COVID-19 and Use of Teleophthalmology (CUT Group): Trends and Diagnoses

Abstract

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Socioeconomic and Demographic Disparities in the Use of Telemedicine for Ophthalmic Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…16 However, the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred significant growth in ophthalmologists' capacity to provide virtual care. 2,4 In our study, telehealth encounters comprised over half of all visits in an entire month after the American Academy of Ophthalmology's (AAO) recommendation to reduce in-person visit frequency on March 18 th and a statewide stay-at-home order issued on March 20 th . 17 While increased J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f knowledge of COVID-19 transmission prevention facilitated a return to primarily in-person clinical encounters, telemedicine continued to represent a significant proportion of ophthalmic visits, particularly for patients seeing oculoplastic subspecialists and comprehensive ophthalmologists.…”

“…2,3 In a study of a large commercial insurance plan in Michigan, telehealth visits comprised 17% of total ophthalmic visits among patients during one week in April of 2020, and by September of 2020, 37% of ophthalmologists in the study had utilized telehealth at least once. 4 As in ophthalmology, telemedicine is rapidly growing as a valid care delivery method in across all medical fields. However, research during the COVID-19 pandemic has identified lower rates of telehealth utilization among vulnerable patient populations in other medical specialties.…”

“… 2 , 3 In a study of a large commercial insurance plan in Michigan, telehealth visits comprised 17% of total ophthalmic visits among patients during one week in April of 2020, and by September of 2020, 37% of ophthalmologists in the study had utilized telehealth at least once. 4 …”

COVID-19 and ophthalmology: A scientometric analysis

“…Knowing the current trends in research would help develop an interprofessional approach, which will not only help to manage the COVID-19 patients with/without ophthalmic manifestations but also help to mitigate the spread of disease successfully. With a tremendous increase in COVID-19-related publications and different research related to different remote care delivery models in the outpatient,[ 13 14 15 ] inpatient, and emergency room[ 16 17 18 19 ] settings a scientometric map must be generated of all the research currently exisiting in this area. We present a body of publications that quantified country-specific and worldwide coverage of COVID-19 literature pertaining to ophthalmology.…”

The digital footprint of Philippine eye care centres in the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…3 While teleophthalmology examinations and portable technology have limitations, benefits include advocacy, triage/appointment-setting and care resulting in reduction of in-person visits. [4][5][6] During March-June 2020, we explored website and social media presence/footprints of eyecare centres: 135 private ambulatory surgicentres (ASCs) and 27 tertiary centres with training programmes (TCs). Findings include: > majority having websites (88% ASCs; 54% TCs) and being present on Facebook (83%-100%) > a low presence on other top social media platforms; lowest in Instagram (25% TCs) > COVID-related material (81% TCs) and telemedicine services (20% ASCs; 50% TCs) are posted mostly on Facebook > eye/ophthalmic health content present in up to 37% of sites.…”