Virtual visits, same-day surgery improve patient accessibility, convenience
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CHICAGO — Virtual visits and same-day surgery offer convenience and increased accessibility for patients undergoing refractive surgery, according to a speaker here.
“It definitely takes less resources from your practice,” Neda Shamie, MD, said at Refractive Surgery Subspecialty Day at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting. “It doesn’t rely on your time.”
Other benefits of virtual visits include offering an established platform for education and information delivery as well as a more expedited process for in-person consultations, she said. This leads to an overall more streamlined process and happier patients.
Telehealth adoption and positive patient experiences tend to be higher among individuals with minimal medical problems, the highly educated, those from a higher socioeconomic class, individuals at the executive or professional level, and younger patients, Shamie said.
For same-day surgery, she requires the patient to have a recent exam with a stable refractive error. In addition, the patient must be of non-presbyopic age, have consistent diagnostic measurements and have astigmatism of less than 3 D and myopic correction of –6 D or less. The patient must understand that preoperative testing may lead to canceled surgery or a change in recommendation.
Shamie said that the addition of telehealth options as a response to the pandemic has benefited her practice overall.
“This most definitely, for our practice, was a silver lining,” she said. “We thought to ourselves, ‘OK, how can we use virtual consults in our patients’ favor and our favor?’ Patients were much more comfortable with virtual consults, and so we continued to expand on it.”
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Shamie N. A new era: Virtual consults and same day surgery. Presented at: American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting; Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2022; Chicago.
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