The Northern Ireland Care Record has expanded to provide optometrists access to relevant aspects of a patient’s electronic care record.
For the first time, optometrists will have details of the medications a patient has been prescribed along with sight of any underlying health issues, such as diabetes, which could have a direct impact on their eye care.
The platform from Orion Health provides up to date access to information about attendance at Ophthalmology (and other eye services in secondary care) along with providing consultants in secondary care access to supporting images and scans uploaded by optometrists, such as retinal images and OCT scans.
At this point more than 60% of the 271 optometry contractor practices across Northern Ireland have access to the NIECR, with over 1,000 users accessing the system in June.
Margaret McMullan, Optometric Clinical Adviser at the Health and Social Care Board “The benefit of the NIECR was recently proven when an elderly patient informed a locum that they had decided to stop taking their prescribed eye drops. On examination it was found that their eye pressure was extremely high and through the NIECR the locum was very quickly able to find out the name of the eye drops and inform the patient’s GP and family. Previously this would have been a lengthy process and thereby risked damage to the patient’s eyes and a potential loss of sight.”
“There are currently plans to enhance the information available to optometrists through an interface with various management systems used by ophthalmology sub-specialties e.g. the macular service and providing access to the diabetes screening report from the Northern Ireland Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (NI DESP). A care pathway for cataracts is also on the roadmap, to enhance multi-disciplinary team working across care settings around patients with the condition.”
Gavin Corrigan, optometrist at Corrigan Opticians in Cookstown “It’s brilliant to have access to patient information through the NIECR. I can follow a patient’s journey through the hospital eye service from my initial referral through to any appointments and procedures they have carried out. This allows me a more informed and patient-centric approach to my decision making.”
Nick Willox, sales director for Orion Health “This expansion to include optometrists takes the NIECR further into the community and demonstrates what can be achieved when a project team thinks outside the box.”
“We are delighted to have been part of this project in Northern Ireland and are looking forward to welcoming more user cohorts, such as dentists and medical students.”
