Impact of Implementing Teleophthalmology Referral Guidelines Using the eyeSmart EMR App in 63,703 Patients from India
Objective. To describe the clinical indications and the impact of implementation of specific teleophthalmology referral guidelines in a large rural village vision centre network in India. Methods. This cross-sectional vision centre-based study included 1,016,284 patients presenting between January 2...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2022-01-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/8523131 |
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| author | Anthony Vipin Das Rohit C. Khanna Niranjan Kumar Padmaja Kumari Rani |
| author_facet | Anthony Vipin Das Rohit C. Khanna Niranjan Kumar Padmaja Kumari Rani |
| author_sort | Anthony Vipin Das |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective. To describe the clinical indications and the impact of implementation of specific teleophthalmology referral guidelines in a large rural village vision centre network in India. Methods. This cross-sectional vision centre-based study included 1,016,284 patients presenting between January 2017 and March 2020. Patients who were referred for a teleophthalmology opinion were included as cases. The data were collected using the eyeSmart EMR app on a smart tablet. A training intervention was done to reinforce the implementation of targeted teleophthalmology referral guidelines. Results. Overall, 63,703 (6.3%) patients were referred for a teleophthalmology opinion and were included for analysis. The median age was 41 (IQR: 26-59) years, and adults (88.4%) were commonly referred for a consult. The two most common age groups were between 31-40 years (17.4%) and 21-30 years (16.3%), and the majority of patients were male (59.1%). The most common clinical indication was cornea and anterior segment disorders (71.05%). The most common queries for teleophthalmology referral before versus after the reinforcement of implementation of guidelines were red eye (33.4% vs. 45.6%) followed by cataract (21.2% vs. 8.1%). There was an increase in the red eye (<0.001) and a decrease in cataract (<0.001) which was statistically significant. The proportion of patients for whom a teleophthalmology consult could have been requested but not sent was minimal (2.3%). Conclusion. Implementation of targeted teleophthalmology referral guidelines enables an effective triage to seek opinion for more pertinent ocular diseases that require care. Adult male patients with cornea and anterior segment disorders are most commonly referred for a teleophthalmology opinion. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2883ac0fb1264c439697a4e4be6b3a21 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1687-6423 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications |
| spelling | doaj-art-2883ac0fb1264c439697a4e4be6b3a212025-08-20T02:03:51ZengWileyInternational Journal of Telemedicine and Applications1687-64232022-01-01202210.1155/2022/8523131Impact of Implementing Teleophthalmology Referral Guidelines Using the eyeSmart EMR App in 63,703 Patients from IndiaAnthony Vipin Das0Rohit C. Khanna1Niranjan Kumar2Padmaja Kumari Rani3Department of eyeSmart EMR & AEyeGullapalli Pratibha Rao International Centre for Advancement of Rural Eye CareGullapalli Pratibha Rao International Centre for Advancement of Rural Eye CareDepartment of TeleophthalmologyObjective. To describe the clinical indications and the impact of implementation of specific teleophthalmology referral guidelines in a large rural village vision centre network in India. Methods. This cross-sectional vision centre-based study included 1,016,284 patients presenting between January 2017 and March 2020. Patients who were referred for a teleophthalmology opinion were included as cases. The data were collected using the eyeSmart EMR app on a smart tablet. A training intervention was done to reinforce the implementation of targeted teleophthalmology referral guidelines. Results. Overall, 63,703 (6.3%) patients were referred for a teleophthalmology opinion and were included for analysis. The median age was 41 (IQR: 26-59) years, and adults (88.4%) were commonly referred for a consult. The two most common age groups were between 31-40 years (17.4%) and 21-30 years (16.3%), and the majority of patients were male (59.1%). The most common clinical indication was cornea and anterior segment disorders (71.05%). The most common queries for teleophthalmology referral before versus after the reinforcement of implementation of guidelines were red eye (33.4% vs. 45.6%) followed by cataract (21.2% vs. 8.1%). There was an increase in the red eye (<0.001) and a decrease in cataract (<0.001) which was statistically significant. The proportion of patients for whom a teleophthalmology consult could have been requested but not sent was minimal (2.3%). Conclusion. Implementation of targeted teleophthalmology referral guidelines enables an effective triage to seek opinion for more pertinent ocular diseases that require care. Adult male patients with cornea and anterior segment disorders are most commonly referred for a teleophthalmology opinion.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/8523131 |
| spellingShingle | Anthony Vipin Das Rohit C. Khanna Niranjan Kumar Padmaja Kumari Rani Impact of Implementing Teleophthalmology Referral Guidelines Using the eyeSmart EMR App in 63,703 Patients from India International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications |
| title | Impact of Implementing Teleophthalmology Referral Guidelines Using the eyeSmart EMR App in 63,703 Patients from India |
| title_full | Impact of Implementing Teleophthalmology Referral Guidelines Using the eyeSmart EMR App in 63,703 Patients from India |
| title_fullStr | Impact of Implementing Teleophthalmology Referral Guidelines Using the eyeSmart EMR App in 63,703 Patients from India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of Implementing Teleophthalmology Referral Guidelines Using the eyeSmart EMR App in 63,703 Patients from India |
| title_short | Impact of Implementing Teleophthalmology Referral Guidelines Using the eyeSmart EMR App in 63,703 Patients from India |
| title_sort | impact of implementing teleophthalmology referral guidelines using the eyesmart emr app in 63 703 patients from india |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/8523131 |
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