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Organized optometry helps sustain our practices
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Having the great fortune of participating in the training of optometric interns and ophthalmology residents over the last 25 years, I have come to two realizations. First, and perhaps foremost, is the realization that each and every year brings a new crop of bright and aspiring clinicians. It is both impressive and reassuring, as it gives me the sense that our country’s visual well-being is in great hands … for years to come.
The other realization, perhaps not as critical but equally striking, is the lack of business acumen among these otherwise well-prepared young doctors. I am amazed at how well versed they are in all things ocular and, at the same time, so naïve to the ways of the health care business world. This is not especially reassuring, as I worry about how they will navigate the increasingly complex maze we know as health care today.
It is not that I am being critical of our educational institutions. After all, emerging technologies and escalating medical breakthroughs place tremendous pressures on training programs – and a mandate to teach more in the same amount of time. Given these time constraints, it is implicit that virtually all efforts be geared toward graduating competent clinicians. It was that way when I trained years ago and it will probably be that way forever. I get it.
What is especially amazing is that despite no formal business education foundation, many clinicians end up as stewards of their own vibrant and successful practice. Regardless of what mode of practice that is, our success is largely because of who we are. We are competent, compassionate and caring health care providers. We work hard – one patient at a time – to earn their confidence and trust. Historically, putting the patient’s best interest first and foremost has been the underpinning of our success. That is, until now.
I am not naïve enough to believe that the time-honored “doctor-patient” relationship will be all that is necessary to weather our country’s sweeping health care reform. With all the buzz around vertical integration, accountable care organizations and carve-outs, it is clear our patients may ultimately be “herded” as opposed to making their own choices in selecting doctors.
While our future successes will still depend on how well we care for our patients, it is also clear we will increasingly need the help of our own. Fortunately, for generations of optometrists, help has come from our state optometric associations and the American Optometric Association. It is the AOA, and its state affiliates, who assures our voice is heard in legislative halls, both small and large. In short, it is the AOA who is focused on protecting optometry, thereby allowing us to focus on our patients.
In this month’s Primary Care Optometry News, “Optometry makes headway against insurer mandates” (page 6) tells the story so very well. Without the efforts of the AOA – and our state optometric associations – practicing optometry would probably not be as gratifying and successful as it is for many today. It has been that way for years and it will probably be that way forever.