Telemedicine and delivery of ophthalmic care in rural and remote communities: Drawing from Australian experience.
Katerina V KiburgAngus TurnerMingguang HePublished in: Clinical & experimental ophthalmology (2022)
Rural and remote communities in Australia are characterised by small but widely dispersed populations. This has been proven to be a major hurdle in access to medical care services with screening and treatment goals repeatedly being missed. Telemedicine in ophthalmology provides the opportunity to increase the availability of high quality and timely access to healthcare within. Recent years has also seen the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) in ophthalmology, particularly in the screening of diseases. AI will hopefully increase the number of appropriate referrals, reduce travel time for patients and ensure timely triage given the low number of qualified optometrists and ophthalmologists. Telemedicine and AI has been introduced in a number of countries and has led to tremendous benefits and advantages when compared to standard practices. This paper summarises current practices in telemedicine and AI and the future of this technology in improving patient care in the field of ophthalmology.
Keyphrases
- artificial intelligence
- healthcare
- machine learning
- big data
- deep learning
- primary care
- end stage renal disease
- south africa
- emergency department
- newly diagnosed
- ejection fraction
- chronic kidney disease
- prognostic factors
- palliative care
- mental health
- public health
- pain management
- quality improvement
- smoking cessation
- health insurance
- infectious diseases
- chronic pain
- health information