Telehealth is as effective as an in-person visit for follow-up care for patients with macular degeneration, according to research presented at the 13th Annual European Society of Retina Specialists Conference.
Researchers evaluated 185 wet macular degeneration patients who received both in-person and remote assessments. The conclusions about appropriate next steps in the patients' care were then compared.
The remote decisions differed in 19 cases, later determined as 16 false-positives for the need for retreatment and three false-negatives. These rates were considered acceptable by researchers.
Additionally, the time spent on each patient fell dramatically during the telehealth phase. Remote consults lasted an average of 1 minute and 21 seconds, compared with an average in-person consult length of 10 minutes.
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