In busy emergency and outpatient departments across NSW, hospital staff have been looking for user-friendly ways to provide patients with information to enhance understanding of their eye health and care. The I-Share project is seeking the ideal solution, and in a recent trial run in Sydney Eye Hospital’s Outpatient Department key milestones have already been exceeded.
The case for funding
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has set a goal to ensure that service improvements are driven by patient’s experiences.
The I-Share project is designed to support the movement of health systems towards patient-centred health care to serve as the benchmark for all clinical cataract care standards across the board and has three primary goals:
- Improve accessibility to pre-arrival orientation information for patients, carers and families.
- Improve access to relevant health information to improve learning and understanding about their condition and care.
- Improve ability for patients, carers and families to provide feedback on the outpatient experience.
Access to an online survey is provided to every patient by I-Share, to gather feedback on their experience and provide an opportunity for honest and confidential comments about services at Sydney Eye Hospital.
Donor impact
Generous donations to the Sydney Eye Hospital Foundation have helped remove some stress and make patients’ visits to the Outpatient Department easier.
The I-Share platform pilot study reported that 100% of patients visiting Sydney Eye Hospital’s Outpatient Department provided an active mobile phone number in order to receive information to assist with their visit.
When it came to improving access to health information for patients, the report was even more positive. The team’s goal was to have 30% of patients open clinical information provided via I-Share, the outcome was 80% open rate.
“Our report shows that patients accessed and opened more than 340 pre-arrival resources. We are absolutely delighted with the high level of engagement with the I-Share platform.” - Ms Danielle Morgan, Acting Deputy Head of Orthoptic Department
