Empowering Optometrists through Automation: The Impact of Heru Prime

Heru’s automated diagnostics, efficiency, and accuracy help optometrists focus on what matters most—exceptional care.

The optometrist’s time with the patient is one of the most valuable metrics, clinically and financially, for both the doctor and the patient. When viewed in terms of hourly wages, the optometrist’s time constitutes a large portion of the clinic’s monthly overhead. Equally important is the optometrist’s role in analyzing patient data, forming diagnoses, developing treatment plans, and clearly communicating findings to the patient — all of which are the cornerstones of clinical care. With the increasing premium on efficiency from the various forces driving the desire or need to care for more patients, the optometrist’s time must remain focused on delivering the expert care that only they can provide.

In the rapidly evolving field of optometry, the integration of Heru Prime is revolutionizing the way diagnostic data is collected. Heru Prime leverages virtual reality (VR) and an onboard digital technician to automate the collection of data for essential diagnostic tests (Figure 1). Many of these tests, such as cover, extraocular motility, and pupils have historically required manual collection by an optometrist. By delegating routine data collection to Heru Prime, optometrists can focus on more critical aspects of delivering care and empathy.

Benefits of Automation

1. Enhanced Efficiency: Automation significantly reduces the time required for data collection, allowing optometrists to see more patients in a day. This increase in productivity can lead to higher revenue for the clinic.
2. Improved Accuracy: Heru Prime provides standardized and reproducible results, minimizing human error and ensuring that the data collected is reliable.
3. Cost Savings: Optometrists are among the highest-paid employees in a clinic, and Heru Prime optimizes these overhead costs.

Elevating the Role of Optometrists

The standardized reporting provided by Heru Prime takes the busywork out of manual pretesting, allowing optometrists to focus on more critical tasks:

Data Analysis: Optometrists can delve deeper into the data collected by Heru Prime, identifying patterns and making more informed decisions about patient care.

“I just saw a 29 yo at one of our offices. Cover test picked up esotropia OS at distance but not at near. I was suspicious at first but upon more case history, pt reported an inward eye turn OS and patching therapy as a child. She can straighten her eye posture with effort, which explains the cover test results. Happy to report Heru test results were reliable and best corrected is 20/20.” — Dr. K, Optometrist

Differential Diagnosis: With more time available, optometrists can perform thorough diagnoses, considering a wider range of potential conditions and ensuring accurate treatment plans.

“Heru success story for me today was a patient with migraines and occasional double vision. Heru had her at ortho distance and 13 BI near. Without Heru I wouldn’t know how big her Exo was at near and how she is completely Ortho at distance. I’m thrilled for her!” — Dr. S, Optometrist

“I just had a patient where the HERU was showing she was a 3 diopter left hypertrope and when I checked it during refraction it was exactly the same. After discussing diplopia with the patient, it turns out she has been symptomatic even though she marked “no” for diplopia on her history form. It’s great to see the accuracy in the HERU testing, because I think sometimes these hypertropes get missed and adding prism to their rx can make such a difference for them.” — Dr. W, Optometrist

Patient Consultation: Optometrists can spend more time consulting with patients, explaining diagnoses, discussing treatment options, and addressing any concerns. This enhanced patient interaction can lead to better patient satisfaction and outcomes.

“It was a great experience. The tech was very good & Dr. [redacted] was so thorough. Probably one of the best exams I’ve had in a while as far as feeling it was super thorough.” — Patient

Future Outlook

The adoption of cutting-edge technologies like Heru Prime represents a paradigm shift in optometry, revolutionizing efficiency, precision, and patient care. Technologies that automate clinical data collection must be clinically validated and peer-reviewed to ensure the standard of care is met or exceeded. Recent clinical studies presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) have demonstrated Heru Prime’s outstanding diagnostic capabilities, which are expected to continually improve and align with the highest standards of care.

Heru Prime’s automation of previously manual testing allows optometrists to focus more on crucial aspects of patient care, including data analysis, differential diagnosis, and empathetic patient encounters. The resulting transformation not only boosts efficiency and accuracy but also elevates the optometrist’s role, enabling the provision of superior care, improved outcomes, and heightened patient satisfaction.

As we look to the future, the ongoing integration of AI and VR in optometric diagnostics promises even more sophisticated applications. We anticipate more advancements in early eye disease detection, advanced treatment planning, and tools for improving patient education. The future of optometry lies in embracing these innovations, empowering practitioners to elevate their role, and serving patients with high-fidelity data. Now that is a win-win.

Schedule a demo today to learn more about how Heru can transform your private practice or telehealth solutions.