EyePACS: An open source clinical communication system for eye care

Abstract

Purpose: 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: Eye-PACS 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%). Conclusion: 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. © 2004 IMIA. All rights reserved.