UPFRONT

Just as Insight went to print,

SPECSAVERS

announced it’s ramping up its store opening program across Australia, with five initial new locations. The optical chain will add new stores in Seaford and Port Lincoln, South Australia, Warwick, Queensland, Newcastle and surrounds, NSW, and Belgrave, Victoria. “This is the first batch of new store locations we are announcing and we will publish more in the coming months. We also have an exciting program for expansion in existing n WEIRD

A fossilised embryo skull of a sauropod dinosaur has revealed it had forward facing eyes, unlike its adult counterparts. This suggests the dinosaur grew up in crowded forests where depth perception would help avoid predators. By adulthood, sauropods moved to open plains, where it’s more advantageous to have eyes on both sides of the head. n WONDERFUL

OrCam, a Jerusalem-based company developing handheld and wearable artificial vision devices for visually impaired people, has signed soccer star

Lionel Messi as a global ambassador for three years. Messi posted the news on his social media accounts, saying he wants to bring awareness to technology that promotes equal opportunities. n WACKY

American singer-songwriter and television personality Kelly Clarkson revealed she has a serious dust allergy after appearing on her talk show wearing an eye patch. Although she didn’t detail her condition, dust got into her eye while filming for The Voice, on which she is a coach, causing irritation and infection, as well as a potential corneal abrasion. stores too and these will see many more new ownership opportunities,” director of professional recruitment Mr Raj Sundarjee said. IN OTHER NEWS, a new University of Sydney study has found only half of all diabetics get recommended diabetes eye checks. The study, published in Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, linked data from the Sax Institute’s 45 and Up study with Medicare data to examine how frequently almost 25,000 diabetics in NSW had exams. Researchers found people with diabetes for 10 or more years were less likely to get regular checks, with almost 80% not having annual exams recommended for this this group. FINALLY, Melbourne-based OCT manufacturer Cylite has won the Australian Engineering Excellence Award Victoria. It will represent Victoria this month for the Sir William Hudson award, the highest honour a project can receive from Engineers Australia. “This is a wonderful endorsement of the talented team delivering this exciting product. The combination of a unique approach to 3D ophthalmic imaging and diagnostics, with well-executed design and outstanding multi-disciplinary engineering, have delivered a product that we trust will prove worthy of this accolade over the years to

come,” CEO Mr Steve Frisken said.

STAT

CPD CHANGES

Therapeutically-endorsed optometrists – who account for 65% of all Australian optometrists – will need to complete 30 hours of professional development under new time-based CPD rules. Full report page 42.

WHAT’S ON

THIS MONTH OV/SA BLUE SKY

NOVEMBER 20-21

The event will be run as a hybrid model out of the Adelaide Convention Centre, with online access. office.vicsa@optometry.org.au

Complete calendar page 49

NEXT MONTH EGS CONGRESS

DECEMBER 13-15

The biennial European Glaucoma Society meeting will be in Brussels and marks the society's 40th anniversary. infoegs@oic.it

CORRECTION: In the September issue, Insight published an image on this page indicating it was an OCT scan. Retinal specialists have since confirmed it was an image of different phases of a fluorescein angiogram. insightnews.com.au

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COMMUNICATION AT ROOT OF COMPLAINTS

continued from page 3

types of work involved,” Yee and Ku stated.

The review also identified other issues that can give rise to claims and complaints, such as communication with patients, billing, diagnosis and consent issues.

“In our experience, often when there are allegations of procedural or surgical issues, there can actually be shortcomings in the patient relationship/communication and/or the consent process. If a patient does not understand the treatment limitations, or the potential post-operative issues, it is not uncommon for them to be unhappy with the outcome and complain that the surgery was performed poorly,” Yee and Ku said.

An evaluation of expected standards found that, overall, doctors met the standard in 73% of cases, while 27% did not. However, it was noted that experiencing a medico-legal matter is often stressful, even if the care is appropriate, and can take years to resolve in some cases.

“Through our data, we can better understand the features, characteristics, or deficiencies in care that give rise to claims and complaints. By highlighting the common areas of risk which led to claims or complaints against ophthalmologists, we hope doctors are able to reflect on continued from page 3 Ophthalmologists president Dr Peter Sumich said it would be interesting to see how insurers “juggle” the age extension for adult children on their parents’ policies.

“Whilst it may increase the percentage of Australians covered it will also require increases to family health policy costs,” he said. “Minister Greg Hunt has [also] indicated that there is no appetite to damage existing service delivery models as part of the MBS review.”

Macular Disease Foundation Australia (MDFA) CEO Ms Dee Hopkins said the budget included the PBS listing of Eylea from 1 October for subfoveal choroidal neovascularisation their own practice and take steps to reduce their medico-legal risks," Yee and Ku added.

In other findings, the majority of diagnosis complaints were during the initial assessment stage, and included allegations of a missed or delayed diagnosis due to inadequate examination.

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS Recently, the Australian Society of Ophthalmologists joined other peak medical bodies in support of the new Informed Financial Consent: A Collaboration Between Doctors and Patients guide that aims to create greater medical fee transparency and prevent ‘bill shock’ for patients.

The organisation’s president and Sydney cataract and refractive surgeon Dr Peter Sumich said patients’ expectations can also give rise to complaints.

He said patients talk to friends who were spectacle independent after cataract surgery, but they don’t always realise every case has unpredictable individual variations and not all have the same visual requirements.

“I have occasionally had problems with standard cataract patients who become very hostile when faced with the need for glasses,” he said. due to pathologic myopia.

“On the government’s figures, in 2019 around 500 patients accessed a comparable treatment. Without the PBS subsidy, patients may pay around $5,000 per year,” she said.

“MDFA also welcomes the New Medicines Funding Guarantee and streamlining of TGA processes. This will enable new medicines to be listed faster and removes the requirement for cost offsets for new medicine listings on the PBS. This is potentially good news for new pipeline therapies for eye health.”

RANZCO CEO Dr David Andrews said ophthalmologists would see support for their businesses through staff and tax incentives. “It is good to see additional funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

"MY STAFF HAVE BEEN TRAINED TO LISTEN TO THE VOICE IN THEIR HEAD IF THEY THINK A PATIENT MAY HAVE AN EXPECTATION MISMATCH"

PETER SUMICH, CATARACT AND REFRACTIVE SURGEON

“And even more so with extra costs for enhancement with LASIK or supplementary piggyback lenses even when they were consented for prior. A recent patient mixed up the terms ‘supplementary’ and ‘complimentary’, which was interesting. In their minds their cataract procedure had become a refractive surgery. Whether it is a memory, language or a personality issue is irrelevant once the patient is in the chair going ‘full steam ahead’.”

He has adopted the mantra that five minutes’ extra chair time preparation can be worth an hour post-operation.

“We conduct staff discussions on any patient who has complained; in order to put procedures in place for future problems. My staff have been trained to listen to the voice in their head if they think a patient may have an expectation mismatch,” Sumich said.

RANZCO immediate past-president Associate Professor Heather Mack said complaints against doctors are a serious issue and understanding patterns is necessary to improve practice.

“RANZCO notes that the number of reported events would appear to be small for ophthalmology. RANZCO will continue to work with Fellows to improve outcomes and standards, including working with indemnity companies to explore

LESS RED TAPE TO BENEFIT EYE THERAPY PIPELINE

complaints and events data,” she said. n

Dee Hopkins, MDFA. eyecare and regional hospitals and doctors, some of which is likely to be utilised by Fellows. RANZCO continues to advocate for measures to improve training and eye health in regional areas and we hope this may be further addressed in the next budget.”

ODMA CEO Ms Finola Carey welcomed the extension of the instant asset write off, which would include O=MEGA 21 purchases.

“It's a perfect time for practices to review their complete equipment suite and improve their customers' experience with the latest technology. Optical wholesalers can also take advantage of this to invest in new infrastructure to better serve practitioners and retailers,” she said. “Optical dispensing training subsidies should also help refill the qualified dispensing talent pool that has continued to drain since deregulation." n