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Biography

Judy Nam gradated with a Bachelor of Vision Science and Master of Clinical Optometry from the University of New South Wales. She works as a therapeutically-endorsed optometrist at the Centre for Eye Health, a collaborative care clinic aiming to improve accessibility and reduce preventable blindness in the community.

As a clinician-scientist her research interests lie in applying technology to improve early diagnosis of eye disease and enhancing collaborative care management. This has inspired her to explore areas of human computer interaction and artificial intelligence though a Graduate Certificate in Computing and applying it to enhancing eye care models in public health systems.

Judy is also the chair of the Early Career Optometrist NSW/ACT Committee, whereby she advocates and engages with younger members of the profession such that optometry remains an integral part of the healthcare community.

Research Title

Integration of artificial intelligence and telehealth technologies in eye care systems.

Supervisors

Dr Lisa Nivison-Smith, Prof Fiona Stapleton

Research Abstract

More than 90% of permanent visual impairment and blindness can be avoidable with early detection and timely intervention. However, accessibility to eye care remains a challenge in public health systems due to extensive ophthalmology wait times. This public health burden is exacerbated by the growing and ageing of our population, as existing public ophthalmology services are unable to meet the needs of Australians.

Telehealth models and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can be leveraged to alleviate the pressures on public eye care services, by improving efficiency and utilisation of existing resources through refining referral pathways, fostering collaborative care (between optometry and ophthalmology) and providing clinical decision support. This increased capacity enables improved accessibility to public eye care services and reduces the incidence of preventable irreversible vision loss in the population. However, there has been little to no investigation into the implementation of digital technologies to improve and upscale collaborative care models.

Thus, this research project aims to provide empirical evidence towards integration of telehealth models and AI technologies to enhance eye care delivery.