Open AccessTeleglaucoma: Improving access and efficiency for glaucoma care
Author(s) -
Faazil Kassam,
Yogesan Kanagasingam,
Enitan Sogbesan,
Louis R. Pasquale,
Karim F. Damji
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
middle east african journal of ophthalmology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.357
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 0975-1599
pISSN - 0974-9233
DOI - 10.4103/0974-9233.110619
Subject(s) - medicine , telemedicine , glaucoma , health care , work (physics) , emerging technologies , healthcare system , optometry , risk analysis (engineering) , engineering , computer science , economic growth , ophthalmology , mechanical engineering , artificial intelligence , economics
Teleglaucoma is the application of telemedicine for glaucoma. We review and present the current literature on teleglaucoma; present our experience with teleglaucoma programs in Alberta, Canada and Western Australia; and discuss the challenges and opportunities in this emerging field. Teleglaucoma is a novel area that was first explored a little over a decade ago and early studies highlighted the technical challenges of delivering glaucoma care remotely. Advanced technologies have since emerged that show great promise in providing access to underserviced populations. Additionally, these technologies can improve the efficiency of healthcare systems burdened with an increasing number of patients with glaucoma, and a limited supply of ophthalmologists. Additional benefits of teleglaucoma systems include e-learning and e-research. Further work is needed to fully validate and study the cost and comparative effectiveness of this approach relative to traditional models of healthcare.