PocketEye: A novel UK cloud-based digital triage platform for NHS eye care

**问题**NHS的二级紧急眼科护理患者/年约有202万人次，常规眼科预约/年约有900万人次。研究表明，20%的NHS紧急眼科护理就诊被认为是不必要的，可以在同一天进行预防(40万人次/年)，这将使NHS每年额外花费8000万GB，33%的常规眼科预约可以远程分诊(300万人次/年，费用约3.6亿GB/年)。目前还没有批准的系统或方法来实现对紧急和常规眼部状况的数字远程分诊。目前初级和次级眼科护理专业人员之间的沟通仅限于电话咨询和转介。这导致效率低下，增加了医院工作人员(医生、护士和行政人员)的负担，并使那些进行不必要的可预防的当天医院旅行的患者的体验更差。此外，这种负担也增加了急症室的等待时间，并使患者在拥挤的医院眼科伤员候诊室等待时暴露在新冠肺炎下。市场研究还显示，初级保健(验光师和全科医生)在管理和转介眼科疾病时，希望从二级保健(医院眼科医生)获得更多临床支持和反馈。**解决方案和创新**我们正在开发首个基于云的平台，实现初级和次级眼科护理之间的安全通信，确保眼科护理的无缝转介和远程专科分诊。我们的目标是提供一个从服务用户的反馈中得到增强的平台，包括实时聊天、媒体上传和过滤功能。对于患者、验光师、全科医生和医院眼科服务，我们的目标是加强患者从社区到医院的旅程，确保患者安全是中心焦点。该项目的好处包括：1.减少不必要的紧急转诊到二级Care2。减少A&E3眼科的等待时间。加强原发和继发眼科之间的沟通和临床决策。减少NHS工作人员的低资源负担5.每年为NHS医院节省高达4.4亿英镑的可避免成本6。通过减少等待时间和检测视力保护情况来改善患者体验和安全性7。为眼部疾病**影响**初级保健中的验光师和全科医生增加临床支持、建议、指导和反馈PocketEye的目标是减少二级眼科保健的经济和资源负担，加强与初级眼科保健的沟通，并通过安全的协作通信改善患者的体验，每年为NHS节省高达4.4亿GB的潜在成本。因此，迫切需要这种及时的技术。

**Problem**There are approximately 2.02 million NHS patient visits/year for secondary emergency eye care, and 9million attendances/year for routine eye appointments. Studies show 20% of NHS emergency eye care attendances are deemed as unnecessary and preventable for same-day (400,000 visits/annum), costing an extra £80 million to the NHS per year, and 33% of routine eye appointments could be remotely triaged (3million visits/annum, costing approximately £360million/ year). There is currently no approved system or method that enables digital remote triaging for emergency and routine eye conditions. Current communication between primary and secondary eye care professionals is limited to telephone for advice and referrals. This leads to inefficiencies and increased burden placed on hospital staff (doctors, nurses and administrative), as well as a poorer experience for patients who are making unnecessary preventable same-day trips to hospitals. Furthermore, this burden is contributing to increased waiting times in A&E, and exposing patients to COVID-19 as they wait in crowded hospital eye casualty waiting rooms. Market research has also shown that primary care (optometrists and GPs) wish for more clinical support and feedback from secondary care (ophthalmologists in Hospital Eye Units) when managing and referring eye conditions.**The solution and innovation**We are developing the first cloud-based platform enabling secure communication between primary and secondary eye care, ensuring seamless referrals and remote specialist triaging for eye care. We aim to provide a platform that is enhanced from feedback from service users, including with live chat, media upload, and filtering features. For patients, optometrists, GPs, and hospital eye services, we aim to enhance a patient's journey from community to hospital, ensuring patient safety is the central focus. Project benefits include:1. Reduce unnecessary emergency referrals to secondary care2. Reduce waiting times in eye A&E3. Enhance communication and clinical decision-making between primary and secondary eye care4. Reduce low-resource burden on NHS staff5. Save NHS hospitals up to £440 million per year on avoidable costs6. Improve patient experience and safety by reducing waiting times and detecting sight-saving conditions7. Increase clinical support, advice, guidance and feedback for optometrists and GPs in primary care for eye conditions**Impact**PocketEye's aim is to reduce the economic and resource burden from secondary eye care, enhance communication with primary eye care, and to improve patients' experience through secure collaborative communication, with potential cost savings of up to £440 million per year to the NHS. This timely technology is therefore urgently needed.