Ji-Peng Olivia Li|Alice A.P. Thomas|Caroline Kilduff|Abison Logeswaran|Ravi Ramessur|Anton Jaselsky|Dawn A Sim|Gordon Hay|Peter Thomas
Safety of video-based telemedicine compared to in-person triage in emergency ophthalmology during COVID-19
Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust|Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust|Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust|Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust|Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust|Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust|University College London|Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust|University College London|Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust|Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust|University College London
need social distancing midst covid19 pandemic forced ophthalmologists innovate telemedicine novel process triaging emergency ophthalmology patients via videoconsultations reduce hospital attendances however safety profile services unknownin retrospective cohort study reviewed case notes 404 adults used videoconsultation service 20042020 03052020 compared 451 patient attended eye casualty person time deemed require day ophthalmic examinationpatients seen videoconsultations tended younger median 43 years interquartile range 27 vs median 49 years interquartile range 28 males used facetoface triage 55 females used videoconsultation 54 fewer patients seen videoconsultations required specialist review compared faceface triage x2 1 n 854 12802 p0001 355 patients initially seen videoconsultation unplanned reattendance within 1 month compared 157 group initially seen person x2 1 n 234 731 p 0007 rate actual harm different 0 method perfect intergrader correlation graded independently two senior ophthalmologists 97 patients seen video platform surveyed satisfied carewe demonstrate comparable patient safety videoconsultations onemonth followup person review service acceptable patients reduces risk covid19 transmission propose videoconsultations effective desirable tool triage ophthalmologythe research supported national institute health research nihr biomedical research centre based moorfields eye hospital nhs foundation trust ucl institute ophthalmology fund pt dss time conduct research views expressed authors necessarily nhs nihr department health