Industry News
Oculo and Topcon Healthcare Solutions Form Global Partnership
Topcon Healthcare Solutions (THS), of Oakland, NJ, USA, a provider of software solutions for the eye care industry, and Oculo, a company specialised in clinical communications based out of Melbourne, Australia, recently announced a new partnership which will combine the strengths of their Topcon® Harmony™ and Oculo® eye care platforms.
By joining forces, the companies will be able to integrate Topcon® Harmony™, an open source web-based data management application for connecting ophthalmic imaging devices regardless of manufacturer, with Oculo®, a cloud-based network designed especially for health care practitioners to share clinical information, referrals and other clinical correspondence. The partnership will draw on the key strengths of Harmony and Oculo to drive innovation and excellence in eye care.
"This new partnership is the perfect blend of technologies that will benefit both patients and clinicians,” stated Grant Schmid, Vice President of Sales and Business Development for THS. “By bringing the two technologies together, we’re making it easier for patient data and associated images to make their way to referring doctors, ensuring that the patient data is securely transferred, and the attending clinician has everything relevant for patient care. This gives the eye care provider a much clearer and more comprehensive picture of the patient’s case and facilitates diagnosis. It also saves time for patients and reduces waste by eliminating the need for unnecessary repeat exams.”
As software becomes more and more important in diagnosing eye disease, the development and integration of vendor-neutral applications, such as Harmony and Oculo, will be integral to the advancement of patient care. Their ability to operate in a secure, web-based and vendor-agnostic platform will be the key to the complete integration of patient data and electronic medical health records.
“We see real benefits to adding Oculo’s emphasis on communication between eye care professionals to THS’s excellence in clinical image capture and management,” summarized Akifumi Baba, CEO of THS. “Together we can improve triage, screening and teleophthalmology, as well as create a system that provides unprecedented opportunity for data insights.”
“With seamless integration of images, clinical information and business insights, we can offer a unique combination of tools designed to improve both the quality and continuity of health care. Our shared goal is to create a system that eye care providers love to use and that improves patient outcomes,” added Dr. Kate Taylor, CEO of Oculo.
