The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital (Eye and Ear), Australia’s leading provider of eye, ear, nose and throat care, is the first public hospital in the country to integrate iCare OCULO as part of its patient management system.
It has announced the launch of OCULO to improve its management of referrals.
In a media release, Eye and Ear said it was breaking new ground to connect public patients to the benefits of Oculo’s e-referrals, including clinical images.
The e-referral system uses the VicKey platform, a digital platform that supports inter-service referrals across several public health services in Victoria.
As part of the partnership, iCare has updated OCULO’s interoperable, secure clinical communications platform to adhere to the Victorian State Referral Guidelines, including adding new functionalities for Aboriginal, non-English speaking and patients with disabilities.
Mr Brendon Gardner, CEO at the Eye and Ear, said: “We are delighted that this initiative, the first public hospital integration with OCULO in Australia, enhances our commitment to inclusive and accessible care.
“iCare has further developed OCULO so that referrers can note if patients identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and if patients have accessibility requirements.
“Connection to community-based optometrists and ophthalmologists is a critical part of our commitment to a patient-centred care.”
Ms Leanne Turner, executive director operations and chief nursing officer at the Eye and Ear added: “We have already had feedback from our triage team that the increased quality of diagnostic imaging from the OCULO’s platform e-referrals results in more accurate triage.
“In addition, fewer referrals are rejected due to incomplete clinical information needed for efficient and accurate decision-making, including poor quality imaging. Already in the first month, 74% of our referrals are coming through OCULO – 516 referrals in total.
Professor Nitin Verma, chair of the RANZCO steering committee: Vision 2030 and beyond, said: “RANZCO’s Vision 2030 and beyond strategy has called for greater collaborative care and interoperability across Australia’s public and private eye health care systems.
“The Eye and Ear’s connecting into the national network of optometrists who use OCULO is an important example of what can be achieved to improve timely and equitable access to quality eyecare. This is essential as we see increasing demand for eye care across Australia, when we know timely access to eyecare can prevent more than 90% of vision loss.”
Ms Skye Cappuccio, CEO of Optometry Australia said: “Optometrists have long been digital frontrunners in allied health, and the integration of public hospitals into platforms like OCULO is an important step toward a truly connected eyecare system. Well-connected, digitally-enabled systems support timely patient access to care, and facilitate quality collaborative care approaches.”
Associate Professor Mitchel Anjou, head of Minum Barreng: Indigenous Eye Health Unit at the University of Melbourne and member of the Eye and Ear’s Primary Care Advisory Group, noted: “Most public hospitals have streamlined care pathways for indigenous Australians as part of their commitment to close the gap in eyecare and improve access to the vision care that is a critical part of health and well-being.
“This is a major step forward for indigenous patients coming to the Eye and Ear, and one that we have called for across the public ophthalmology system.”
Dr Kate Taylor, who co-founded Oculo with Professor Jonathan Crowston in 2015, said: “We built OCULO to support secure exchange of quality clinical information to improve patient triage, access to care and collaborative care.
“Linking into our national networks of over 5,000 optometrists and ophthalmologists, the Eye and Ear is bringing the benefits of digitally connected eyecare to public patients. It’s an overdue step for greater equity in quality care for all Australians and improved care for indigenous Australians.
“OCULO is a standards-based platform with all the benefits of interoperability for patient care, notably better continuity of care and promoting collaborative care between optometry and ophthalmology.
“OCULO also provides the ability to connect patients into important support programmes like KeepSight’s national diabetic eye disease register and patient support programmes by Glaucoma Australia and the Macular Disease Foundation Australia.”
Editor’s note: Insight would like to acknowledge Mr Peter Larsen as a founder of Oculo. Currently he’s an honorary principal investigator at the Centre for Eye Research Australia’s Health Service Research Unit and joint managing director of Chemist Warehouse Optometry.
“It’s deeply rewarding to see The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital lead the way as the first public hospital in Australia to integrate with Oculo. This milestone not only demonstrates the potential of interoperable, digitally enabled eyecare but also reinforces the critical role of optometry in the broader health system,” he said.
“Early results from the Eye and Ear’s triage team affirm what we’ve long believed: better-quality referrals – supported by rich imaging and clinical data – enable faster, more accurate decision-making and reduce unnecessary delays for patients.
“As we continue our work to publish evidence on the clinical and system-level benefits of Oculo in referral triage, this partnership sets a strong precedent for broader adoption across public health. The Eye and Ear’s leadership sends a clear message: connected care is not just possible – it’s essential for equitable, timely, and effective eye health services in Australia.”
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