TY - JOUR
T1 - Incorporating Video Visits into Ophthalmology Practice
T2 - A Retrospective Analysis and Patient Survey to Assess Initial Experiences and Patient Acceptability at an Academic Eye Center
AU - Kalra, Gagan
AU - Williams, Andrew M.
AU - Commiskey, Patrick W.
AU - Bowers, Eve M.R.
AU - Schempf, Tadhg
AU - Sahel, José Alain
AU - Waxman, Evan L.
AU - Fu, Roxana
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the participants of the study. No funding or sponsorship was received for this study or publication of this article. All named authors meet the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) criteria for authorship for this article, take responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole, and have given their approval for this version to be published. Gagan Kalra, Andrew M. Williams, Patrick W. Commiskey, Eve M. R. Bowers, Tadhg Schempf, José-Alain Sahel, Evan L. Waxman, and Roxana Fu declare no potential conflicts of interest in relation to this work. This retrospective chart review and cross-sectional survey was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (STUDY20040002), adhered to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments, and maintained Health Insurance Portability and Accessibility Act (HIPAA) compliance. All subjects provided informed consent to participate in the survey component of the study; informed consent was waived for the retrospective chart review. No patient-identifying information is included in the manuscript. The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).
PY - 2020/9/1
Y1 - 2020/9/1
N2 - Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to rapid adoption of teleophthalmology to deliver eyecare remotely. The purpose of our study was to assess the implementation and patient acceptability of video consultation for outpatient ophthalmic care at our institution. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis and patient survey of adult patients who completed a virtual video visit at our institution from 18 March 18 through to 27 April 2020. All video visit encounters were assessed for patient characteristics, diagnoses, management, and follow-up outcomes. Patients were surveyed for their feedback on acceptability and utility of their virtual video consultation. Results: A total of 219 patients (mean age 55 years; range 21–89 years) completed 231 video visit encounters at our department over a 6-week period, of whom 118 were women (54%). About half of these encounters were acute visits (102 visits, 47%). The most common diagnosis of these visits was postoperative state (20 visits, 9% of the total), followed by conjunctivitis (16 visits, 7%), and keratitis (14 visits, 6%). The most common management decisions were medication prescription (102 visits, 46%) or reassurance (86 visits, 39%), while 17 video visit patients (8%) were escalated to an urgent, in-person evaluation. Ninety-two patients completed a follow-up survey (42% response rate), of whom 45 (49%) indicated that they might have delayed seeking care during this pandemic in the absence of a virtual video option. Seventy-two (78%) reported that they would consider participating in a video visit as an alternative to an office-based encounter in the future, and the overall video visit experience was rated highly, with a weighted mean Likert scale rating of 4.3 out of 5 (Cronbach’s α = 0.88). Conclusion: Virtual video visits may be used to manage a range of ophthalmic complaints. Patients participating in this survey found such video visits acceptable and timesaving, and the majority would consider using video consultations for future eyecare encounters.
AB - Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to rapid adoption of teleophthalmology to deliver eyecare remotely. The purpose of our study was to assess the implementation and patient acceptability of video consultation for outpatient ophthalmic care at our institution. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis and patient survey of adult patients who completed a virtual video visit at our institution from 18 March 18 through to 27 April 2020. All video visit encounters were assessed for patient characteristics, diagnoses, management, and follow-up outcomes. Patients were surveyed for their feedback on acceptability and utility of their virtual video consultation. Results: A total of 219 patients (mean age 55 years; range 21–89 years) completed 231 video visit encounters at our department over a 6-week period, of whom 118 were women (54%). About half of these encounters were acute visits (102 visits, 47%). The most common diagnosis of these visits was postoperative state (20 visits, 9% of the total), followed by conjunctivitis (16 visits, 7%), and keratitis (14 visits, 6%). The most common management decisions were medication prescription (102 visits, 46%) or reassurance (86 visits, 39%), while 17 video visit patients (8%) were escalated to an urgent, in-person evaluation. Ninety-two patients completed a follow-up survey (42% response rate), of whom 45 (49%) indicated that they might have delayed seeking care during this pandemic in the absence of a virtual video option. Seventy-two (78%) reported that they would consider participating in a video visit as an alternative to an office-based encounter in the future, and the overall video visit experience was rated highly, with a weighted mean Likert scale rating of 4.3 out of 5 (Cronbach’s α = 0.88). Conclusion: Virtual video visits may be used to manage a range of ophthalmic complaints. Patients participating in this survey found such video visits acceptable and timesaving, and the majority would consider using video consultations for future eyecare encounters.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Coronavirus
KW - Coronavirus disease 2019
KW - Patient-reported outcomes
KW - Telemedicine
KW - Teleophthalmology
KW - Video visits
KW - Web-based vision testing
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85086439225&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s40123-020-00269-3
DO - 10.1007/s40123-020-00269-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 32535837
AN - SCOPUS:85086439225
SN - 2193-8245
VL - 9
SP - 549
EP - 562
JO - Ophthalmology and Therapy
JF - Ophthalmology and Therapy
IS - 3
ER -