The American Optometric Association’s for-profit subsidiary, AOAExcel, Inc., has finalized the sale of OcuHub, a pioneering high-tech platform developed to provide doctors of optometry with a specialized link to health information exchanges, to a wholly-owned subsidiary of TearLab Corporation.
The transaction, which places OcuHub a significant step closer to being marketed to optometry practices nationwide, involved a cash payment to AOAExcel of $1.4 million, an agreement on a preferred pricing structure for AOA member doctors, and a multi-year marketing agreement between TearLab and AOAExcel.
“This is welcome news for doctors of optometry and the tens of millions of our patients from across the country who rely on us for the full range of high quality, advanced eye health services we provide,” said Mitchell T. Munson, O.D., president of the AOA.
“As the leading advocate for eye doctors and patients, the AOA is focused on eliminating all potential barriers to the delivery of essential eye health care services. Bringing OcuHub to market will help assure full connectivity for optometrists in patient-focused communications with other physicians, hospitals and payers.”
OcuHub, a subscription-based service designed to be fully compliant with HIPAA, seeks to facilitate an effective and efficient shared care model with a single sign-on portal, in order to simplify secure connectivity between doctors, patients, institutions and payers. Eye care practices of all sizes stand to benefit from OcuHub’s cloud-based technology advances and innovations, such as electronic medical records software, image management and storage, practice management tools and marketing programs.
Joe E. Ellis, O.D., CEO of AOAExcel, added, “We developed and nurtured the OcuHub technology to ensure that no AOA member doctor would ever face unfair restrictions or limits on access to health information exchanges. It represents an important investment in assured connectivity and access, and will help keep optometry’s essential primary care role in our own hands to define.”