![]() Encourage tele-consultation to prioritize patients as well as reduce walk-ins. Each clinic can design a flow chart to suit their practice to direct patient flow. With regard to new patients, this can also be used to fill up patient details, prior to patient's arrivals in the clinic. The group encourages the use of tele-consults to maintain communication with patients and provide staggered appointments to avoid crowding in the clinic. Tele-counseling for triage and appointments Practice Guidelines for Vitreo- Retina Services I. The final version of the document was approved by all the authors. In case there was any difference of opinion, a mutual consensus was reached by discussion amongst all the experts. The paper was then compiled and reviewed by the entire committee. The base document was prepared by the allocation of sections to different experts. The experts included the representatives of VRSI, USI, iROP as well as the retina chiefs from major centres in India. This consensus was developed in continuation to the previous publication by Sengupta et al. The suggestions are for routine patients as COVID-19 positive patients may be managed in designated hospitals as per local protocols. These practice patterns are being formulated to help restart vitreo-retinal services amongst tertiary institutions, corporate and group practices as well as individual eye clinics. The present preferred practice patterns have been formulated by a leading group of experts constituted from the representatives of Vitreoretinal Society of India (VRSI), Uveitis Society of India (USI), iROP and from major institutes and the IJO leadership. Moreover, the practice patterns may be influenced by factors like the size of facility, number of patients being handled, strength of the staff and facilities available besides their capability and preparedness to handle COVID-19 positive patients. Thus, although there are guidelines being issued by several international ophthalmic societies, it may not be possible to apply them uniformly to a country like India with social and economic constraints. The pandemic has highlighted geopolitical differences in management and screening protocols. However, as the super specialty clinics are gearing up to resume their practices, there are lot of queries being generated that need to be addressed both by evidence and consensus. The All India Ophthalmological Society (AIOS) – Indian Journal of Ophthalmology (IJO) recently published a consensus statement on preferred practices during the COVID-19 pandemic and suggested that these general practices be followed during the post-lockdown period as well. The global Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought in several unprecedented challenges that the world has no experience in dealing with. Also these suggestions have to be implemented keeping in compliance with local rules and regulations. Further, the suggestions are for routine patients as COVID-19 positive patients may be managed in designated hospitals as per local protocols. As the situation remains volatile, we would like to mention that these suggestions are evolving and likely to change as our understanding and experience gets better. The aim of this article is to develop preferred practice patterns, by developing a consensus amongst the lead experts, that would help the institutes as well as individual vitreo-retina and uveitis experts to restart their practices with confidence. However there is lot of apprehension in everyone's mind about conforming practices that would safeguard the patients, ophthalmologists, healthcare workers as well as taking adequate care of the equipment to minimize the damage. Many of the super-speciality practices are planning to re-open after the lockdown is lifted. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges to the health care community. E-mail: Īll Authors contributed equally to the manuscript ![]() Vishali Gupta, Vitreo-Retina and Uvea Services, Advanced Eye Centre, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India. RP.Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, IndiaĦRetina Institute of Karnataka, Bengaluru, IndiaħNarayana Nethralaya Eye Institute, Bengaluru, IndiaĩShroff Charity Eye Hospital, New Delhi, Indiaġ3Army Hospital R&R, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi, Indiaġ4National Healthcare Group Eye Institute, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singaporeġ5Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital, Mumbai, Indiaġ9LV Prasad Eye Institute, Visakhapatnam, IndiaĢ0Regional Institute of Ophthalmology Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, IndiaĬorrespondence to: Prof. Advanced Eye Centre, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarha, IndiaĢLV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, IndiaĤDr.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |