Ann Blackmore, Roy Stoner and Karl Jeebaun
Optical Suppliers Association (OSA) chair Roy Stoner said the trade body had seen a flurry of new businesses becoming members in recent months, with ‘several attracted to the e-health focus group’s leadership in this rapidly evolving sector.’
Formed in August 2022, the e-health focus group sought to address the use of software as a medical device and professional accountability around emerging diagnostic technologies.
Advanced Ophthalmic Systems CEO Karl Jeebaun heads up the focus group, which works with technology suppliers and organisations, including the NHS, Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) and College of Optometrists with the aim of maximising interoperability.
Central to this has been close collaboration with the Dicom (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) task and finish group, led by the RCOphth and the College. ‘We are making great strides in establishing baseline commonality for the introduction of Dicom secure file format standards with the group going into 2024,’ said Jeebaun.
‘The OSA team has been integral to the working group’s progress, and we have been making recommendations to the group, with the shared goal to improve clinical outcomes.’
As part of its work, the e-health focus group completed an extensive sample audit of three imaging functions from a range of supplier devices, fundus, visual fields and optical coherence tomography. Jeebaun said all new devices would need to be compatible to function within the NHS environment and wider optometric community.
Clinical validity of diagnostic and monitoring software across various mediums is also being addressed by the e-health focus group. ‘All e-health technologies need standards to work to, dependent on their targeted sub-sector, which in turn, will ease the path to adoption,’ said Jeebaun.
‘For instance, remote vision measurement applications proliferated during the pandemic have now moved into the regular space. Understanding and defining clearer standards will drive up accuracy and reliability.
The OSA, e-health committee’s vice-chair, Dr Stephanie Campbell, has proposed an OSA-backed paper on standard setting for remote visual acuities with the aim to have this backed by ophthalmologist and optometry college scientific committees.
Regulatory update
OSA regulatory consultant Ann Blackmore confirmed that CE marked medical devices under EU MDR 2017 could be sold in Great Britain until June 2030 and provided an update on the proposed per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) restriction proposal, telling delegates that this was ‘becoming a hotly debated issue in Brussels’.
Continuing the sustainability theme was Mike Riley, director of commercial operations at Hilco UK.
Riley offered OSA members a brief explanation of American consumer sustainability accreditor, Green Seal, and the company’s accreditation for its SeeGreen lens and screen cleaning solution and Optiplus bottles, which Riley said were the first and only lens care brands to be approved by Green Seal.
Retail insight
A keynote speech from Asda Opticians optical commercial manager, Dr Angela Smith (pictured above), offered insight into running an efficient optical supply chain.
‘Our grocery economies and sustainability journey put us on the front foot with optics, as many of the discussions coming to optics now have become routine in the grocery sector,’ Smith told delegates.
‘We have a mindset of looking at every little detail; walking the line and asking suppliers to work more closely with us. A prime example is tertiary packaging; so often it is just not necessary.
The grocery market has key principles for keeping costs as low as possible. By keeping prices low and improving affordability, we increase customers and grow volume,’ she added.
A brief explanation of how the internal team runs the 157 Asda Opticians practices, came back to the grocery background in terms of supplier relationships, many of which are with OSA members.
Smith outlined her key cost reduction strategies for suppliers to consider.
• Walking the line – mapping the full process from end to end, and looking for all opportunities for cost and time-saving, starting at the concept stage
• Ask and explain – discuss changes or savings from suppliers for mutual benefit of supplying more product
• Offer commercial CPD to optical practice customers and encourage them to look at their profit and loss accounts.