Eye Institute ties up with Hougang Polyclinic to offer new service
By Lin Jiamei, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 05 December 2009 2206 hrs

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SINGAPORE: The Eye Institute at Tan Tock Seng Hospital said on Saturday that about three in ten cases seen by specialists can be diagnosed and managed at the primary care level.

With this in mind, the centre has tied up with Hougang Polyclinic on a new service that allows patients to have their eye tests at the clinic instead.

Currently, eye patients at Hougang Polyclinic may have to wait up to a month for an appointment with a specialist at the hospital. The new service is able to halve the waiting time to about 14 days.

However, the patient will not be seeing the specialist in person but via a teleconference at the polyclinic, with an optometrist present.

Associate Professor Lim Tock Han, director of National Healthcare Group, Eye Institute, said: "A typical tele-op consultation starts with the optometrist talking to the patient and finding out details of the symptoms.

"Some images (of the internal part of the affected eye) are captured... and then the images are transmitted to the hospital... The doctor in the hospital will initiate a face-to-face consultation in a remote manner through the TV screen with the patient, and the optometrist will provide the input."

The service is for those with chronic blurred vision, where one experiences some form of vision loss over a period of time. About half of the patients seen at the hospital suffer from this condition.

Doctors said having checks at the polyclinic saves patients' time and reduces the workload of specialists.

About 60 patients have used the service at Hougang Polyclinic since it was launched in March this year, and about half of them do not require a referral to see a specialist.

Doctors said those who have used the service are relatively satisfied with the process, although about two in ten said they would prefer to see the specialist in the hospital.

Dr Lew Yii Jen, director of clinical services, National Healthcare Group Polyclinics, said: "The main reason is that they still want to see an eye specialist face-to-face, so they do not mind travelling all the way to the hospital.

"Their impression is that there is better equipment there, despite us explaining to them it is about the same – the image is almost as accurate as it would have been if you were to do it in the hospital."

Tan Tock Seng Hospital said it plans to expand the service to other polyclinics next year.


- CNA/so