Application of Teleophthalmology in Screening and Monitoring of Elderly Population in Rural Areas in Lithuania

A small regional telenetwork has been established in Lithuania and used for piloting homecare and remote care health care service delivery models on the grounds of the work of the Telemedicine Centre of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (formerly Kaunas University of Medicine) and private initiative of clinicians and researchers with the aim to promote bottom-up, self-sustainable telemedicine development and to increase accessibility to, and quality of, healthcare especially in rural or underserved areas. Stratelus, a small medical company, together with several family clinics in the rural areas of Lithuania and with support of the Family Medicine Centre of the Kaunas University of Medicine started screening and monitoring of elderly population for diabetic retinopathy, aging macular degeneration, optic nerve head evaluation, and glaucoma in their homes and near-home locations, in a mobile telenetwork mode, bringing the access point to the patient. The project demonstrated innovation in terms of the methodology (telehomecare), organization (small bottom-up structure), and technology (high quality handheld fundus camera). The argument behind this project was to test the viability of homecare and remote care service delivery in a small/medium scale, bottom-up organisational setting. This is important for elderly population with limited mobility in rural or remote areas.