The Prevalence of Teleophthalmology in the Piedmont Region of Italy: Current Situation and Future Perspectives

Raffaele Nuzzi, Floriana Deraco and Simona Scalabrin
Additional contact information
Raffaele Nuzzi: Eye Clinic, Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy
Floriana Deraco: Eye Clinic, Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy
Simona Scalabrin: Eye Clinic, Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 14, 1-10

Abstract: Purpose: This cross-sectional study aims to evaluate the actual prevalence of telemedicine, with a particular attention to teleophthalmology programs, in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy and investigate the prospects of the discipline, comparing the situation with the rest of Italy. Information about the current teleophthalmological development is important to assess the state-of-the-art of innovation in medicine in different areas of the world so that there can be a healthy comparison and evaluation of progress and backlog. Methods: We sent questionnaires to every Local Healthcare Authority and gathered the answers in five distinct categories. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we collected information by telephone. We investigated five primary areas: what type of telemedicine services are currently in operation, how they are managed, the presence of any evaluation of patient satisfaction and cost-savings, and the prospects of future teleophthalmology programs to be implemented. Results: Only 2% of the total telemedicine programs are in the field of ophthalmology. The greater parts are in the field of cardiology (15%) and endocrinology (13%). Currently, only one program of teleophthalmology exists in the territory, and at least four more projects are waiting to be approved or funded. Surveys about patient satisfaction were not provided and there was no evidence of cost-saving. Conclusions: Teleophthalmology in Piedmont is slowly developing, although there is a lack of a unified network for storing and managing patients’ data. During the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine usage drastically increased, and there is a need to evaluate this trend to understand its place in the future of medicine.

Keywords: telemedicine; teleophthalmology; piedmont; teleophthalmology Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/14/8608/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/14/8608/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:14:p:8608-:d:863175

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().