Eyeworld

6 Ophthalmology Business • December 2016 by Vanessa Caceres, Contributing Writer Virtual Care Clinic transforms diagnosing easier, Dr. Varma said. However, the VCC's functions go further. Patients can use the VCC to access health information with the help from their physician avatar. For this part, the actual physician is not involved, just the avatar. This breaks the traditional model of a patient either relying on sketchy informa- tion online or asking their doctor questions during a visit, when they feel their provider may be rushed, said Leslie Saxon, MD, cardiologist and professor of clinical medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, and founder and executive director of the USC Center for Body Computing. In fact, some of the research behind the VCC has found that patients are more likely to disclose information and ask questions of an avatar versus real humans. "If the person could dial up their doctor on their own time and learn about a procedure or illness when they are not emotional, and perhaps recruit the digital help Institute and the USC Institute of Urology, but it will eventually in- volve all specialties at the university. What it is and how it works The VCC was created in collabora- tion with the USC's Center for Body Computing and Institute of Creative Technology, along with several foun- dational partners. The VCC will have several func- tions, including the ability to treat patients remotely. The way it works is fairly straightforward, Dr. Varma said. "On your mobile device, you can contact the physician, and an avatar of that physician will interact with you, wherever they are, and answer questions one on one," he said. In a specialty like ophthalmol- ogy, the reliance on visual images to evaluate a patient makes digital P hysicians at the Uni- versity of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles are taking a digital lead in the future treatment of patients with the Virtual Care Clinic—and the univer- sity's ophthalmology department will help lead the way. The Virtual Care Clinic (VCC), will allow patients with smartphones to interact with doctors and obtain re- liable patient education information. The system is undergoing some testing now, and it will begin to for- mally roll out the end of this year or the beginning of next year, said Rohit Varma, MD, MPH, interim dean, Keck School of Medicine of USC, professor and chair, Depart- ment of Ophthalmology, and director, USC Roski Eye Institute. The VCC will begin at the USC Eye Innovative program at USC will begin within ophthalmology Dr. Varma becomes an avatar on the VCC. Source: USC Roski Eye Institute

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