Adaptations of early career optometrists in clinical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic

Phu, Jack; Ho, K.P.; Kweon, Suhyun; Liu, Naian; Littlechild, Lowana; Rafla, Daniel; Zhong, Margaret B.

doi:10.1080/08164622.2021.1924628

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“… 56 The impact of review schedules and costs at the provider and patient levels presents an opportunity for lower cost providers, methods for promoting health literacy, and new, suitable models of collaborative and telemedicine care to reduce the financial burden of glaucoma, while preserving the same diagnostic acumen for long-term sustainability. 24 , 57 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glaucoma Suspects: The Impact of Risk Factor-Driven Review Periods on Clinical Load, Diagnoses, and Healthcare Costs

Phu

Masselos

Sullivan-Mee³

et al. 2022

Trans. Vis. Sci. Tech.

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Purpose To model the healthcare impact (clinical attendance time and financial cost) and clinical outcomes (glaucoma diagnoses) of different risk factor–driven review frequencies for glaucoma suspect patients up until the point of discharge or diagnosis. Methods Medical records of 494 glaucoma suspects were examined to extract the clinical diagnosis. Two criteria for review periods were defined, based on contrasting stringency from established clinical guidelines: American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), more stringent/less frequent; and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), less stringent/more frequent. We used these data to model patient outcomes and healthcare costs using a Markov model. Results The less stringent/more frequent criterion resulted in more high-risk glaucoma suspects requiring more frequent review compared with the more stringent/less frequent criterion. Across the 15 Markov cycles (7.5 years), the less stringent/more frequent review criterion resulted in 6.6% more diagnoses and fewer overall clinical visits (14.7%) and reduced cost per diagnosis by 12% to 32% ( P < 0.0001). The number of glaucoma diagnoses made using each criterion converged at 2.5 to 3 years. Conclusions The stringency of risk assessments for glaucoma suspects impacts review periods and therefore clinical load, healthcare costs, and diagnosis rates. Using current testing methods, more frequent review periods appear advantageous for diagnostic efficiency, with both lower clinic load and lower cost up until the point of discharge or glaucoma diagnosis. Translational Relevance A less stringent criterion for assessing the risk of developing glaucoma potentially offers a more cost-effective method for reviewing glaucoma suspects, especially within the first 2.5 years.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glaucoma Suspects: The Impact of Risk Factor-Driven Review Periods on Clinical Load, Diagnoses, and Healthcare Costs

Phu

Masselos

Sullivan-Mee³

et al. 2022

Trans. Vis. Sci. Tech.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The authors conclude that lessons learnt during the pandemic will lead to the future development of these methods, many of which will enhance optometry teaching. Phu et al 16 discuss how optometric practice has had to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, through the prism of early career optometrists. Adopted strategies include a revised approach to optometric triage and co-management, increased use of optometric telehealth, employing contactless delivery of ophthalmic appliances, adopting cleaning protocols, and use of personal protective equipment.…”

Section: Presenting a Covid-19 Focus Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

The burgeoning COVID-19 literature

Efron

2021

Clinical and Experimental Optometry

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“…In eye care services, telemedicine has been used for screening and diagnosing ocular disease (Sommer & Blumenthal, 2020;Valentim et al, 2022), low vision rehabilitation (Christy et al, 2022), consultation (Mansoor et al, 2021), and triaging patients for appointment referral (Phu et al, 2021). Although telemedicine has been long available, the pandemic precipitates immediate demand to extend ophthalmic care delivery.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Educating Optometry Undergraduates Through Telemedicine: The Optometry Educator’s Perspectives

Ismail¹,

Razak²

2023

IJARPED

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Introduction: Although telemedicine has been long available, the pandemic precipitates immediate demand to expand ophthalmic care delivery. For the technology to be used in local practices, a few factors need to be considered in terms of awareness, knowledge, attitude and individual skills regarding telemedicine from the optometry educator's perspective. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among the optometry educators servicing the optometry school in Malaysia. A validated questionnaire regarding the awareness, knowledge, attitude and individual skills of telemedicine was adopted from the previous study. The responses were gathered from two-to five-point scales which differed from each section. The level of awareness, knowledge, attitude and skills were calculated by the summation of the answer collected. Scores less than 49% were considered low, 50% to 70% were considered average and 71% and above were considered high. Results: 48 out of 70 respondents (68%) returned the survey after three weeks of distribution from five main universities in Malaysia. Fifty-eight percent of the respondents are highly aware of telemedicine, the minority (27%) showed a high knowledge of telemedicine, a majority (83%) have a high attitude towards telemedicine, and almost halves of respondent (44%) have average to high skills in ICT. There is a significant difference in total scores of knowledges, attitudes, and skills among educators that have different roles in the department, academic qualifications and working experience (p<0. 05). An open-ended questionnaire showed that majority of the respondents have low acceptability of the implementation of telemedicine in the practice due to lack of training and the unavailability of the facilities that provide it. Conclusion: Awareness, knowledge, attitude, and skills towards telemedicine were on an average to high level among the optometry educators, however, the lack of training and lack of availability results in poor acceptability of it.

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Adaptations of early career optometrists in clinical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cited by 6 publications

References 21 publications

Glaucoma Suspects: The Impact of Risk Factor-Driven Review Periods on Clinical Load, Diagnoses, and Healthcare Costs

Glaucoma Suspects: The Impact of Risk Factor-Driven Review Periods on Clinical Load, Diagnoses, and Healthcare Costs

The burgeoning COVID-19 literature

Educating Optometry Undergraduates Through Telemedicine: The Optometry Educator’s Perspectives

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