by Gabriele Mignardi
The first virtual eye clinic of the Bologna Local Health Authority was inaugurated yesterday at the Dossetti hospital in Bazzano.
“It is also the first in Italy”, explained the municipal and regional health managers who, with an investment of one million euros in new generation technology, have put into operation a model that will be replicated in three other structures at the end of summer . health services in the Bologna area.
Therefore, from today patients with vision problems will be able to undergo highly specialized tests such as retinography, ‘oct’ and visual field at the Valsamoggia hospital. The diagnostic tests, images and data collected in this innovative virtual clinic will then be evaluated and reported by the ophthalmologists present in the specialized structure of the Maggiore hospital in Bologna, and this thanks to software dedicated to image processing and remote notification. “Through telemedicine and digital innovation, the ophthalmologists at the center of the system will thus be able to monitor patients in virtual clinics, close to the patients’ homes, guaranteeing wide coverage of care and services throughout the territory” , explained the CEO. of the Paolo Bordon Local Health Authority that included this project in the objective-maximum proximity of services to citizens’ residences.
“The objective of the Clínica Virtual project, whose effectiveness has already been demonstrated by Anglo-Saxon scientific studies, is to strengthen the ophthalmological services in the area, favoring the provision of services a short distance from the patients’ homes, promoting and developing remote reports- added Dr. Manlio Nicoletti, director of ophthalmology at the Local Health Authority
This is a new organizational model that has been possible thanks to the collaboration of all the professionals involved: from the nurse to the administrative staff, including the orthopedist and the doctor. They have all ‘rowed’ in the same direction.” Francesca Maria Quagliano, project manager, explained that it is a quality clinical response that sees a first level in Bazzano and a second level in Maggiore: “A modality that also facilitates the conclusion of the long-term therapeutic pathway”.
The director of clinical engineering Elisabetta Sanvito referred to the rare foreign experiences of this system “which makes everything easier but equally effective for elderly or frail people, those who need these treatments more frequently, and who also have more problems with mobility”. Regional funding made it possible to start the experience at the reference hospital in the municipality of residence of councilor Raffaele Donini, who explained that this need became acute during the pandemic.
With significant effects on the reduction of waiting times and the use of Pnrr funds dedicated precisely to investments in state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment”.
