Key Takeaways
- AAO will integrate its Preferred Practice Patterns and Ophthalmic Technology Assessments into OpenEvidence, giving ophthalmologists free access to specialty-specific guidance within a cited AI-powered clinical workflow
- Beyond content integration, the partnership establishes a feedback loop that provides the Academy with aggregated insights into physicians’ information needs
The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and OpenEvidence, a medical AI platform for physicians, announced a strategic partnership that will integrate the Academy's Preferred Practice Patterns and Ophthalmic Technology Assessments directly into the OpenEvidence platform.
The collaboration will make the Academy's clinical guidance available alongside the broader peer-reviewed medical literature within OpenEvidence's searchable, cited workflow, providing ophthalmologists with access to specialty-specific evidence at the point of care at no additional cost.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology represents more than 32,000 medical doctors worldwide. Its Preferred Practice Patterns' clinical guidelines in ophthalmology are developed through extensive evidence review and continuously updated by subspecialty experts.
Under the agreement, OpenEvidence will incorporate the Academy's clinical guidance into its AI models, enabling physicians to access specialty recommendations within the same workflow they use to search and evaluate medical literature. In addition, OpenEvidence will provide the Academy with aggregated, high-level insights into topics most frequently explored by ophthalmologists, helping identify emerging areas of interest and potential gaps in existing guidance.
"We evaluated the landscape carefully and chose OpenEvidence because of the rigor of their approach. Their models are trained on peer-reviewed literature, every answer is cited and verifiable, and they have built the infrastructure to integrate specialty-specific guidance with the depth and nuance that our physicians need—at a level that sets the bar for all," said Stephen D. McLeod, MD, CEO of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
"This partnership is about more than content integration. Together, we are building a feedback loop between how ophthalmologists practice and how the Academy responds to these needs, using real-world usage data to identify gaps and priorities we couldn't see before. The age of AI offers opportunities for the medical profession to focus on real needs in real time, and the Academy intends to lead the way—with OpenEvidence as our partner," Dr. McLeod said.
For OpenEvidence, the partnership represents an expansion of its strategy to incorporate specialty society guidance directly into clinical decision-support workflows.
"Ophthalmology is a field where the depth of subspecialty knowledge is critical and the clinical guidelines reflect decades of rigorous evidence review," said Travis Zack, MD, PhD, chief medical officer of OpenEvidence. "We're excited to work with the Academy to trailblaze the next steps in expert-guided practice, partnering to leverage AI tools and what we are learning about the real-world clinical knowledge requirements in ophthalmology to support the Academy in its efforts."
The arrangement is structured as a licensing agreement for the Academy's content. The Academy will retain sole intellectual and financial responsibility for developing and maintaining its Preferred Practice Patterns and Ophthalmic Technology Assessments.
