SCARD Surgical Audit CPD Program Details

To participate in the SCARD Surgical Audit CPD Program, practitioners may enrol via the “CPD Enrolment” option located within the “Preferences” menu on their SCARD Dashboard. Enrolment activates CPD tracking and enables participation in the SCARD Surgical Audit CPD framework from the date of enrolment.

Medical practitioners who do not yet have an existing SCARD account must first register for access. All new registrations are subject to validation by the supervising practitioner before account activation, ensuring appropriate governance and data integrity within the audit system.

Participants who enrol in and complete the SCARD Surgical Audit CPD Program may be allocated or self-report up to:

• 10 hours of Educational Activities

• 15 hours of Reviewing Performance

• 15 hours of Measuring Outcomes

per calendar year (from the date of enrolment) across the 2026–2028 triennium, provided the program requirements are met. This structure reflects the reporting periods for CPD providers while accounting for the SCARD Surgical Audit use in clinical practice.

Participation in the SCARD Surgical Audit enables practitioners to generate objective performance indicators and undertake comparative analysis against both their own historical data and the aggregated, de-identified SCARD peer data pool, with review and benchmarking supported by SCARD.

The audit provides detailed reporting across the following clinical activity and diagnostic indicators:

Clinical Activity and Case Mix

• Total number of patients managed

• Total number of new lesions assessed

• Total number of previously biopsied lesions

• Histological breakdown of all new lesions by diagnosis

Diagnostic Performance

• Number Needed to Treat (NNT)*

• Diagnostic sensitivity for all new lesions

• Diagnostic sensitivity for all new melanomas

• Diagnostic sensitivity for all new non-melanoma skin cancers

• Diagnostic sensitivity for all new squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs)

• Diagnostic sensitivity for all new basal cell carcinomas (BCCs)

* NNT is used as a surrogate marker for diagnostic specificity, reflecting avoidance of unnecessary excision of benign lesions.

The SCARD Audit also provides a detailed analysis of surgical performance, enabling practitioners to review outcomes related to diagnostic decision-making and procedural adequacy.

Diagnostic Accuracy
Practitioners can review percentage-based measures of diagnostic accuracy by comparing their provisional clinical diagnosis at the time of excision or initial treatment with final histopathological outcomes.

Surgical Adequacy
Practitioners can review percentage-based measures of definitive management where malignant lesions were treated with histologically adequate margins, with analysis stratified by lesion type, including:

• Adequacy of surgical margins – definitively managed BCCs

• Adequacy of surgical margins – definitively managed IEC/Bowen’s disease

• Adequacy of surgical margins – definitively managed SCCs

• Adequacy of surgical margins – definitively managed keratoacanthomas

• Adequacy of surgical margins – definitively managed melanomas in situ

• Adequacy of surgical margins – definitively managed invasive melanomas

• Adequacy of surgical margins – definitively managed other malignant lesions

Procedural Analysis

• Breakdown of all procedures performed to exclude melanoma

• Breakdown of definitive management procedures used for malignant conditions

• Breakdown of definitive management procedures used for benign conditions

The SCARD Surgical Audit is conducted on a per-lesion basis, with a minimum of 40 specimens required for each collection period. Practitioners are encouraged to record all patients undergoing assessment or treatment for skin cancer–related conditions during the collection period to ensure representative and meaningful audit data.

A typical collection period is two months; however, this timeframe may vary depending on practitioner location, clinical setting, and patient volume. Practitioners working in rural or remote settings, or those with lower case volumes, may require up to six months to meet the minimum specimen requirement.

The audit process is then repeated in a non-contiguous subsequent collection period, with the same minimum specimen requirement applied. At the conclusion of each collection period, SCARD generates structured audit reports incorporating comparative analysis of the practitioner’s surgical data against aggregated, de-identified peer data, with all results reviewed by SCARD to support quality assurance and benchmarking.

By collecting data across two separate, non-contiguous collection periods, practitioners are able to compare SCARD-generated reports from each period to identify changes or trends in diagnostic performance, surgical outcomes, and clinical practice patterns. This comparative reporting supports reflective practice, enables assessment of improvement over time, and contributes to meaningful quality assurance and Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

With sustained use of SCARD as a self-auditing tool, practitioners can monitor trends in their diagnostic and surgical performance over time. Longitudinal analysis of audit data commonly demonstrates progressive improvements in clinical decision-making, diagnostic accuracy, and treatment adequacy. The following long-term changes are typically observed:

• Improved lesion recognition: Enhanced recognition of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) improves positive predictive value (PPV), reflected in more accurate provisional diagnoses at the time of assessment or excision.

• Earlier melanoma detection: An increased proportion of melanomas diagnosed in situ (excluding initial consultations per patient) is used as a surrogate marker for improved diagnostic sensitivity and earlier detection.

• Improved diagnostic specificity: A lower Number Needed to Treat (NNT) reflects greater specificity, indicating fewer unnecessary excisions of benign lesions.

• Improved treatment adequacy: Increased rates of histologically adequate margins for melanoma and NMSC indicate improvements in procedural planning and definitive surgical management.

Once the required collection periods have been completed and comparative audit reports have been generated, de-identified audit results are submitted to the SCARD Data Pool. Aggregated data within the Data Pool is reviewed to support benchmarking, quality assurance, and longitudinal analysis across participating practitioners.

Practitioners who have met the program requirements are formally recorded by SCARD as having completed the SCARD Surgical Audit CPD Program for the relevant triennium. This completion status supports CPD reporting and provides a defensible record of participation in structured audit, performance review, and outcomes measurement.

Multiple medical colleges and professional bodies recognise the SCARD Surgical Audit CPD Program as a structured self-audit and quality-improvement activity for Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Practitioners who complete the program requirements may be eligible for CPD recognition with the following organisations, subject to individual membership and applicable college requirements:

• ACRRM – Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine

• SCCA – Skin Cancer College Australasia (SkinPro CPD)

• CPD Australia

Practitioners may select the college or colleges with which they wish to seek recognition, in accordance with their professional memberships and the specific CPD frameworks and reporting requirements of each organisation.

Once the collection periods are completed and the comparison reports have been generated, the de-identified results are reported to the SCARD pool. The pool results are assessed & upon meeting the requirements, practitioners are recorded as completing the SCARD Surgical Audit CPD Program.

If you require further information about the SCARD Surgical Audit CPD Program or have questions about the SCARD Surgical Audit, please do not hesitate to contact us via the Contact Us form or [email protected]