Telemedicine Training in Ophthalmology Residency Programs.

Abstract

Prior tothe coronaviruspandemic,surgicalspecialties utilized telemedicine sparingly. One study cites prepandemic rates of surgical telehealth use to be less than 1% of new patient encounters, 1 while another study found fewer than 2% of clinicians provided any outpatient care via telemedicine. 2 Within the fi eld of ophthalmology, telemedicine models were largely limited to screening and referral for diabetic retinopathy, 3 age-related macular degeneration, 4 and glaucoma. 5 With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, however, telemedicineutilizationfortriage,diagnosis,andmanagement of disease increased considerably. An astonishing 34% of new patient encounters across surgical specialties were conducted via telehealth at the height of the pandemic. 1 Two signi fi cant questions have arisen in the wake of the early adoption of telemedicine: what is the staying power of telemedicine among surgical subspecialties, and are physicians appropriately trained to utilize telemedicine? Telemedicine utilization declined in late 2020 with the resumption of in-person care, though the proportion of patient visitsconductedviavirtual means remained markedly higher than it had been prepandemic. 1,6