Comparison of three modalities of teleophthalmology delivery in regional Western Australia during the COVID-19 lock-down

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In conjunction with local optometry services, telehealth may be used in to provide specialist care for patients living in rural areas underserved by ophthalmology. BACKGROUND: To combat travel restrictions for specialist outreach to regional areas during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, Lions Outback Vision introduced three different modalities of teleophthalmology consultations; home-based telephone, hospital-based video, and optometry-based video. This study evaluated the utility of these in providing specialist care to rural patients during the pandemic. METHODS: < 0.05). RESULTS: < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Primary optometry and home telephone represent a new modality for providing specialist care for patients living in very remote regions and for Indigenous patients. When appropriate clinical testing has been completed, telephone-based ophthalmology may continue to be useful for certain conditions such as waitlisting patients for cataract surgery and should continue to be funded beyond the duration of the pandemic for rural patients.