Robison Vernon Paul Chan on behalf of Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, USA
Aim
Increasing the eye-care workforce trained in accurately diagnosing, managing and treating children with retinopathy of prematurity
The project
In resource-poor areas of Mexico, there is limited access to care by trained ophthalmologists who are able to manage retinopathy of prematurity. This initiative aims to increase the workforce and improve the management of children with this blinding disease using tele-education. Dr Chan's group has already published reports showing that telemedicine improves the quality, accessibility and cost of retinopathy of prematurity diagnosis.
The first step in this project will be to develop a web-based telemedicine platform to support and train ophthalmologists in diagnosing and managing retinopathy of prematurity. Infants at risk will undergo eye examinations, including indirect ophthalmoscopy, and all images and records will be uploaded to a secure central server. The trainee and mentor would then jointly make the diagnosis and management plan relating to that infant.
The second step will be to implement and validate an international retinopathy of prematurity training program using this web-based system. Knowledge of diagnosis and management of retinopathy of prematurity would be assessed both before and after a web-based educational intervention to evaluate the success of the program as a sustainable learning tool.
Overall, this initiative hopes to create a sustainable retinopathy of prematurity management and education program in Mexico, but also to develop a system that can potentially be applied to other conditions and in other developing countries.
Update
XOVA funding was used to implement a web-based ROP educational system to train ophthalmologists and ophthalmologists-in-training in Mexico. The web-based educational system for retinopathy of prematurity diagnosis and management was developed and, as of September 2013, was in its final stages before implementation. The expansion of the system to countries beyond Mexico should facilitate the collection of demographic and outcomes data, and thereby provide improved ROP screening and management criteria in countries that lack clear management guidelines.
Last update September 2013.
