Abstract
Purpose :
Follow up to the Grady Eye Clinic (GEC) based on location for Grady Hospital’s Teleretina screening program is not well understood. Using a retrospective cohort study, we determined the difference in both successful follow-up (FU) and initial treatment completion (TC) based on screening location.
Methods :
A total of 6,876 patients in the Grady Health System were screened for ophthalmic complications using a Teleretina camera. Patients with pathology were referred to the GEC. Patients in the date range of January 18, 2018 to September 18, 2018 with findings of proliferative diabetic retinopathy or macular edema were considered for this study. Patients meeting these criteria who were treated by an outside ophthalmologist were excluded from the study.
FU was successful if a patient scheduled and showed to a GEC appointment following their Teleretina screening result. TC was successful if a patient followed the initial recommendation established at the GEC visit.
Results :
A total of 269 patients were included in this study. 69.6% of patients had successfully followed up, and 52.0% of patients completed initial treatment. Total patients screened, as well as screening location distance from GEC, are as follows: 187 (0mi), 16 (3mi), 25 (3mi), 12 (5mi), 18 (6mi), and 11 (14mi) for Grady, Asa Yancey, Kirkwood, Brookhaven, East Point, and North Fulton, respectively.
Results for percent FU based on location is shown in Figure 1, and TC is shown in Figure 2. There was statistically significant difference in FU rates between Asa Yancey and Grady. There were no other statistically significant differences in FU or TC between screening locations.
Conclusions :
The results indicate that patients screened at Grady have the highest FU rates and second highest TC rates. North Fulton had the second highest FU rates and the highest TC completion rates, despite being located furthest from the GEC. Asa Yancey had the lowest FU rates and second-lowest TC rates, despite being located closest to the GEC. These results suggest that other socioeconomic factors impact patient FU and TC rates. Further studies are recommended to improve the power of this analysis, and factors outside of distance from GEC must be considered to better understand barriers to successful patient FU and TC.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.