Autonomous Telemedicine
Cataract surgery follow-up at two NHS trusts

View DORA in action.
Dr Edward Meinert from the University's Centre for Health Technology leads the evaluation of the project that will see the implementation of Ufonia’s automated telemedicine platform to deliver calls to cataract surgery patients at two large NHS hospital trusts.
Dr Meinert and his team will be evaluating the efficacy of DORA’s decision making in comparison to an expert human clinician; baseline sensitivity and specificity for detection of true complications; evaluation of patient acceptability; evidence for cost-effectiveness; and to capture data that may support further studies.
Results are expected to be published in 2022.
Fitting in with the NHS Long Term Plan, the project aims to reduce the clinical burden on health staff by reducing the number of patients who require face-to-face follow-ups with clinicians with the aim to reduce this by 90%. This task has been proven to contribute to health staff burnout as a high volume, repetitive task and will allow them to focus on other outputs that will have a greater impact on the patient journey. Providing the follow up over the telephone reduces the risk of COVID-19 transmission from face-to-face reviews, and frees up hospital space which will be at a premium due to social distancing measures and lack of capacity for increasing patient demand.
For the patient, it is hoped this intervention will be accessible for an older demographic as it doesn't require patients to download any application, be provided with any device or receive any training. They receive a call and have a conversation just as they would have done with a human clinician. It will mean they do not need to travel to hospital and can arrange a call for a convenient time.
For collaborations with the Centre for Health Technology, please contact the Co-Directors:
Professor Ray Jones: ray.jones@plymouth.ac.uk
Dr Arunangsu Chatterjee (AC): arunangsu.chatterjee@plymouth.ac.uk
Dr Edward Meinert is Associate Professor of eHealth at the University of Plymouth. A chartered engineer, European Engineer, a Fellow of the British Computer Society and Chartered Management Institute, Edward was previously Sir David Cooksey Fellow in Healthcare Translation at the University of Oxford.
With extensive experience in data science, his research focuses on the use of digital technology in healthcare including mobile digital apps, wearables, robotics and clinical artificial intelligence with a primary aim to enable preventive healthcare.
Find out more about Dr Meinert.
Find out more about the Centre for Health TechnologyBringing together digital health and health technology expertise from across the University to drive the development, evaluation and implementation of innovative technologies, products, services and approaches to transform health and social care.