Feb 2017

Orthoptics at
RANZCO 2016
BY ELIZABETH GATELY-TAYLOR AND CLAIRE FITZGERALD*
We were fortunate enough to attend
the Orthoptics Australia 73rd Annual
Scientific Meeting in November held
with, but separate to, RANZCO’s 2016 Congress
at the Melbourne Convention Centre. The
programme was full and varied and we were
also able to attend RANZCO’s Congress sessions.
Connecting in
person and online
Orthoptists are
so small in number
in New Zealand it
is important we
stay in touch with
orthoptists around
the globe. The role
of an orthoptist
has expanded,
particularly in
Australia, taking on a
more technical slant.
However, there was
still plenty of content
on traditional
orthoptics - binocular
vision and ocular
motility.
Connecting was
also a topic of one of
the sessions looking at the importance of social
media, both the good and the bad. We are often
quick to criticise the misinformation available
online, but we all need to work to replace this
with professional advice. We were interested
to hear that Google is falling away from being
the go-to search engine with millennials
increasingly turning to groups on Facebook
and YouTube to find health advice instead.
Digital healthcare is not well funded and it is
hard to regulate but people are keen to access
healthcare apps. The positive implications of
better compliance with medications this digital
approach can provide are beginning to become
apparent, with some clinicians increasingly
getting left behind. Plus, the current change
in funding for disability services in Australia
means people are starting to make more
choices about their healthcare provider. They
are doing their own research, using online
profiles to influence their decision.
Looking back to look forward
A theme that came through clearly at the
meeting was looking back in order to look
forward. A couple of sessions concentrated on
the history of orthoptics and it was interesting
to reflect on past research trends and how these
impacted on clinical practice.
Technology-based treatments for amblyopia
continue to be a hot topic, although it is clear
work needs to continue to validate its use.
Interesting feedback from some of the study
groups is that many patients find the games
boring. This highlights the fast changing
expectations people have around technology.
As a consequence, there was no real
improvement in compliance between occlusion
therapy and dichoptic therapy, however,
it is still an area that’s showing exciting
developments and it will be interesting to see
the results of current studies.
The expanding role of an orthoptist
The meeting provided an opportunity to hear
about the results of research from across a wide
range of topics. In addition to the detective
work involved in investigating complex squint
cases, we heard about the variety of orthoptic
work in today’s world, from orthoptist-led
The Blind Foundation’s Elizabeth Gately-Taylor and Claire Fitzgerald with Dr Sean Every
Orthoptists Elizabeth Gately-Taylor and Claire Fitzgerald in Federation Square, Melbourne
diabetic screening clinics to the ongoing
management of glaucoma suspects.
Orthoptists build a close relationship with
their patients over time. This is obvious in the
paediatric setting and also valuable in adult
clinics, where the orthoptist can be the one
constant for the patient who may be examined
by a different ophthalmologist at each visit.
This relationship-building was reflected in many
of the presentations, especially in the area of
vision impairment. Jess Boyle, a PhD candidate
at La Trobe University in Melbourne, shared
a thought-provoking evaluation of patient
experience and perceptions when undergoing
repeated anti-VEGF injections for AMD. Of
note, patient satisfaction increased when given
the opportunity to view the OCT results. Jess
also looked at the provision of information
about vision rehabilitation and patient
support groups. She found many patients felt
uninformed about what
support services were
available to them. Barriers
to the referral of patients
to low vision services and
support groups included:
• patient identified:
timing of referral, financial
outlay, perceived benefit
and accessibility
• orthoptist identified:
practical factors,
knowledge-based factors,
patient factors, clinical
protocol.
The role of the orthoptist
in Australia is firmly
embedded in adult and
paediatric low vision
services across the
spectrum of government
funded, not-for-profit
and private habilitation
and rehabilitation services. Attending this
conference was a valuable opportunity for us to
learn from Australian low vision orthoptists and
share some insights about what we do well in
New Zealand.
Often we become so busy in our clinical
practice we forget why we became orthoptists.
Hearing the passion of the presenters, both
through case studies and the tabling of new
research, helps to spark that excitement again.
We certainly recommend attendance at the
next Orthoptics Australia Annual Scientific
Conference to New Zealand orthoptists. There
was much to learn and share, and the Aussies
are a friendly bunch! ▀
* Claire Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gately-Taylor are both
orthoptists working with The Blind Foundation, which
supported their attendance at the Meeting. Elizabeth also
works with the Terrace Eye Centre in Wellington
RANZCO 2016: Practice
Managers Conference
The 2016 RANZCO
Practice Managers
conference in
Melbourne kicked off
with a fun networking
session, which saw
many of us initially quite
bleary-eyed and not
so ready to share our
thoughts and ideas early
on a Sunday morning!
Once the caffeine kicked
in, however, the creative
juices began to flow
and so did some lively
discussion on issues
affecting ophthalmology practices in today’s
competitive and busy environment.
The key themes of the 2016 conference were
the importance of ensuring ongoing quality staff
development and education; updating patient
management systems and other medical software
to best meet the needs of the practices for now
and into the future; and ways to attract and retain
good staff to ensure a seamless quality service.
As someone fresh off the boat (plane really) from
Wellington, the key areas for me were disaster
management and uninterrupted power supply!
The panel discussion following this session was
very informative and helpful with ideas on how
to ensure your aged-debtors were kept to a
minimum and useful tips on marketing practices.
The importance of continuing to send clinic letters
to GP’s and optometrists, both as a way of sharing
information about patients and as a valuable
marketing tool for the practice, could not be
stressed enough. Quotes were also in high use and
this one, attributed to Richard Branson, struck a
chord with this conference attendee: “Train them
(staff) well so they are good enough to leave. Treat
them well, so that they want to stay.”
BY SYLVIA HEWISON*
Sylvia Hewison and Judith Parnell at the Practice Manager’s conference
LEAVE A LEGACY
OF VISUAL FREEDOM.
TECNIS ®
PRESBYOPIA-CORRECTING IOLs
Inservio’s Katarina
Steele gave a thoughtprovoking
talk on
‘Customer Service,
Connection and
Empathy’. Her video,
designed to make us
all remember that
everyone we meet
has a back story that
shapes the way they
behave at any given
point in time, brought
some in the room to
tears. There was much
emphasis on what
empathy is and the different types of empathy.
All were amused by Katarina’s description of the
selfie stick as “the wand of narcissism”!
Simon Thiessen from The Real Learning
Experience had a lot to say on managing
challenging patient conversations and focusing,
in particular, on emotional self-management with
the timely reminder that you can’t deal with other
people’s “stuff” unless you have your own “stuff”
together.
The update on accreditation from RANZCO was
timely. Key points included: the process to gain
accreditation requires a huge effort, not only from
the practice manager but every member of the
healthcare team from the business owner through
to the person cleaning the bathrooms; it is a great
process for continuous quality improvement; and
practices need to be realistic in setting timeframes
for completion of this process, recognising it could
take upwards of 12 months to achieve.
The other big topic on the conference agenda
was “going paperless” or, as most interpreted it,
creating less paper waste. The upshot of these
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