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New AOA president reinforces superiority of eye exams over screenings
WASHINGTON – Incoming American Optometric Association President Christopher J. Quinn, OD, FAAO, said here at Optometry’s Meeting that one of the group’s priorities remains the comprehensive eye examination.
“Screenings with low sensitivity offer a false sense of security to the public who really doesn’t know any better,” Quinn told the AOA House of Delegates. “Screenings don’t provide care to patients. Screenings divert valuable resources from needed care. The AOA will insist on nothing less than an eye examination as the best and only real solution to treat a visual disability.”
Quinn also discussed the AOA’s sponsorship of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) report on eye health and the implications of the results.
Quinn said the report concludes: “We can eliminate preventable vision loss and ensure that each person with chronic visual impairment has an opportunity to live a full and productive life.”
“Colleagues, never has a call to action for a profession been clearer,” he told the House of Delegates. “Our profession is uniquely positioned to be the largest part of the solution to the challenges identified in the NASEM report. We have the education, geographic distribution and the ability to provide care to an even broader population than we now serve.”
He said that through a number of resolutions that the House of Delegates passed, the AOA, “will be recognized for setting a path into the future that will address the challenge head on.”
Quinn said the continued development of a strong doctor-patient relationship is the solution to a lack of care.
“We will rely on technological advances to improve doctor productivity and patient access while at the same time working to protect our patients from the commercial lies and deceptions about what technology can do without the need for a doctor,” he said.
“No matter what happens with health care reform in Washington, we will continue to pursue an agenda that will advocate for an eye exam with integrated preventive health benefit for every American’s health insurance,” Quinn added.
One of the resolutions the House of Delegates passed at this meeting involved the formation of the AOA Health Policy Institute, which will “analyze trends, weigh evidence and help AOA map out policy decision that will impact how we practice today and into the future,” he said. “We envision this group doing some of the same important work that the National Commission on Vision and Health began almost 10 years ago. Having a legitimate policy think tank that will develop white papers and identify trends in health care that impact optometry will be critically important to support our advocacy efforts in the increasingly evidence-based world of health care.”
The House of Delegates also passed a resolution to “move ahead with the development of a true program of accreditation of continuing education,” he said. “This will conform our process of accreditation with other independent health care professions that self-regulate, a defining characteristic of a mature profession.”
Quinn concluded his address: “Scope, access, policy, education, technology. These are the issues we must address to ensure a successful future for our profession and our members... these are the issues AOA will face and fight for in the coming year.” – by Nancy Hemphill, ELS, FAAO