Skin Analytics

DERM - AI Dermatology Solution

Skin Analytics’ AI as a Medical Device (AIaMD), DERM, is an autonomous AI dermatology solution that enables the classification and triage of USC referrals / lesions to support specialist capacity. Designed around our custom-built teledermatology platform, DERM is the first UKCA marked Class IIa AIaMD for skin cancer.

Features

• Capacity: Autonomous triage of skin lesions using AI
• Clinical pathway: Suspected Skin Cancer pathway
• Teledermatology: Simple high-quality image capture of dermoscopic and context images
• Teledermatology: High quality images surfaced through an advanced image viewer
• Teledermatology: Dermatologist case review
• Patient Initiated Questionnaire: Medical history provided by patients pre-appointment
• Integration: PDS to autofill patient demographics for case creation
• Configurable administrative next steps to increase post teledermatology pathway efficiency
• Reporting: Metrics provided on service usage and performance
• Dedicated Partnership Manager to support pathway design, training and implementation

Benefits

• Can discharge 20-40% of caseload volume by identifying benign lesions
• Independent health economic evaluations show positive return on investment
• Reduces urgent skin cancer referrals
• Frees up dermatology capacity to focus on treatment
• Speeds up patient access to skin cancer diagnosis and treatment
• Reduces the number of unnecessary biopsies
• Supports routine capacity
• Supports workforce capacity
• Teledermatology allows for increased dermatologist workforce flexibility i.e home working
• Supports FDS compliance and increases patient safety

£38.20 a unit

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at rachael@skinanalytics.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

422642264464760

Contact

Rachael Dovey
<removed>
rachael@skinanalytics.co.uk

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model: Public cloud
• Service constraints: Our SLA describes our uptime commitment and our allowed maintenance windows.; ; Hardware Configurations: ; Skin Analytics can provide hardware or this can be managed by local IT teams. Partners are able to provide and manage their own hardware as long as it has been approved for use with our service. ; ; To capture images three hardware components are used:; 1. A Camera Device (currently smartphones) that captures the images; 2. A Dermoscope that attaches to the image capture device to give magnification and controlled light to the image; 3. A Connection kit (e.g. magnetic case or clip) that connects the two
• System requirements:
  • A modern web browser
  • Recommended upload speed above 5mbps for images

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Within one working day ; (Working days exclude weekends and bank holidays)
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: No
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Onsite support
• Support levels: Each partner organisation is provided a dedicated Skin Analytics Partnership Manager to support the project management, implementation and evolution of the operational parts of their pathway, based on learnings from other sites and best practices seen elsewhere.; ; A Strategic Account Manager is also assigned to each account who offers ongoing engagement and support to maximise benefit from the pathway. ; ; More formal training is provided via E-learning courses and up to 4 on-site training days. Additional on site training days can also be provided at an additional rate.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Users are provided with in-person training on all systems which include the web platform and the mobile application. Online training is provided in the form of a course on Easy Generator. A log of all users who have completed the course is retained by Skin Analytics to ensure users are able to use our service effectively and correctly. User documentation is also provided in the form of a standard operating procedure. An IT guide is also provided with the relevant information to support any user interface issues which could occur.; ; Users are fully supported throughout all stages of the service, including the following key milestones:; ; 1. Initial scoping: where the high level aims of the project are set, initial ideas about how the pathway will operate are considered.; ; 2. Project initiation: the process of engaging the wider team on the change to the pathway and getting alignment on the aims.; ; 3. Mobilisation: where the initial scoping is turned into details that will allow the pathway to operate smoothly and safely.; ; 4. Go live: service launch date.; ; 5. Review and iterate: post launch, checking in on results and optimising the pathway.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats: PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: Skin Analytics adhere to the right of data portability and provide all patient data to our partners in a method of transition of their choice where possible. An Information portability plan will be agreed ahead of decommissioning to ensure we can support the transition of service design to ensure patient safety when processing patient data. We will aim to send data as soon as possible and will collectively discuss the required time frame for this to be completed.; ; Until all data is transferred to in an agreed format, users will still have access to the Skin Analytics platform with an administrator account which can be used for auditing purposes. For the avoidance of doubt, users who have been set up to review or access cases created will still be able to do so until a reasonable timeframe is agreed.
• End-of-contract process: A demobilisation guide is shared and a plan is developed in collaboration with the partner site to allow for a smooth transition if service phase out is required. This includes a project plan covering all aspects from the initial implementation (hardware, pathway, clinical safety, collateral etc), as well as data extraction and collection of any materials where required. There are no additional costs incurred at the conclusion of a contract.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: The mobile application and desktop platform are designed to work in conjunction with one another. The desktop version securely captures patient information, including medical history, which then generates a unique QR code. The QR code is then scanned via the mobile application, enabling the capture of clinical images directly on mobile devices. The images are securely uploaded to the patients record within the desktop version.
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Description of service interface: The service includes a clinical user interface which is used by clinicians to enter case information and manage the cases through the configured clinical flow. In addition, an administrative interface allows Skin Analytics administrators to manage the organisations that are using the platform and to conduct other administrative functions.
• Accessibility standards: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Accessibility testing: We have not tested with users of assistive technology but in our goal to achieve WCAG 2.1 AA, we test our site using the following tools:; ; tota11y plugin; WAVE; Screenreader: VoiceOver Utility
• API: No
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: Settings and configurations for each organisation can be changed. This facilitates the use of different clinical flows and content in the organisation. The service cannot be white labelled.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: The application is hosted on a highly scalable cloud infrastructure. We use constant monitoring to ensure that the performance is optimal and we have autoscaling capability that is activated when any of our services comes under high load. All of the associated services (e.g. databases and cloud storage) are similarly scalable.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Regular reports and reports on request are made available. This includes:; ; Quarterly business reviews and Monthly performance reports. These reports detail service usage, exclusions and exceptions, image quality audits, discharge rate, and outcomes. ; ; Reports can be tailed to the individual partners needs where required.
• Reporting types:
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: None

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: United Kingdom
• User control over data storage and processing locations: No
• Datacentre security standards: Managed by a third party
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: ‘IT Health Check’ performed by a Tigerscheme qualified provider or a CREST-approved service provider
• Protecting data at rest:
  • Encryption of all physical media
  • Other
• Other data at rest protection approach: Access Control Policy
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type: Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: Clinical users can export a clinical report in a pdf format. Administrative users can download usage reports (csv) and clinical reports (pdf).
• Data export formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data export formats: PDF
• Data import formats: Other
• Other data import formats:
  • Png
  • Jpeg

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks: TLS (version 1.2 or above)
• Data protection within supplier network: TLS (version 1.2 or above)

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: Our standard Service Level Agreement states the Platform shall have 99.9% uptime (excluding maintenance) on a six monthly basis subject to standard service levels of Amazon Web Services being available. ; ; Every morning, 3AM to 7AM GMT is defined as a regular maintenance window, where Skin Analytics may conduct maintenance to the Platform and infrastructure without prior notice, as long as downtime does not exceed one (1) hour during this window.; ; Skin Analytics may conduct up to eight (8) hours per calendar month of scheduled maintenance for purposes of performing maintenance on the Platform, or installing upgrades, fixes or reconfigurations (“Scheduled Down Time”). Skin Analytics will inform the Partner of any Scheduled Maintenance by providing at least two (2) Working Days’ notice. Skin Analytics will use best endeavours to ensure the Scheduled Maintenance will occur within the Regular Maintenance windows and is not scheduled within Partner trading hours, unless otherwise agreed, taken to be 7AM to 7PM.
• Approach to resilience: Our service implements a number of techniques which provides us with a high level of resilience. Details are available on request but some highlights are:; - Constant monitoring of the application and network performance; - Real time alerting to any issues; - Autoscaling infrastructure which is configured to automatically scale on determined events; - Failover redundancy provided by AWS multi-availability zone deployment
• Outage reporting: - Private dashboards; - Email alerts; - Slack alerts; - Support alerts (via 3rd Parties)

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication: Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: A list of designated user details are requested from the NHS parterning sites. Access can only be granted to a specific user at the request of a Service Lead from our partnerning organisations. All access is controlled by Skin Analytics super admins which is a user type for the Skin Analytics Partnerships Manager. Only this individual will be able to grant access or restrict it where and when required.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication: Username or password

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: You control when users can access audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• Access to supplier activity audit information: You control when users can access audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• How long system logs are stored for: At least 12 months

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: BSI
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 28/02/2024
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: The scope of our certification is "The provision of Artificial Intelligence and remote dermatology services in accordance with the Skin Analytics Statement of Applicability"
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: No
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications: NHS DSP Toolkit

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: ISO/IEC 27001
• Information security policies and processes: Our policies are assigned on a role needs basis to all new starters who are required to read and understand the policies. They are also required to undertake an online Information Security training. This is managed and confirmed by our HR and Quality team. Below is a list of our policies:; ; Access Control, Mobile Working and Teleworking, Information Security, Risk Assessment Procedure, Acceptable Use, Security Objectives, ISMS Policy, List of External & Interested Parties, Business Continuity, Secure Transfer of Information Policy, Network Security, Password Policy, Information Security Issue Management, ISMS Manual, Data Classification Policy, Information Handling Policy, Electronic Key, Management Procedure, Data Labelling Policy, User Registration, Deregistration Procedure, Cryptography, Software Maintenance Plan, Subject Access Request Policy, Physical and Environmental Security, Asset Management, Pseudonymisation and Anonymisation Data Policy, IT Security Policy, Freedom Of Information Act Policy, Data Protection.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: Our Control of Design Changes policy describes how we implement changes on our medical device.; ; It describes the risk based process for design change and how changes can be managed during or after the Design & Verification phase.; ; Our components are individually versioned and the development history is stored in our document control system, our issue tracking system (Jira) and our code repositories.; ; Potential security impacts are assessed via the Information Security Risk Assessments that are performed on all of our products. Additionally, we scan in real time for any new vulnerabilities in our development and production code bases.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: We run nightly audits via Snyk which analyses all of our code base (and 3rd party software modules) for any vulnerabilities. ; ; We are alerted via Slack and Email to any new vulnerabilities and we have a dashboard in our management tool (Beehive) which shows all of the current vulnerabilities.; ; Our Network Security Policy describes our patching process and targets:; Critical, High: 14 days; Medium, Low: 28 days; ; We subscribe to a number of information security broadcasts (NHS IT, NSCC etc) which arrive in real time to one of our slack channels which is monitored by the technology team.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: Our monitoring consists of 3rd party tools (AWS CloudWatch, Guard Duty) and our inhouse monitoring platform (SALMA). Each of these continuously monitors our platforms and alerts us via Slack and Email if there are any security events that need attention.; ; Our response will depend on the severity / importance of the incident.
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: The Incident Management Policy describes our process. ; ; If an incident is raised, the severity of the incident will determine if it can wait until the weekly Complaints, Incidents, CAPA, Review Board (CICRB) or if it requires immediate attention.; ; We have predefined responses to deal with common events (e.g. customer sites sharing details via email) and we record each occurrence of this happening.; ; Users can report incidents via our support desk, an email, a slack message or a phone call to any of our team.; ; Incident reports are provided as required via email and managed by the Customer Operations Team.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Conforms to a recognised standard, but self-assessed

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  Skin Analytics is committed to contribute to the NHS plan for net zero by 2040. With commercial contracts across the NHS, we have subscribed to meeting the NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap. ; ; An independent assessment of Skin Analytics’ environmental impact was recently presented at the BMJ Innovations Net Zero Clinical Care Conference. Across a single remote review pathway that assessed 9,057 patients, application of the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition care pathways calculator demonstrated that the reduction in initial face-to-face appointments alone provided a total carbon footprint saving of 19,128kg CO2e. ; ; Our real-world data shows that ⅓ of patients assessed by DERM are eligible for discharge and do not require face-to-face review or follow-up. Furthermore, DERM pathways have been reported to reduce biopsy rates by 10%. Given that surgical theatres are 3-6x more energy intensive than other areas of a hospital, this represents a significant downstream saving.; ; The following measures will be followed to ensure we continue to deliver on our net zero goals:; ; Delivering elements of the project remotely to reduce our carbon footprint.; Staff hybrid working - staff are encouraged to use public transport or bicycles and, at work, we use recycled resources where possible.; Image-capture hardware supplied to partner sites will be small, reusable and powered by rechargeable electrical energy.; Each partner will require only a limited number of image capture hardware kits which will cover thousands of patients per year. ; ; In order to ensure that our AI delivers as fast a decision as possible to clinical users we have developed proprietary methods for increasing the speed/efficiency of the AI evaluation. This means that decisions are made in <2 seconds, rather than 30 seconds which is common with standard image processing approaches. This speed reduction reduces the computational load on our servers, and therefore energy usage/environmental impact.

  Covid-19 recovery

  When implementing a new AI Teledermatology service, NHS Trusts and primary care organisations may need to recruit new staff to image patients and find resources for any additional admin duties. ; ; When our NHS partners embark on their implementation journey, job planning is a crucial stage as this sets the foundations for an efficient and effective service. As such, implementing a Skin Analytics pathway can create both employment and training opportunities - two areas that are necessary when considering economic recovery from Covid-19.; ; From a training point of view, the Skin Analytics pathway creates opportunities for Healthcare Assistants (HCAs) or similar to upskill. In many of our NHS partnerships, HCAs are trained to capture context and dermoscopic images of skin lesions in their roles within imaging clinics. Whilst this is positive for development and career progression, this lends itself well to those looking to re-train following unemployment during the Covid-19 pandemic.; ; Skin cancer is the highest referring specialty with urgent suspected skin cancer referrals growing 11% year on year. This demand is exacerbated by 1 in 4 Consultant Dermatologist posts remaining unfilled and a routine backlog that continues to grow as a consequence of Covid-19. ; ; Addressing this gap between demand and capacity, Skin Analytics’ AI as a Medical Device, DERM, enables innovative dermatology pathways that allow NHS organisations to discharge; benign lesions earlier in the pathway. This means dermatology capacity can be reserved for patients who not only need to be seen urgently but also those waiting on routine pathways with debilitating inflammatory skin conditions. ; ; Our post-market surveillance shows that Skin Analytics pathways can help NHS organisations in secondary care avoid up to 90% of face-to-face appointments, therefore freeing up dermatology capacity to be reallocated as necessary and supporting the recovery needed from Covid-19 on routine backlog.

  Tackling economic inequality

  Technological solutions that streamline early diagnosis are crucial for the NHS in managing demand and the associated costs of delayed diagnosis. Our AI as a Medical Device, DERM, is an innovative technology that allows for an increase in dermatology capacity. With urgent suspected skin cancer referrals growing 11% year on year, DERM enables NHS organisations to discharge benign lesions earlier in the pathway, reserving capacity for those that need to be seen and receive treatment in a timely manner. ; ; Skin Analytics are committed to evidencing the cost savings associated with using our technology and have undergone multiple independent health economic evaluations that have all indicated a positive return on investment from using our technology. These evaluations are also currently under review by NICE as part of an Early Value Assessment.

  Equal opportunity

  At Skin Analytics we believe that a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion not only benefits our organisation but supports wellbeing and enables our people to work better because they can be themselves and feel that they belong.; ; We are committed to promoting a working environment based on dignity, trust and respect, and one that is free from discrimination, harassment, bullying or victimisation.; ; We are proud to have a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Group that meets monthly to provide a forum for people who have a passion for, or a connection with, a particular aspect of equality, diversity, and inclusion.; ; The aim of this group is to:; Provide networking opportunities and community support;; Organise events to raise awareness and provide education; and; Contribute ideas/suggestions for ways the organisation can be more diverse and inclusive.; ; Skin Analytics is an equal opportunities employer and provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to sex, pregnancy or maternity, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, religious or similar philosophical belief, political opinion, racial group, sexual orientation, disability or age.; ; We take reasonable and appropriate steps to encourage job applications from as diverse a range of people as possible.; ; The recruitment team considers disability so that advertising, application forms and assessments, job descriptions/employee specifications, and selection criteria are appropriate and as inclusive as possible. We also ask applicants at the outset if they require any reasonable adjustments to be made to the recruitment process.

  Wellbeing

  We are committed to fostering and nurturing an environment that promotes positive mental and physical wellbeing. ; ; We provide inhouse support through our Leadership and People team, with oversight by our Medical Director. We have also introduced initiatives such as Rise & Revitalise, where we encourage employees to take time to walk, run, meditate, swim or spend time with nature on a regular basis. ; ; In addition, we signpost to NHS resources and free tools and resources through an internal Notion page, as well as offering dedicated mental health support through our employee Bupa cover. ; ; Building world leading skin cancer pathways not only requires safe, sustainable and evidence-backed technology but an approach that prioritises patient needs and experience from design to deployment. Understandably, it is an unnerving time when a patient is worried about a mole or skin lesion, and these feelings are only exacerbated in the context of long waiting lists and a strained NHS.; ; We’re really proud of the impact our partners’ have seen since implementing a Skin Analytics pathway and the knock-on effect this can have on overall patient wellbeing. ; ; Throughout our partnerships, we actively monitor speed of access to diagnosis, reduction in wait times and sentiment of AI. In a patient sentiment report conducted in 2023, our data suggests that patients find value in using AI tools in their healthcare, and appreciate the speed advantages that it yields compared to waiting for a traditional face-to-face appointment.

Pricing

• Price: £38.20 a unit
• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: No

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at rachael@skinanalytics.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.