Specsavers has worked with Vision Australia to redesign the referral process for patients with low vision, providing an early opportunity to connect them with support and maintain their independence.
For Mr Chris Papatheodorou, a system change has prompted a big improvement in the way his team cares for patients with low vision and blindness when they visit the busy Specsavers Ringwood store in Victoria.
Today, he can register them with Vision Australia’s patient support service through the click of a button. This is because the process has now been integrated with the Oculo e-referral platform commonly used among Australian optometrists and ophthalmologists.
The change is part of Specsavers Ringwood’s broader involvement in a pilot between Specsavers and Vision Australia that commenced a little over a year ago. Store optometry director Papatheodorou says it has made the low-vision patient submission process much quicker.
“It’s a much-improved system compared to the former web-form process,” he says. “Referring patients via Oculo facilitates the missing inter-professional relationship between optometrists and Vision Australia’s client wellbeing team.”
When announcing the initiative in September 2023, Specsavers said the partnership emerged from a realisation that its optometrists could be further supporting patients with low vision. With optometrists so focused on detecting eye conditions early, there was often a reliance on ophthalmology colleagues to step in when patients experience low vision or blindness.
“However, thanks to organisations like Vision Australia, patients can receive services and support to power their independence – and it doesn’t have to be as a last resort,” says ANZ clinical services director Dr Ben Ashby.
“It is simply unfair that not all relevant patients have the opportunity to receive the extension of care that Vision Australia offers, so we’re doing all we can to make it easier for optometrists to refer their appropriate patients to Vision Australia when the timing is right.”
Specsavers-Vision Australia pilot
Since late 2023, Specsavers and Vision Australia have been working together on “a holistic approach” to caring for people with low vision and blindness, thought to impact more than 450,000 Australians.
With this number predicted to grow to more than one million in 2050, Dr Ashby explains that as trusted and accessible frontline eye health professionals, optometrists have a role to play in improving their patients’ quality of life by referring them to an appropriate low-vision organisation.
“We’re proud to provide our customers with an exceptional level of clinical care. Through regular eye health checks and with our advanced OCT technology used in every eye exam, our optometrists do a great job of detecting changes in vision earlier than ever before. We want to make sure patients continue receiving care and support after they leave a Specsavers practice. And that’s where our partnership with Vision Australia comes in,” he says.
Patients with a visual acuity <6/12 with both eyes open and/or a visual field of ≤30 degrees meet the criteria for Vision Australia’s range of services. This includes connecting with trained support personnel, orientation and mobility training, adaptive technology training, and support for family members and carers.
However, the organisation says it takes an average of five years for people to seek further support.
Vision Australia’s general manager of client services and transformation Ms Tania Hobson says this is partially driven by fear of confronting their eye condition but more so not knowing where to go or even that the support exists.
“We want to make sure health professionals know they can direct patients to Vision Australia for both support services as well as assistive technology that will help them to continue to live independently,” she says.
The pilot program with Specsavers is designed to uncover the barriers optometrists may face when connecting patients with support organisations, streamline the registration process, and increase referral rates to align with the assumed prevalence of low vision in the community.
Streamlined patient submission processes
In May 2024, Vision Australia accepted feedback from the Specsavers pilot that the existing patient registration process could be simplified.
So, the organisation made its support centres in Kooyong and Dandenong in Melbourne, along with Robina on the Gold Coast, available on the iCare Oculo platform to receive patient referrals.
This platform, originally developed in Australia and sold to Finnish company iCare in 2021, is designed to share clinical correspondence securely and instantly between healthcare professionals. It’s widely used by Australian optometrists and ophthalmologists.
All other Vision Australia centres are planned to be live on Oculo before the end of this year, allowing all optometry professionals to then refer directly to them.
Vision Australia reports to have already seen the impact of this adjustment, with an increase of new patient submissions since the Melbourne and Gold Coast locations were added to Oculo.
As an extension of the pilot, Vision Australia representatives have visited selected Specsavers practices for face-to-face education and engagement sessions to better understand and address the barriers to optometry referrals.
Hobson says the small-group sessions have been a great way to explain the support on offer at a granular level, answer questions, and build mutual trust between the organisation and Specsavers practices.
“We know that optometrists genuinely care about their patients and want to be sure that they’re putting them in touch with an organisation that will give them the very best support and services after they leave the test room. By building these local relationships, I believe we’re starting to comprehend and overcome these barriers,” she says.
While many people have a general idea of what Vision Australia offers, Hobson says real-life examples of how different aids and technology are used can put it into perspective for patients and optometrists.
“Practical solutions, such as improved lighting along driveways or bigger, bolder and brighter settings on technology, can enhance daily living and help people who struggle to see,” she says. “And what many optometrists may not know is that their patients could be eligible for government funding that covers vital lifestyle aids that help them function day-to-day.”
Compassion for low-vision patients
According to Vision Australia, empathising with the complex needs of low-vision patients is essential for eye health professionals. And referrals to support organisations often hinge on an optometrist’s perception of how their patient may benefit; however, seeing things through a patient’s eyes can be challenging.
“We know that vision loss is the least relatable condition, and we often don’t stop to consider how people living with low vision experience the world,” Hobson says.
“The information sessions have allowed us to present the impacts of vision loss in a tangible and human way and put a patient-centric lens on the experience.”
In his practice, Papatheodorou says the team is now acutely aware of the role that patient support organisations play.
“Even if time in the test room is limited, we want to make sure we’re discussing the potential benefits for the patient and how it may improve their daily life, even at the earlier stages of vision loss,” he says.
After a year of collaboration, Specsavers and Vision Australia have been encouraged by the pilot. Many lessons have been learned about the referral process, and valuable knowledge has been shared between Specsavers optometrists and the patient support service.
“This important work with Specsavers is helping to ensure no Australian goes through the experience of living with low vision without being connected with the support and services that can improve their quality of life,” adds Hobson.
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