CFEH Telehealth Service - Centre for Eye Health

The CFEH telehealth program allows optometrists in the community to confidentially and securely collaborate with highly trained senior CFEH optometrists.

During the telehealth consultations, screensharing technology with end-to-end encryption will be utilised to discuss patient cases selected by the referring optometrist.

Advice and education around diagnosis and image interpretation for posterior eye disease and/or patient management will be given by the CFEH optometrist during the course of these consultations. Thus, they can be considered as interactive CPD and a certificate will be issued at the completion of the consultation.

CFEH has been providing face-to-face imaging, diagnostic and management services since 2009.

We work in collaboration with ophthalmologists from Prince of Wales Hospital, with whom we have been utilising telehealth patient reviews for over a decade.

CFEH clinicians only see patients with suspected or confirmed ocular disease, so have a wealth of experience to share.

Through our new telehealth program, community optometrists can tap into this immense knowledge base in a convenient and time-efficient way, whilst also earning CPD points.

Participating in a telehealth consultation is easy! You will need the following:

  • Permission from your patient (Patient information brochure available)
  • Access to Microsoft Teams
  • Select an available time and enter the required information about yourself and your patient

We will then sort out the rest!

  • Is there any charge for this service?

    All CFEH services, including telehealth, are provided with no personal cost to either patients or referrers. This type of asynchronous telehealth model is ineligible for Meidcare benefits at present, so this service is only made possible by the generous financial support of Guide Dogs NSW/ACT.

  • What do I do if I have multiple patients I would like to discuss?

    Each telehealth appointment is 15 minutes long, and you can discuss up to 2 patients in that time. If you would like to discuss additional patients, please make further appointments with this in mind.

  • What do I need to prepare for the consultation?

    The consultation will occur in Microsoft Teams, so you need to ensure you are able to access this and have access to a microphone. Please note that a Microsoft subscription is NOT necessary to join the Teams meeting. A meeting invitation will be sent to you upon booking and reminder emails sent 24 hours and 15 minutes before the consultation time. This invitation will contain a link for the meeting. Prior to the appointment time, please ensure you have the patients scans and clinical data open on your computer as your CFEH Optometrist will use screensharing to discuss the patient data with you. In the event of technical difficulties, please email Michele Clewett – mclewett@cfeh.com.au.

  • How do I change an appointment if I need to?

    The confirmation email will contain a link to cancel the appointment if necessary. Once the appointment is cancelled, you can make a new one through the online booking portal.

  • Can I make a telehealth appointment to discuss an urgent case?

    Telehealth appointments are not recommended for urgent cases. If a case is potentially time-sensitive in your clinical opinion, we would recommend urgent referral to an ophthalmologist instead. The CFEH referrer hotline is available should you require immediate advice from one of our optometrists – (02) 8115 0777

  • Can I discuss anterior eye cases?

    At this time, the CFEH telehealth service is limited to advice around chronic, non-urgent posterior eye disease only.

  • Can my patient attend the telehealth consultation?

    Telehealth appointments are asynchronous and involve only the referring and the CFEH optometrist. Patients are not able to attend these consultation.

  • How do I record my CPD hours from these consultations?

    At the completion of the telehealth consultation, a CPD certificate will be sent to the referring optometrist. This may be used as evidence of CPD hours if required in an audit. It is the responsibility of the referring optometrist to ensure these CPD hours are recorded on an appropriate learning log, and that they record their reflections on the learning, in accordance with the current CPD guidelines published by AHPRA.

  • Can optometrists outside of Australia use this service?

    At this time, telehealth consultations are limited to optometrists practicing in Australia only. The CFEH optometrists are not familiar with referral pathways in other countries, so will limit advice to patients and optometrists within Australia only.

  • What information or data do you collect from these consultations for research purposes?

    Outcomes from all CFEH Telehealth consultations will be used to research and quantify the impact of this service in a research study led by a team from UNSW. No patient images or personal data is shared with researchers for this project. The team is only interested in metrics such as whether the telehealth service resulted in a change of management or referral urgency, and if so, what that change was. Additionally, the UNSW researchers would like to understand what ocular conditions are most amenable to telehealth review and the geographical catchment area(s) utilising this service.

  • What do I do if I have technical problems using telehealth?

    If you have any technical problems using telehealth please email telehealth@cfeh.com.au or call (02) 8378 0246 during office hours and a member of our team will be able to assist.

Book your CFEH Telehealth
Service now!

Book here
(02) 8115 0700
Centre for Eye Health is an initiative of Guide Dogs NSW/ACT and the University of NSW. Our work is possible thanks to the generosity of Guide Dogs NSW/ACT and their supporters. To support us, please donate.