ADEL BENCHEIKH 579x326_6880ac9b0ba0585d97270f75cd1cf3d9

Invest in Education, New Technology During Coronavirus

  • Coronavirus is forcing ophthalmology to adapt rapidly and adopt new technology.
  • Distanced learning and patient care is becoming the norm due to social distancing.
  • A senior Canon eye care team member believes this is a great opportunity for the industry.

The effect of the coronavirus on the ophthalmology industry may best be described as surprising. Not because of the damage it has wreaked on clinics and patient treatment regimens, but rather on the new developments the virus has spurned onward. They say that every cloud has its silver lining — and even a virus can have its good points.

Coronavirus is forcing our industry to adopt new technologies that will, in the long-term, have a considerably beneficial impact on patient care. Training and education is taking on new forms. Communication between professionals in different countries is becoming smoother.

Following the trend of online conferences like the recently held ASCRS 2020 (American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery) Virtual Annual Meeting, training is being adapted to the coronavirus predicament. Companies are changing their practices to allow employees to train and work from home. This is facilitating an explosion in both the number and quality of online training programs.

These adaptations are welcome developments, as for many economies the worst is yet to come. Healthcare budgets will shrink and patient pockets will diminish in depth.

Training’s No Longer Offline Only

Adel Bencheikh is the director of eye care at Canon Medical Systems Europe B. V. (Zoetermeer, The Netherlands). Responsible for overseeing his company’s eye care division, Mr. Bencheikh believes that ophthalmology will successfully ride out the pandemic due to the natural ongoing demand for treatment. However, he believes it will have to adapt to survive.

Part of the solutions is closer cooperation between industry companies, as well as clinics and pharmaceutical companies embracing emerging technologies. So too are education programs that can be performed online. Mr. Bencheikh said this must be a priority for ophthalmology professionals going forward.

“We’re investing a lot in education. We’re training every single day with a large audience of partners. We’re providing tools for answering questions from ophthalmologists, optometrists or opticians, depending on the products,” Mr. Bencheikh said.

“There are plenty of webinar activities and education programs right now. Improving the knowledge of the end-user about your technology, your techniques and your device, provides great momentum for your company,” he added.

Mr. Bencheikh recognizes the increasing importance of telemedicine and its likely long-term adoption in ophthalmology. Social distancing could last for years until countries reach herd immunity. Therefore, it will fall upon equipment manufacturers and clinicians to adapt their practices.

The Robots are Coming

Invest in Education, New Technology During Coronavirus

His company, according to Mr. Bencheikh, is ready for the changes brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. He points to a number of products Canon has already released that can be used in socially distanced conditions.

“There will be a change in how patients are managed. It won’t matter based on your specialty [if you’re anterior or posterior specialist], you will have to change your way of handling patients. And this is applicable for ophthalmologists, optometrists and opticians,” Mr. Bencheikh said.

“Our OCT, especially OCT-A, can be used from one room to another. So you can definitely respect social distancing rules. In fact you can use the OCT on your tablet to keep patients distanced,” he shared.

According to Mr. Bencheikh, it’s also equally important to look beyond the end of the pandemic. The explosion in new technologies will lead to more emerging tools. Therefore, an opportunity will emerge for ophthalmology to expand into areas that in one or two years ago would have been unimaginable.

“AI [artificial intelligence] is also something that we’re hearing about recently and there’s going to be many clinical solutions on the market. I think the combination of the two can be very powerful,” said Mr. Bencheikh.

“You can gather patient data from a distance and make a primary assessment based on the fundus image. There is definitely a future for AI-based [diagnosis] on the OCT image, he added.”

Editor’s Note: This story is part of the continuing ‘Q&A from Quarantine’ series of PIE Talks, where Matt Young (CEO of Media MICE and Publisher of PIE and CAKE magazines), during the time of COVID-19 lockdown, reached out to KOLs and industry friends to evaluate and discuss the impact of this pandemic to the ophthalmic world.

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