Agreement in clinical decision-making between independent prescribing optometrists and consultant ophthalmologists in an emergency eye department.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The specialty-registration of independent prescribing (IP) was introduced for optometrists in 2008, which extended their roles including into acute ophthalmic services (AOS). The present study is the first since IP's introduction to test concordance between IP optometrists and consultant ophthalmologists for diagnosis and management in AOS.

Methods

The study ran prospectively for 2 years at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital (MREH). Each participant was individually assessed by an IP optometrist and then by the reference standard of a consultant ophthalmologist; diagnosis and management were recorded on separate, masked proformas. IP optometrists were compared to the reference standard in stages. Cases of disagreement were arbitrated by an independent consultant ophtha

SUBMITTER: Todd D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7785022 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature