Tools

No. The tools at DDC are educational triage aids that take inputs the patient supplies, apply a structured framework, and produce a routing output. They are not diagnostic. A diagnosis requires examination, history, sometimes imaging, and clinician judgement applied to the specific patient — none of which a self-administered tool can replicate. Tools help a patient understand the broad shape of their concern and the right clinical pathway to follow up; they do not replace a dermatologist consultation. Patients who treat tool outputs as diagnoses make worse decisions; the framework is honest about this limit and the consultation is the next step for any decision-grade question.

Tools provide value in three ways. First, they help patients understand the broad shape and severity of their concern before consultation, which makes the first visit more focused. Second, they route patients to the right clinical hub or guide so reading is targeted rather than scattered. Third, they flag urgency in some cases — a mole-risk screener, for example, can identify a presentation that warrants prompt dermatology rather than a routine appointment. The tool output is a starting point, not an endpoint; the framework is built to make the next step (consultation, guide, or hub reading) more useful.

No. Tool inputs at DDC are not stored against patient identity. The output a tool produces in the session belongs to the patient; the clinic does not maintain a database of tool inputs linked to identifiers. Patients can use tools anonymously without account creation. This is the default, not optional architecture. Patients who wish to bring a tool output to consultation can do so by saving the output themselves; the consultation does not require prior tool-use to begin and does not check for it. The framework treats privacy as a starting condition.

Yes, where the underlying logic is Indian-skin-aware. Tools that produce skin-type, candidacy, or risk outputs use Indian-skin-first frameworks where applicable. Tools whose underlying scoring logic was developed against lighter Fitzpatrick populations are flagged for supplementation by clinician judgement; the framework prevents a tool from giving a confidently-wrong answer simply because the underlying logic was not calibrated for melanin-rich skin. Patients should treat tool outputs as a starting picture and validate against clinician examination for decision-grade questions.

Most patients benefit from starting with the broad routing tools — Fitzpatrick skin type, skin type analyzer, the relevant severity assessor for their primary concern. From there, they typically move to category-specific tools (skin / hair / body sub-hubs) and then to candidacy or treatment-readiness aids if a procedural decision is being considered. The recommended starter tools are listed in the "Common starter tools" section above; the routing aids are designed to feed into the next layer of tools and into the right clinical guide or hub.

No. Tools route to clinical pathways but do not select treatment, do not select dose, and do not replace clinician judgement on contraindications. Self-treating based on a tool output is not the framework the tools are built for. Patients who use tools to identify the right clinical pathway and then book a consultation receive better, safer plans than patients who attempt to act on tool outputs alone. The framework is honest about this; the consultation is where treatment decisions are made.

The current tool library is in English. Multilingual versions are on the development roadmap but are not yet available. Patients more comfortable in regional languages are welcome to use the English tools with translation support, or to skip directly to a consultation where the dermatologist can explain in the patient's preferred language. The framework prioritises clinical accuracy over language coverage at present; tool localisation will follow once the underlying logic is validated for each language.

Tools at DDC are free to use, with no account creation required and no input storage. The next step for any decision-grade question is a dermatologist consultation, which starts from ₹1,999*. Tools route to the right pathway; consultation is where treatment decisions are made and where written plans with realistic ranges are produced. The framework does not gate tools behind paywalls; it treats them as public-good educational triage aids that serve the broader patient population rather than as a sales funnel.