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Purpose: To identify disparities in the use of telemedicine during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic., Design: A cross-sectional study of completed clinical encounters in an academic ophthalmology center from March 2020 through August 2020., Participants: A total of 5023 patients comprising 8116 ophthalmic clinical encounters., Methods: Medical charts were abstracted for demographic information. We identified zip code-level socioeconomic characteristics, which were drawn from the 2019 American Community Survey 5-year estimates., Main Outcome Measures: The completion of a synchronous video encounter, the completion of a telephone (audio-only) encounter in the absence of any video encounters, or the completion of in-person encounters only., Results: During the study period, 8116 total clinical encounters were completed for 5023 unique patients. Of these patients, 446 (8.9%) participated in a video encounter, 642 (12.8%) completed a telephone encounter, and 3935 (78.3%) attended clinical appointments in person only. In adjusted analysis, patients who were Black (odds ratio [OR], 0.65; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.52-0.80; P < 0.001) or Hispanic/Latino (OR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.49-0.85; P = 0.002) were significantly less likely to complete a video or telephone appointment. Older patients (OR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-0.99; P < 0.001), patients whose primary language was not English (OR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.28-0.82; P = 0.01), Black patients (OR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.32-0.62; P < 0.001), and Hispanic/Latino patients (OR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.37-0.83; P = 0.005) were significantly less likely to complete a video encounter. Finally, among patients completing any type of telemedicine encounter, older age, (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.03; P < 0.001), Medicare insurance (OR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.11-2.17; P = 0.01), and Black race (OR, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.33-2.94; P < 0.001) were associated with using only phone visits., Conclusions: Ethnic/racial minorities, older patients, and non-English-speaking individuals were significantly less likely to complete a video telehealth encounter. With the expansion of telemedicine and the need to reduce the disparate impact of COVID-19 on minorities, it will be increasingly important to identify barriers to telehealth use and opportunities to improve access., (Copyright © 2021 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To identify temporal and geographic trends in private equity (PE)-backed acquisitions of ophthalmology and optometry practices in the United States., Design: A cross-sectional study using private equity acquisition and investment data from January 1, 2012, through October 20, 2019., Participants: A total of 228 PE acquisitions of ophthalmology and optometry practices in the United States between 2012 and 2019., Methods: Acquisition and financial investment data were compiled from 6 financial databases, 4 industry news outlets, and publicly available press releases from PE firms or platform companies., Main Outcome Measures: Yearly trends in ophthalmology and optometry acquisitions, including number of total acquisitions, clinical locations, and providers of acquired practices as well as subsequent sales, median holding period, geographic footprint, and financing status of each platform company., Results: A total of 228 practices associated with 1466 clinical locations and 2146 ophthalmologists or optometrists were acquired by 29 PE-backed platform companies. Of these acquisitions, 127, 9, and 92 were comprehensive or multispecialty, retina, and optometry practices, respectively. Acquisitions increased rapidly between 2012 and 2019: 42 practices were acquired between 2012 and 2016 compared to 186 from 2017 through 2019. Financing rounds of platform companies paralleled temporal acquisition trends. Three platform companies, comprising 60% of platforms formed before 2016, were subsequently sold or recapitalized to new PE investors by the end of this study period with a median holding period of 3.5 years. In terms of geographic distribution, acquisitions occurred in 40 states with most PE firms developing multistate platform companies. New York and California were the 2 states with the greatest number of PE acquisitions with 22 and 19, respectively., Conclusions: Private equity-backed acquisitions of ophthalmology and optometry practices have increased rapidly since 2012, with some platform companies having already been sold or recapitalized to new investors. Additionally, private equity-backed platform companies have developed both regionally focused and multistate models of add-on acquisitions. Future research should assess the impact of PE investment on patient, provider, and practice metrics, including health outcomes, expenditures, procedural volume, and staff employment., (Copyright © 2020 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

To investigate domestic violence (DV)-related ocular injuries among adult emergency department (ED) patients in the US. This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study of patients with a diagnosis of DV and diagnosis of ocular injury in the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) from 2008–2017. We identified patient- and hospital-level variables associated with DV-related ocular injuries. We calculated annual incidence rates using US Census data. Adjusting for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, we calculated mean and total charges. From 2008–2017, there were 26,215 ED visits for ocular injuries related to DV with an average incidence of 1.09 per 100,000 adult population (female patients, 84.5%; mean age [SE], 34.3 [0.2]). DV-related ocular injuries were most prevalent among patients in the lowest income quartile (39.1%) and on Medicaid (37.4%). Most ED visits presented to metropolitan teaching (55.4%), non-trauma (46.7%), and south regional (30.5%) hospitals. The most common ocular injury was contusion of eye/adnexa (61.1%). The hospital admission rate was 5.2% with a mean hospital stay of 2.9 [0.2]. The inflation-adjusted mean cost for medical services was $38,540 [2,310.8] per encounter with an average increase of $2,116 per encounter, annually. The likelihood of hospital admission increased for patients aged ≥60 years old, on Medicare, and with open globes or facial/orbital fractures (all p <.05). Contusion of the eye/adnexa was the most common ocular injury among patients with DV-related ED visits. To better facilitate referrals to social services, ophthalmologists should utilize DV screenings, especially towards women and patients of less privileged socioeconomic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]