提升門診糖尿病患視網膜病變篩檢率

Increasing the Retinopathy Screening Rate at a Diabetes Clinic

本專案旨在改善門診糖尿病患的視網膜病變篩檢率。本單位於2003年9月份依據病歷統計新陳代謝科門診的糖尿病患，近一年內在本院接受視網膜病變篩檢者僅佔34.9%，分析其原因：1）對眼睛併發症的知識不足2）缺乏定期篩檢的認知3）未知本院設有眼科4）看診程序煩雜5）費用昂貴。因此針對上述原因執行以下改善方案：1）張貼「糖尿病視網膜病變」的衛教海報2）加強「定期篩檢」的重點衛教3）宣傳本院眼科4）簡化看診程序5）減免眼科掛號費。經專案的推動，於2004年1月至9月，視網膜病變篩檢率由34.9%升至79.5%，顯示專案措施確實有效提昇視網膜病變篩檢率。因此將本專案製成「糖尿病患視網膜病變篩檢作業標準書」，推廣至全院，有助於提升糖尿病的照護品質。

The purpose of this project was to increase the retinopathy screening rate at a diabetes clinic. We analyzed the medical records of patients attending the diabetes clinic in September 2003 and found only 34.9% of these patients had accepted retinopathy screening in the last year. The reasons for such a low screening rate may include: (1) patients’ insufficient knowledge about diabetes-related eye complications, (2) patients’ unawareness of the importance of regular retinopathy screening, (3) patients’ unfamiliarity with the hospital’s ophthalmology department, (4) a complicated registration process, and (5) incurring expensive medical costs. Thus, a promotion project was launched to improve the retinopathy screening rate and this included (1) an educational poster about diabetic retinopathy, (2) educating the patients and emphasizing the importance of retinopathy screening, (3) an introduction to the ophthalmology clinic, (4) simplifying the process of registering with an ophthalmologist, and (5) free clinic registration. We ran this project from January to September 2004 and the screening rate increased from 34.9% to 79.5%. This result shows that the project elevated the screening rate efficiently. Therefore, we developed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for diabetic retinopathy screening according to the results of this project and used it for all diabetic outpatients at our hospital. This project has helped to improve the quality of care given to diabetic patients.