Abstract
Purpose: :
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) management requires a collaborative effort among ophthalmologists, neonatologists, nurses, and patient families. This study was designed to: (1) Determine the perceptions of neonatology personnel regarding standard ROP care, and (2) Analyze the baseline attitudes, perceived benefits, and perceived concerns of neonatology personnel toward integration of new information technology strategies such as telemedicine into ROP management.
Methods: :
Three focus groups were conducted involving either neonatologists or neonatal nurses at a large academic medical center. Focus groups ranged in size from 4 to 6 participants, and were recorded, transcribed, coded, and qualitatively analyzed. Nurse participants had a mean (range) of 18.5 (4-32) years experience working in neonatal intensive care units, and physician participants had a mean (range) of 3.5 (2-5) years post-residency experience.
Results: :
35 concepts expressed by focus group participants were identified. Among the 15 concepts that primarily related to standard ROP care, 2 reflected positive perceptions and 13 reflected negative perceptions. Among the 20 concepts that primarily related to potential applications of information technology, 7 reflected positive perceptions, 5 reflected negative perceptions, and 8 reflected suggested design criteria.
Conclusions: :
Important limitations of standard ROP care are perceived by neonatology personnel. This may be used to identify ways in which emerging technologies such as telemedicine could improve ROP management.
Keywords: retinopathy of prematurity • imaging/image analysis: clinical • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: health care delivery/economics/manpower