Snap a Pic: Relying on VERACITY’s Camera Functionality to Bring Unstructured Data from the Clinic to the OR

I’ve already written about the benefits of using a mobile device to interface with ZEISS VERACITY Surgery Planner. In short, by keeping VERACITY at your fingertips, you’re only a few taps away from accessing presurgical biometric measurements while in the OR, and you can spend more time on face-to-face consultations and less time with your nose buried in a computer screen.

The more I use my tablet to interface with ZEISS VERACITY Surgery Planner, the more I realize how mobile functionality elevates the raw power of VERACITY to transform my clinic into a cutting-edge surgical center. One recent unlock concerns a functionality that we all use on our personal mobile devices each day: the ability to snap a picture of something we want to recall later.

If you’re looking to add unstructured analog information to the list of presurgical data at your fingertips in the OR when using VERACITY, use the camera on your mobile device.

I use routine protocols for most the patients in my clinic. The data captured during presurgical workups for these patients are transferred seamlessly from the clinical examination to the OR via ZEISS VERACITY Surgery Planner. Because these cases are within the range of typical presentation, the data captured during presurgical encounters are sufficient to perform surgery.

Still, a significant portion of my patients—in my estimation, about 20% of patients—arrive to my clinic with a presentation outside my normal range. Among these patients are those with dislocated IOLs, significant iris defects, or challenging anterior segment anatomy.

To perform the best surgery possibly, I sometimes must access data in the OR that comes from platforms other than the VERACITY-linked biometric platforms. Such data might include an IOL card from a previous IOL surgery, a picture of the patient’s iris, or a printed document or imaging report that the patient brought with them to an initial consultation from an outside provider.

Cleverly, the engineers who designed ZEISS VERACITY Surgery Planner knew that such cases arise often, and created a means by which surgeons can enter unstructured data into VERACITY. This is done through the camera function on VERACITY, which allows me to snap a picture of the unstructured data in question and import it directly into the patient’s file.

You can leverage this functionality in several ways:

• When accessing VERACITIY on your tablet, simply tap the image button and use your tablet’s camera to take a picture of the unstructured data you wanted included in the patient’s file. This option is quickest, and works well for text-based unstructured data such as IOL cards from previous surgeries. You can even label the image within VERACITY (e.g., “IOL card from surgery on 4/5/2016”).
• When you need the highest image quality, turn to your smartphone’s camera, which is often the best mobile camera you have at your disposal. A photo captured on my phone syncs with my cloud-based photo library. Back on my tablet, I import the photo from the library to the patient’s file. I often do this when taking picture of a specific anomaly that requires the highest possible definition in order to fully appreciate anatomic features, such as an iris defect.
• If you’re interfacing with VERACITY on a laptop or desktop, you still have options. Similar to the above phone-to-tablet option, you can snap a picture on your mobile device, send the image to your computer, and directly import the photo into the patient’s file. This might be the least smooth option listed here—but it’s significantly more fluid than trying to navigate an EHR interface.

Most users are drawn to VERACITY’s surgical planning powers, which helps them streamline IOL selection, step outside their typical range of formulas and lens offerings, and reduce the risk of transcription errors. When advanced users begin using features such as image capture and import, they transform VERACITY from a surgical planning tool into a comprehensive surgical solution software that empowers them to keep the various types of essential data at their fingertips in the OR.

If you’re looking to move from a VERACITY rookie to a VERACITY master, step up your game by gaining comfort with the image import feature. You won’t regret it.

^{The statements of the author reflect only his personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any institution with whom he is affiliated.
The author has a contractual or other financial relationship with Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. and has received financial support.}