Teledentistry Consult Management System

The US Army seeks to commercialize through patent licensing a web-based system for electronically storing and disseminating dental records and images between generalists and specialists for the purpose of rendering a diagnosis or determining a treatment plan. The invention reduces the need for patients to travel to specialists, increases the quality of care, and provides a means of electronically documenting dental consultations. The Technology: The Walter Reed Army Institute for Research has developed a web-based communication technology that carries information and provides a series of user interfaces or templates for collecting and disseminating data relating to a patient or a patient’s condition. The system includes a storage capability that enables the data to be accessed or amended at any time. The system is used for the creation and transfer of dental consult records (including images), diagnosis and treatment records, and communication between referring provider and specialist. A series of prompts and drop-down menus ensures that the appropriate data is input by the referring and consulting dentists. An image manipulation routine allows the consulting dentist to zoom in and out, invert, rotate, flip and change the contrast and brightness of images. The technology has been reduced to practice by the Army. Background and Opportunity: The US Army has a need to provide acute dental care to soldiers in the field while minimizing the use of medical evacuation. The teledentistry consult system allows for expert consultation to theater-based dentists and soldiers, which increases their access to quality care and reduces the cost associated with medical evacuation. A patent filed by the Army (published patent No. 20030078806) and the software code are available for commercial license. Benefits: • Increases patient access to specialists • Reduces cost of dental health care • Creates electronic records of consultations Contacts: • Kurt Rued, [phone removed], [email removed] • Dan Swanson, [phone removed], [email removed]