Abstract
Purpose :
10% of patients invited to Moorfields Eye Hospital Oculoplastic video consultation (VC) clinics decline to participate, and 5% are unable to join on the day. 28% of our patients indicated that they would like to join sessions to improve their digital skills. Amidst growing evidence that some patient groups may be unable to capitalise on the benefits of teleophthalmology, we set up a digital skills workshop at Moorfields Eye Hospital.
Methods :
Patients who had previously declined a VC - and those attending parallel clinics who were keen to improve their digital skills - were invited to participate. Delivered by a member of our Video Consultation Team using departmental laptops, tablets and patients’ devices, training included using our VC platform, taking a ‘selfie’ photo of the eye, and sending it via email. Pre- and post-workshop surveys explored patients’ confidence with online services, inclination to use VC and perceived utility of the workshop using a 10-point Likert scale (0 ‘extremely unlikely’ to 10 ‘extremely likely’). Paired T-test was used to assess significance of difference between ratings before and after the workshop. Qualitative feedback was analysed thematically.
Results :
Feedback was obtained from 16 patients of 24 patients (67% response rate). 58% were invited to the workshop after declining a VC; 42% attended ad hoc from a parallel clinic, interested in improving their digital skills. Average age was 63 years (69% male, 31% female). Patients reported greater inclination to use a VC after attending the workshop compared to before (mean rating 6.1/10 vs 4.75/10, p=0.02) and felt more comfortable with VCs after the workshop compared to before (mean rating 6.1/10 vs 4.5/10, p=0.005). Patients found the workshop useful (mean rating 7.8/10) and were likely to recommend it to family and friends (mean rating 8/10). The most common suggestion was for an interpreter for patients with limited command of English. Commonly reported barriers to using VCs were lack of: confidence navigating online (63%), awareness that health services could be accessed remotely (38%), and confidence that a VC would adequately address their health problem (38%).
Conclusions :
Patients consider digital skills workshops useful to improve confidence and motivation with using online services. Scaling these workshops may help address an increasing issue of exclusion as services become more reliant on teleophthalmology.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.