Introducing Deya to the Eyecare Industry
Deya is the first connected eyecare platform that extends and advances patient care through their smartphone. By leveraging tele-eyecare technology, Deya is an extension of the eye clinic through the phone, with the patient accessing their doctor through an app and the doctor receiving insights in a web browser portal.
Deya allows Eye Care Professionals (ECPs) to remotely and asynchronously manage acute and chronic anterior segment conditions in a way that allows for the care rendered to be compensated by CPT billing.
Key Findings
- Deya is the first connected tele-eyecare platform that enables ECPs to remotely and asynchronously manage acute and chronic anterior segment conditions, which can be compensated by CPT billing.
- Through the Deya Patient App, patients log symptoms, track treatments, and capture AI-guided “Eye Selfies,” while Deya’s ECP-trained AI converts this data into progress reports for eye doctor review in the Doctor Hub.
- Instead of relying on “return to clinic if worsens” and hoping patients stay on track between visits, eye doctors can provide connected and continuous care by inviting patients to “Follow with Deya.”
The App and Hub
Deya helps doctors delight their patients to boost engagement, outcomes and satisfaction.
The Deya Patient app encourages patients to become active participants in their eyecare journey. Functionally, the mobile app allows patients to log and track their symptoms and treatment compliance, while also capturing high-resolution eye images from the back camera using Deya’s AI voice-guided image capture.
The patient data collected in the app is then processed by Deya’s ECP-trained AI, and presented to the patient’s eye doctor as progress reports in a web browser Doctor Hub. Deya’s Doctor Hub and AI empower the ECP by streamlining diagnostic assessment and treatment management beyond the clinic.
Equally valuable, Deya enables the doctor and patient to engage in asynchronous, secure medical conversations about the patient’s eye conditions, treatments, and changes. ECPs are aided by receiving prepared messages to send to their patients, using Deya’s AI language models that help streamline the communication and shorten the doctor’s time needed to create content for conversations and treatment recommendations. Deya’s communication system allows both patient and doctor to actively participate in their part of the eyecare relationship, and to do so asynchronously when they have time.
How it Works
First, the eyecare practice registers their patient in the Deya Doctor Hub, which sends the patient a unique link that leads the patient to the App Store or Google Play from which the Deya Patient App is downloaded. When the patient registers on the Deya App, they are automatically linked to their ECP.
From there, the patient and eye doctor collaborate on care via the following steps:
- Patient takes a daily self-administered eye image (called an “Eye Selfie”) of both eyes in the Patient App, which is enabled by voice guidance and AI that helps the patient optimize phone position and lighting conditions
- Patient answers daily questions about their symptoms and treatment compliance
- Through Deya’s cloud-based, AI-powered analytics system that has been trained by ECPs, the eye images and symptom log are analyzed and placed into a progress report for the patient’s ECP (case dependent, but usually done weekly)
- The ECP logs into the Doctor Hub when convenient in their clinical day to review the patient’s progress and recommended patient messaging that the AI system has created, reducing time required to render excellent care and communicate with the patient. Deya puts the doctor in full control of making the official diagnosis, prognosis, and patient messaging for treatment and clinical decisions. The ECP doesn’t need to see the patient in a live, virtual format, allowing them to fit the care into their schedule when it’s most ideal
- Depending on the condition and severity, the ECP decides on the remote monitoring frequency. As long as the patient has requested eVisits for their follow-up series and the ECP finds the condition eligible to be monitored remotely, Deya can be used in an ongoing manner. The ECP is eligible to bill digital eVisit CPT codes for each seven-day period of patient monitoring.
Why Deya is Needed
To say it simply, patients need more connection with their doctor, better education about their conditions, and more clear follow-up protocols, and ECPs don’t always have the time or systems to provide them well. Deya fills that need.
Today, some ECPs receive unsecure text messages or emails with patients who attach a photo of their latest eye issue, expecting the doctor to render care. And even patients who are diagnosed in-clinic often leave uncertain of the real issue, and the importance of its treatment and specific follow-up.
One of the most common clinic notes for anterior segment eye health conditions is “return to clinic if condition worsens.” Whether this is a statement of confidence in the self-limiting nature of some eye conditions, or instead overwhelming trust in the treatments that the patient is rendered, many patients are not followed to full resolution.
ECPs always work in the best interest of their patients, but they also value keeping their schedule open for full-revenue patient encounters, and prefer to reduce the internal overhead of seeing patients for non-concerning follow-up cases. At the same time, patients appreciate not being asked to drive to the clinic multiple times over a week or month to sit for short follow-up visits in which they see the ECP for only a few minutes. Both ECP and patient want a great outcome, but the overhead to get there can be a challenge to each.
In the new Deya paradigm, the clinic note phrase, “RTC if worsens,” can be replaced with “Follow with Deya.” And with Deya, both ECP and patient benefit. Tele-eyecare services are being increasingly utilized by Optometry and Ophthalmology to deliver a variety of remote care services. In the recent telemedicine position paper,the American Optometric Association said that they support “the use of telemedicine in optometry to access high-value, high-quality eye, health, and vision care” especially when it “protects and promotes the doctor-patient relationship.”1 Deya enables the ECP to meet those ideals.
Deya Promises
Deya celebrates ECPs by recognizing that they are overworked and challenged to give every patient the deepest attention. By offering this tele-eyecare connected care platform, Deya provides ECPs with incredible opportunities to see patients asynchronously by using the smartphone as an extension of their clinic. From this, they can have the opportunity to reduce lost patients, free up appointment slots for new patients, and grow revenue without increasing operating expenses.
Furthermore, Deya’s asynchronous messaging capabilities between Doctor Hub and Patient App reduce clinic disruptions from phone calls, and lessen patient anxiety and confusion about their treatments and follow-ups. Deya affords a new, deeper level of connection between doctor and patient.
Deya’s Charted Course: 2025-26
Alpha testing of the platform is starting in Q4 2025 and will run through Q1 2026, with beta testing starting in Q2 2026. EHR integrations will be achieved in 2026, along with ongoing enhancements of the AI infrastructure that delivers eye image analytics and predictive diagnostics, as well as copy support for patient messaging and predictive treatment plan recommendations.
Full go-to-market will happen in the second half of 2026. Pricing models are being researched but may be comprised by traditional SaaS software subscription pricing as well as a per-patient cost for the ongoing utilization of Deya’s AI-powered systems.
Deya plans to explore opportunities with schools and colleges of optometry, and ophthalmology residency programs for delivery of tele-eyecare in their teaching environments. Deya also aims to collaborate with other AI-centered systems and patient care delivery equipment companies that want to support the ECP on their journey to providing tele-eyecare.
Deya Genesis
Deya means light of compassion, and takes inspiration from the Sanskrit words “Diya” for light, and “Daya” for compassion. Just as eye doctors transform light into sight with compassionate care, Deya illuminates the eyecare journey for both doctors and patients.
By harnessing technology, Deya fulfills the promise of eyecare anywhere, extending the reach of doctors beyond their clinic.
The Deya Team
Deya is co-founded by Ophthalmologist and CEO, Jovi Boparai, and Platform Architect and COO, Carl Murray. Serving as Chief Medical Officer is Optometrist and Tech-veteran, Scott Jens, and providing AI expertise is Founding Engineer, Andrew Garrett. This team aims to bring clinical precision and technological innovation to collaborative patient-doctor relationships. The company’s team will expand in 2026 to include customer support and industry sales divisions.
