Topic: ESOPRS 2021 ePoster sessions
Time: Sep 17, 2021 16:00 Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna, 15:00 London
(plain text version here)
Telemedicine in the eyelid biopsy pathway: virtual assessment to efficient theatre utilisation
Author: Laura Ah-Kye
ePoster Number: 106
Purpose
The emergence of telemedicine has revolutionised adnexal services during the Covid-19 pandemic. We demonstrate that virtual assessment of eyelid lesions through video consultation has significantly improved theatre utilisation compared to face-to-face appointments and direct booking from referrals.
Methods
We retrospectively collected oculoplastic theatre utilisation audit data from 2 months of 3 different years (2016, 2019, 2020) for all adnexal procedures in a tertiary ophthalmic specialist centre. In 2016, non-urgent eyelid lesion cases were booked into the operating theatre direct from point of referral (‘One-stop’). In 2019, eyelid lesion cases were assessed and booked into the operating theatre via a nurse-led face-to-face (‘F2F’) clinic. In 2020, video consultation (‘VC’) was introduced to assess and remotely book eyelid lesion cases into the operating theatre. Theatre utilisation was determined as a percentage of cases that proceeded to surgery out of those listed for surgery. Reasons for cancellation were analysed.
Results
The overall theatre utilisation for minor lid surgery over the 3 years were as follows: 67% in 2016, 63.6% in 2019 and 87.2% in 2020. The percentage of cancellations due to ‘surgery no longer required’ was 53% in 2016, 62.5% in 2019 and 20% in 2020.
Conclusion
VC in the eyelid lesion assessment to biopsy pathway leads to efficient theatre utilisation and significantly reduces on the day cancellations compared to One stop and F2F. This supports the concept of providing a telemedicine service for the non-urgent eyelid biopsy pathway. With the increased waiting times for referral and biopsy of eyelid lesions, it is imperative to provide digital accessibility for patient assessment and booking to operating theatre.
Additional Authors
| First name | Last name | Base Hospital / Institution |
|---|---|---|
| Laxmi | Raja | Digital Clinical Lab, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK |
| Dawn | Sim | NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, UK |
| Peter | Thomas | NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, UK |
| Daniel | Ezra | NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, UK |
| Swan | Kang | Adnexal Department, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust |
Abstract ID: 21-170