Early Experience With Full-scope Shared-care Teleglaucoma in Canada.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Telemedicine
• Public Health

Background:

• Glaucoma management faces challenges with overburdened subspecialty clinics.
• Teleglaucoma offers a potential solution for efficient patient care and diversion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the early experience with Care1, a large, full-scope, shared-care teleglaucoma program in Canada.
• To evaluate the collaborative model between optometrists and ophthalmologists for glaucoma patient management.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective query of the Care1 database for glaucoma patients (February 2016-March 2017).
• Collection of clinical characteristics including visual acuity, intraocular pressure, and imaging results.
• Analysis of quality metrics such as referral rates and inter-provider assessment consistency.

Main Results:

• 4070 patients were included, with 55.1% female and an average age of 57.8 years.
• 97.3% had visual acuity between 20/20 and 20/40; 3.3% had intraocular pressure >26.
• Only 1.9% of patients required an in-person ophthalmologist consultation.

Conclusions:

• The Care1 teleglaucoma program demonstrates a convenient and collaborative care model.
• It effectively manages glaucoma suspects and medically stable glaucoma patients.
• This approach facilitates efficient diversion from subspecialty clinics while ensuring continuity of care.