you are in quarantine at home or unable to visit the CBD due to COVID-19 restrictions
  • you live far from the Melbourne CBD
  • you can't easily visit a skin cancer specialist
  • appointments at the clinic are limited
  • you want to know quickly if a spot needs to be examined more closely
  • you have an existing photograph of the spot taken at our clinic and want our doctor to check a new photograph to see if it's growing or changing
If you use our online consulting service, you must send high quality, well-lit and in-focus photographs using a magnifying device. If you send unfocussed or poorly-lit photos we might be unable to provide an accurate diagnosis.

How our online consulting service works

Step 1: Obtain a magnifying device

To get the best result, you must magnify your spot or mole so that the doctor can see the fine details.

For the best quality photo and most reliable diagnosis, we recommend the MoleScope II or the MoleScope Lite.

Both are available online from MetaOptima.

If you skip this step and send us photos without magnification, we can't see early skin cancer signs and we might not be able to give a definite diagnosis.

Step 2: Photograph and upload your spot

Use the MoleScope app or website to upload photos of your spot to your medical record.

Step 3: Our skin cancer doctor will reply

We'll do our best to send you information about your photo within two working days, including a plan for ongoing management.

You'll receive information in writing via the MoleScope app.

How to take and upload your photo

How to photograph your spot

We need good quality, well-lit, focussed pictures at high magnification in order to make the best possible diagnosis.

Tips on photographing your own skin lesions

Caution: If your photograph is not of sufficient quality, we won't be able to give an accurate diagnosis and MoleScope will charge you for the consultation regardless.

The MoleScope app

You probably already have photos taken by your doctor and stored in the DermEngine/MoleScope system. We recommend you download the MoleScope app because it integrates with your existing photographic records.

If you haven't already done so, download and install the free MoleScope app for iOS or Android

The app comes with a built-in guide, including a video, to show you how to photograph spots of concern.

What happens next?

Your Spot Check Clinic doctor will review your photos and write a brief report explaining the possible diagnosis and giving recommendations about how to manage your spot. This report appears in your app, and on your private MoleScope website. You will receive an email notification when your report is ready for viewing.

Availability

Spot Check Clinic's online consulting service is available to anyone in Australia, even if they have not visited Spot Check Clinic.

  • Existing Spot Check Clinic patients already have access to photographs of their skin taken during consultations at the clinic, using the DermEngine / MoleScope system. The online consulting service can be used for submitting photos of previously-photographed moles, to see if they have changed, or new spots of concern not previously photographed at Spot Check Clinic.
  • Online consulting is available only to previous patients of Spot Check Clinic. We apologise for any inconvenience. Medical Board of Australia guidelines state that telehealth consultations should only be offered to previous in-person patients of the practice.
This service is available only to people in Australia. If you attempt to send a photo from outside Australia, you may be charged by MetaOptima (the company that provides the MoleScope service) but we will not receive your photo, nor will we know that you have attempted to send it to us.

MoleScope is a free app for iOS or Android devices, allowing you to take a photo with the built-in camera.

Online consulting is not available by email. If you send clinical information it is not encrypted and may not be stored on a secure server located in Australia. If you send a photograph or other clinical information by email, we will ask you to re-send it using MoleScope.

Please refer to our Terms of Use before using the online consulting service.

Pricing

See our Services and pricing page for details