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Care ODs provide to patients is under attack, Loomis says
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BOSTON – Attacks on the profession are coming from different places than in the past, outgoing American Optometric Association President Steven A. Loomis, OD, told the House of Delegates here at Optometry’s Meeting.
“Optometry has been under attack since the profession was created 100 years ago,” he said. “The battles were usually optometry vs. ophthalmology. It was easy to know the opponent; the arguments were pretty predictable.
“It’s different today,” he continued. "Scope battles must still be fought; we’re not even close to where we need to be. But these new attacks have one common denominator. What is being attacked is the importance of the care we provide as optometrists.”
Steven. A. Loomis
Loomis said optometry has been attacked by contact lens retailers who have no apparent regard for brand, base curve, power, diameter, effect on a patient’s cornea and comfort.
“That’s why retailers advocate for the deregulation of contacts,” he said. “When we insist it’s in the patient’s best interest that these medical devices be properly prescribed and prescriptions are properly filled, we become the barrier to their business and become the object of the attack, but the patients become the casualties.
“We’ve been attacked by companies who intend to reduce eye care to an iPhone app,” Loomis continued. “When we advocate for patients to get the care they need, once again the profession is attacked, but the patient is the casualty. [These companies] think to maximize the value of their sham service, they have to minimize the value of real health care.”
Through support of federal legislation, the AOA has said “no to the erosion of the value of the care and services we provide,” Loomis said. – by Nancy Hemphill, ELS, FAAO