Jan. 11, 2017
By Thomas Wong, OD
Director of New Technology
SUNY College of Optometry
Concept of a Hackothon |
We Live & Work in a Connected World |
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Thomas Wong, OD, Director of New Technology at SUNY College of Optometry, describes the concept of a “hackothon.” SUNY is employing this digital-era tool in a series of events designed to “hack apart” and then reconstruct common processes in optometric practice and education.
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Dr. Wong reminds us that we live and practice in a connected world. Being part of the greater medical community is essential to the future success of optometry, he says.
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We live in a connected world. For our optometric profession to fully play its critical role in the delivery of health care, we need first to collaborate within our profession. We must leverage our vast resources and creative energies through technology and redefine our processes. Further, we need to integrate with the medical community and demonstrate our readiness to deliver excellence in eyecare now and in the future.
That means breaking some molds–in fact “hacking” apart the ways we always have done certain things–then reassembling our processes to deliver the best care efficiently and economically.
At SUNY College of Optometry, we have launched a series of “hackothons” designed to connect participants both in person and digitally to collectively “hack apart” existing processes and rebuild them. Participating in the hackothons are SUNY faculty, residents and students, as well as working ODs and faculty from other optometry schools, attending virtually. We have identified and begun working toward three goals:
The SUNY Hackothon involves faculty, residents, OD students and practicing ODs in a general session, and with distance attendees online.
Redefine the eye exam: Our first hackothon, conducted in January 2016, took apart the existing model for a comprehensive eye exam and reassembled that exam for the digital era. We identified seven essential processes, from patient portals to biomedical informatics, that bring the eye exam to the cutting edge of technology and enhanced care.
Make clinical knowledge mobile: In November 2016, we examined models of CE and came up with models for providing essential clinical learnings in a mobile app. Four competing groups presented concepts for mobile apps, and the task of constructing a composite of their best ideas is underway.
Team up with other medical professionals. In June 2017, at AOA Optometry’s Meeting, we will explore new inter-professional models for optometry to actively participate with care providers of various disciplines in this dynamic era of health care reform. The event is co-presented with representatives from the nursing profession.
Hackothon participants work in groups to “ideate” solutions to be presented to the general session.
What we found: When we work together, face-to-face, creativity abounds. When we compete, group vs. group, we heighten engagement. When we share our ideas, they complement one another. Importantly, we have found that many of us in optometry have different strengths. This includes not only areas of eyecare (e.g., pediatrics, binocular vision, ocular disease), but business management, augmented & virtual reality, and mobile applications. In optometry we need to integrate our knowledge instead of creating too many separate entities. Our common goal is to improve our patient’s outcomes.
Our opportunity is vast and the stakes are high. Optometry needs to be part of health care delivery as a whole, and we bring unique skills and perspectives to the medical community. For optometry to claim its rightful position in that community, we need to show our preparedness, loud and clear.
Save the Date: Hackothon III will be part of Optometry’s Meeting, in Washington, D.C., on Saturday June 24, 2017 (11am–3pm).
Thomas Wong, OD, is Director of New Technology at SUNY College of Optometry in New York, N. Y. To reach him: tawong@sunyopt.edu
