EyePACS: an open source clinical communication system for eye care.
OBJECTIVE
EyePACS is an application for communicating and archiving eye-related patient information, images, and diagnostic data. We studied how users adopted the system in diverse clinical settings.


METHODS
53 clinicians and 142 students uploaded cases over 2.5 years from 6 pilot sites: a university teaching clinic, a university glaucoma clinic, an urban private optometric practice, a rural elderly care facility, a diabetic management program, and an eye hospital in India.


RESULTS
EyePACS collected 1,122 cases. Users employed it for informal "curbside" consults in 17% of cases. Other uses of the system were: 1) to replace telephone and fax referrals to a retinal specialist (10%), 2) as part of ocular teleconsultations and diabetic retinopathy screening (31%), 3) for education via digital grand rounds and evaluation of students (32%), and 4) for research (10%).


CONCLUSIONS
EyePACS has been used successfully for consults and education in diverse settings. The resulting database of digital cases serves as a searchable reference for clinicians.
Cuadros
Jorge
J
Program in Biological and Medical Informatics, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. jac@eyepacs.org
Sim
Ida
I
D000368:Aged; D003199:Computer Systems; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D009885:Ophthalmology / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D019114:Remote Consultation; D019035:Rural Health Services; D017216:Telemedicine; D019037:Urban Health Services