News

Centre for Eye Health has scored high marks for service, staff expertise and state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment, according to a recent survey of optometrists suggesting the new service is well placed to support improvements in eye disease detection and management within the profession.

Conducted during May and June this year, the online survey by market research company EMC was distributed to OAA NSW/ACT members and completed by 313 optometrists from across NSW and the ACT. It revealed that nearly all those surveyed (97 per cent) were aware of CFEH and two-thirds (67 per cent) had registered to use the free referral service since the Centre opened for business in late 2009.

More than one-third of optometrists based in NSW and the ACT are now referring patients to the newly established Centre with most (98 per cent), saying it provides an excellent or above average service. Further, over 90 per cent said they value the Centre’s large range of testing equipment, its staff expertise, free service and the availability of consultant ophthalmologists to review test results.

Respondents said they would be most likely to refer patients to CFEH if they were suspected of, or at risk of, having eye disease – especially those who couldn’t otherwise afford the advanced diagnostic testing that is available at CFEH.

CFEH Deputy Director David Pye said he was pleased with the high level of awareness about the Centre and positive perceptions of its standard of service: “The survey reveals that a large majority of optometrists know about CFEH’s services and the appropriate types of patients to refer to us.”

However, the survey suggest CFEH needs to do more to educate and inform optometrists about patient referrals.

“There’s a mismatch between patient referral patterns for conditions such as glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy compared to their prevalence in the community,” says Associate Professor Pye. “We are very excited about playing a key role in enhancing knowledge of detecting and managing eye disease within the profession and assisting practitioners to provide improved patient care.”

CFEH hopes to do this through continuing ophthalmic professional education events, newsletters and other interactions with optometrists.

Another challenge for CFEH is to address a perception among some regional optometrists that the Centre is too far away for their patients.

“The geography of NSW and the ACT means that distance was always going to be a potential referral barrier in the minds of optometrists and patients,” says Pye.

“We need to speak further with optometrists in regional centres about our patient assistance programs, and to canvass their suggestions for making the Centre more accessible to patients and practitioners outside of the greater Sydney area.”

CFEH is a new initiative providing an integrated approach to reducing preventable vision loss from eye disease through early detection. CFEH is the world’s first referral facility providing an extensive range of state-of-the-art eye imaging and visual assessment services in one location and at no charge to the patient or Medicare. More than 650 optometrists have registered with CFEH and more than 1000 patients have been referred for testing.