EyePACS: an open source clinical communication system for eye care.

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: 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%).

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.