Telemedicine for Diabetic Retinopathy Screening in an Urban, Insured Population Using Fundus Cameras in a Primary Care Office Setting

• Published in: Ophthalmic surgery, lasers & imaging retina Vol. 50; no. 11; p. e274
• Main Authors: Martinez, Jose Agustin, Parikh, Pooja D, Wong, Robert W, Harper, Clio A, Dooner, James W, Levitan, Mark, Nixon, Peter A, Young, Ryan C, Ghafoori, Shelley Day
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-11-2019
• Subjects: Adult; Diabetic Retinopathy - diagnosis; Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; Female; Fundus Oculi; Guideline Adherence - standards; Humans; Male; Mass Screening - organization & administration; Middle Aged; Photography - methods; Retrospective Studies; Telemedicine - methods; Urban Health Services - organization & administration
• ISSN: 2325-8179
• DOI: 10.3928/23258160-20191031-14

This study examines the rate of adherence to recommended ophthalmology follow-up after primary care-based telemedicine diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening.
Retrospective observational study of 5,764 insured diabetic patients undergoing telemedicine DR screening between May 2015 and April 2017 in an urban primary care setting. Patients underwent non-mydriatic fundus photography for telemedicine DR screening. The main outcome measure was the "capture rate."
Of the patients studied, 31.7% were found to have any retinal pathology, and 20% were found to have DR. In the 11.8% percent of patients with sight-threatening retinopathy who were recommended to have a retinal examination, the capture rate was 81.9%.
The authors' study demonstrated higher capture rate than has been previously reported, indicating that telemedicine DR screening in an urban, insured population may be a useful method for triaging high-risk patients without losing patients to follow-up. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2019;50: e274-e277.].