Providing in-office dry eye care ‘important, rewarding’
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ATLANTA — Andrea Knouff, OD, presented a useful guide at SECO for optometric business owners to generate revenue with dry eye diagnosis and treatment.
“We already know a lot of people have meibomian gland dysfunction. Each week, you will see at least one patient with MGD,” Knouff, owner of Eyeclectic Vision Source in Atlanta, said during her MedPRO360 presentation. “They may not even know they have it and you may be the one to diagnose it.”
Her first recommendation for dry eye practice is to invest in an imaging device, but to also consider having both the equipment to image and to treat, because “once you find the patient, then what?” she said. As a specific recommendation, Knouff uses the Oculus Keratograph 5M, which takes both lower and upper lid images.
For treatment, she prefers to use Lipiflow (Johnson & Johnson) or intense pulsed light. Knouff noted, however, that intense pulsed light is not useful for patients with darker skin, as it can cause scarring. Débridement and manual expression are alternatives, but can be uncomfortable.
“We also sell nutraceuticals and other dry eye products in the office, right up at the front desk. We often have patients who were unaware of these products and dive right into asking questions,” she said.
Once a patient is diagnosed with dry eye, Knouff has found it preferable to have them come back on a separate day for treatment and allow for at least 30 minutes to walk them through the procedure, answer all questions and determine follow-up.
“If you build it, they will come — they’ll come out of the woodworks,” Knouff concluded. “Having the ability to diagnose and treat dry eye is so important and it’s rewarding.” – by Talitha Bennett
Reference: Knouff A. MedPRO360: Generating revenue with dry eye. Presented at: SECO; March 4-10, 2020; Atlanta, Ga.
Disclosure: Knouff reports no relevant financial disclosures.