The ForeseeHome alert process is the backbone of our intermediate dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) monitoring program. Data from each patient’s tests are automatically sent to the Notal Vision Monitoring Center, the medical provider of ForeseeHome, and made available to your doctor via their Eyecare Provider Portal.
The Monitoring Center is a Medicare recognized Independent Diagnostic Testing Facility (IDTF) and serves as the physical location of our virtual patient support model. As a provider, the Monitoring Center is an extension of your doctor’s practice in your AMD monitoring.
Not all patients will have an alert while on the ForeseeHome program. Actually, only 1 in 4 patients will alert in a year, but it is important that all patients understand what happens if an alert is generated.
Why does an alert occur?
An alert occurs when a statistically significant change in your regular testing is identified by the artificial intelligence algorithm built into ForeseeHome device. This change may indicate a conversion to wet AMD.
What happens after an alert occurs?
The Notal Vision Monitoring Center notifies your eye doctor of an alert via a HIPAA compliant email to the doctor designated alert recipients in the practice.
The team at your eyecare practice is responsible for reviewing alerts and making a medical determination on next steps, which often includes scheduling a follow-up office visit to determine if you have converted to wet AMD or not. It is their responsibility to contact all their patients that have alerted.
What happens if my doctor and/or the office staff do not act on my alert when received?
Rest assured, the Notal Vision Monitoring Center has several safeguards in place to make sure all alerts are received and quickly reviewed by your doctor’s office. If we know an alert has not been received after 5 days, we will reach out to the patient directly to advise them of the alert so they can call their eye doctor's office for an appointment.
As a participant in the ForeseeHome AMD Monitoring Program, am I informed of my alerts?
Other than in the above scenario, patients are not informed of their alerts by the Notal Vision Monitoring Center. An alert is part of the medical management provided by your doctor, and it is not the responsibility of the Notal Vision Monitoring Center to notify you of alerts.
What about “false positive” alerts that do not result in a wet AMD conversion?
A ForeseeHome alert doesn’t always mean you have converted to wet AMD. ForeseeHome is designed to monitor for changes in your testing, which may indicate a conversion to wet AMD, but only your eye doctor can diagnose if you have progressed to wet AMD.
A recently published study showed that ForeseeHome patients with “false positive” alerts are at a higher risk of converting to wet AMD compared to patients who did not have this type of alert. Having a false positive alert tells you and your doctor that you need to be vigilant in monitoring your eyes by testing regularly with ForeseeHome and by following any other advice given by your doctor. Read more about the study and false positive alerts here.
