SHBC1654

V.YIP¹, Z. QUEK¹, S.N. JUMAHAT¹, E.X. CHONG¹, W.C. SOO HOO¹, P.L. TEO¹

Tan Tock Seng Hospital¹

The ageing population and better access to healthcare in Singapore has created a huge burden on our healthcare resources. Whilst the pool of ophthalmologists is increasing every year, it is not sufficient to meet the demands of the growing number of patients with chronic eye disease. In recent years, optometrists have expanded their job scope to manage stable patients in the stable eye condition clinic (SEC-C). Their job scope continues to evolve especially during this time of COVID19 pandemic. The Virtual Ophthalmology Service (TVOS) was implemented with the aim of reducing unnecessary physical consultations and increase the efficiency in the management of patients. We aim to reduce the turn-around-time (TAT) by 30%.

The efficiency of the service was assessed by comparing the TAT for patients in SEC-C before and after implementation of TVOS. Safety of the service was also determined by the concordance rates between the optometrists’ and doctors’ management plans.

Between July 2020 to March 2021, there were 546 patients seen in TVOS SEC-C. There was a reduction in TAT from an average of 68 minutes to 36 minutes (47% reduction) with the implementation of TVOS. The optometrists achieved 96% concordance with the doctors’ management. Right-siting was achieved in 228 patients (42%) who were discharged or decanted to community eye clinics.

We have demonstrated that TVOS SEC-C is a safe and efficient way of managing patients with stable eye conditions.