Telemedicine for Age-Related Macular Degeneration

As the leading cause of vision loss in the United States, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) would seem to be amenable to interventions that increase access to screening and management services for patients. AMD poses several unique challenges for telemedicine, however. The disease lacks clinical consensus on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of screening the general population, and more complex imaging modalities may be required than for what has traditionally been used for diabetic retinopathy telehealth systems. The current literature was reviewed to find clinical trials and expert consensus documents on the state-of-the-art of telemedicine for AMD. A range of feasibility studies have reported success with telemedicine strategies for AMD. Several investigators have reported experience with AMD screening and remote-monitoring systems as well as artificial intelligence applications. There are currently no large-scale telemedicine programs for either screening or managing AMD, but new approaches to screening and managing the condition may allow for expansion of high-quality convenient care for an increasing patient population.