A novel method using smartphone based Quick Response code technology to securely transmit post-operative cataract surgery refractive outcomes in the National Health Service, United Kingdom

Session Details

Session Title: Cataract
Session Date/Time: Friday 21/02/2020 | 10:30-13:00
Paper Time: 11:12
Venue: Fes 1.

First Author: C.Gunasekera UK
Co Author(s): D. Spokes                 

Abstract Details

Purpose:

Post-operative refractive outcomes are important for quality and improvement. Community optometrists are responsible for reviewing routine cataract surgery patients in Norwich, UK.  Unfortunately, not all refractive data is sent from community optometrists back to the hospital. We postulated that this may be due to inconvenience and data protection. Quick Response code technology was originally designed in 1994 by the Japanese automotive industry and now has been incorporated into the native iOS camera app function. We report a novel method of combining paper notes with Quick Response code technology to securely send refractive data back to the hospital.

Setting:

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust, United Kingdom

Methods:

A secure NHS.net email address was created by the hospital Information Technology department. Following cataract surgery, patients were handed a form with the following details: - Date of surgery - Preoperative visual acuity - Risk factors for guarded visual prognosis - Postoperative visual acuity - Postoperative refraction - Signature from the patient agreeing for their data to being sent back to the hospital - A picture of a Quick Response code generating a pre-populated email to the departmental nhs.net email address. A smartphone then acquired a photograph of this form and this was sent via the pre-populated email.

Results:

Postoperative refractive data was successfully sent to a pooled NHS.net email address. Consultant ophthalmologists then enter their data to the electronic health record for audit and training purposes. As most optometrists now have secure NHS.net email addresses and the patient consented for their data to be transmitted, this technique can be implemented with ease amongst all NHS trusts as it satisfies the rules set by information governance and is General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant.

Conclusions:

Postoperative refractive outcomes are what many cataract surgeons are judged by. Given the advent of new intraocular lens (IOL) formulae and surgical methods for reducing astigmatism, an optometrist refraction is crucial in refining surgical technique.  The versatility of a Quick Response code provides a bridge from the analogue to the digital world. This technique would be of interest to cataract surgeons working in a multidisciplinary team who do not routinely see their post-operative patients and who work under strict information governance rules.

Financial Disclosure: