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Ophthalmologists must remain active as specialty advances
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ORLANDO, Fla. — As the technical, financial and regulatory environment changes, surgeons must remain active in shaping the ophthalmic environment, according to a surgeon speaking here.
Kenneth D. Tuck, MD, FACS, delivering the Parker Heath Lecture here during the joint meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology, said ophthalmologists face many challenges in the current medical environment, and those challenges will increase in the future.
Dr. Tuck, a past president of the AAO, welcomed the exciting developments on the horizon, including wavefront technology, confocal microscopy, anti-angiogenesis drugs and neuroprotective agents all in development.
“But these are just the tip of the iceberg of what is to come,” he said. “Ophthalmologists have been inundated with the advances of the past 40 years and look forward to the advances of the next 40.”
Ophthalmologists will be challenged not only to keep up with these advancing technologies and the changing medical environment, but also to integrate new technologies and knowledge into their practices in valid and meaningful ways, Dr. Tuck said.
Regarding the business of ophthalmology, Dr. Tuck said practice will continue to increase in complexity and will require a well-trained and qualified staff. Whatever the needs of the future, he said, “I am confident ophthalmologists will be well-served and well-prepared in our treatments for whatever science and technology send our way.”
As confident as Dr. Tuck is about the future for of ophthalmology, however, he said he is “not so confident about the legislative and regulatory environment.” He said the expanding scope of practice of optometry and declining reimbursement from Medicare and private insurance will present challenges that ophthalmologists will have to face. He called on the ophthalmic community to band together to help guide regulatory agencies and insurance companies as they develop policies.
“Bad things will only happen to medicine if [we] individually allow them to happen,” he said.