2024 ESG Report
All eyes on virtual optometry
June 17, 2020
When Scott Mcculloch, Senior Manager, Optical Operations, initially got the idea for a remote optometry service, it was about helping people.
"I saw a news story several years ago about the challenges Indigenous kids in northern communities were facing, including access to healthcare," he says. "Vision problems tend to be high on the list, so I wanted to figure out a way to have optometrists test patients' eyes without having to physically be there. But this technology wasn't available at the time, so that idea didn't come to fruition."
With the help of the Optical Operations and Loblaw Innovation teams, Scott's idea has finally come to life — and the technology has caught up too. In fact, we piloted a program that's rolling out remote optometry services at two Real Canadian Superstore® locations in British Columbia.
Here's how it works: Each store has been fitted with a fully automated refracting machine, which an optometrist controls from a laptop in their own office — or even from home. When a patient comes in for an eye test, they see an in-store optician, who takes their information, uploads it to a portal and performs a series of pre-tests, including taking detailed images of the optic nerve/disc and retina. The optician then gets the patient situated at the refractor where the optometrist then performs the eye test and reviews the results via video conference. The patient immediately receives a prescription, which they can fill in-store.
Right now, there's not enough work to hire full-time optometrists for each location, which makes it difficult to get doctor coverage. And part-time doctors need to travel from store to store, which costs time and money. In B.C. and the Atlantic provinces, Scott has to pay to fly a doctor into remote locations.
And with COVID-19 related travel bans and advisories, remote optometry is needed now more than ever.
"Ultimately, what I'd like to do is outreach to communities in need. So, we could send one of these machines into a remote community and have an optometrist test eyes anywhere in the world," he says. "It has the potential to be life-changing."
