Norville Independent Eyecare links up with Blueworks

Norville Independent Eyecare, part of Hakim Group, has linked up with Blueworks Ophthalmic Imaging Management Solutions for real-time access to patients’ ophthalmology exams. The project forms part of a countywide roll-out for community optometrists to access hospital eye service imaging, data, and GP letters.

The Blueworks OphthalSuite aims to address the issue of having medical exam data spread across devices, through an ophthalmology integration platform that links all devices to a centralised database.

In March 2022, Norville Independent Eyecare was the pilot practice used to test the new community ophthalmic link.

Following the success of the pilot, early adopters of the community ophthalmic link have gained access to Ophthalsuite, which is now a countywide service.

Norville Independent Eyecare will now be able to access patient exam results in real-time, and search information and statistics about their patients, including comparing exams taken over different periods. Optometrists will be able to access patient’s ophthalmology data including images, videos, metadata and GP letters.

Aisling O’Donovan, Norville Independent Eyecare partner and optometrist, explained that with access to the ophthalmology results, the team can review exams “right after they are performed, and the system makes searching for an exam in patient history much faster.”

“As a result, the clinical decisions we make are based on the best available information, which decreases error probability and increases both clinician and patient safety,” O’Donovan continued.

The system connects to hospitals’ existing medical records management systems, and is compatible with devices and exam types including ocular coherence tomography, fundus images, visual fields and angiography.

Optometrist at Norville Independent Eyecare, Dr John Everett, commented: “Linking up with Blueworks will significantly improve our patient management and referrals. For the first time ever, our optometry staff can access vital eye information held by the local hospital, with patient consent.”

Everett suggested this information would better inform optometrists, and make referral decisions easier. Meanwhile, patients have also reported that they feel “more comfortable knowing that their optometrist is better informed,” he said.

The community ophthalmic link project has been particularly supported by Gloucestershire Local Optical Committee Chair, Alvaro Borges, Gloucester Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ophthalmic imaging and data quality manager, Scott Vallance, as well as Gloucestershire clinical commissioning group/integrated care system leads, Kerry O’Hara and Megan Terrett.

This article has been updated in light of new information about the community ophthalmic link project and pilot scheme.