CLINICAL

  DIVERSIFY YOUR PORTFOLIO

EVOLVING INNOVATIONS

WHERE WOULD OUR PATIENTS BE WITHOUT THEM?

WITHOUT THE game-changing innovations in eye care technology that has been developed throughout the years, we wouldn’t be able to diversify our practices to provide a range of life-changing products and services to our patients.

This means many of our dry eye disease patients would remain undiagnosed and, more importantly, go untreated; many of our ocular disease patients would be blind, losing their ability to live independently; and those patients who desire contact lens wear would have no choice but to remain in spectacles.

Let’s look at this from the perspective of a retinal disease patient.

PHARMACOLOGY

Without diagnostic agents, it would be much more difficult, if not impossible, to provide top-notch retinal care.

Further, without the use of sight-saving medications, there would be no way for optometrists to treat such conditions as cystoid macular edema, among others that respond well to topical NSAIDS and steroids.

A valuable visual aid: Clinical images obtained via newer technologies, such as OCT, can be a great patient education tool, helping them to better understand their test results.

DIAGNOSTIC TECHNOLOGY

Without OCT, we would not be able to detect retinal disease early, giving our patients an excellent chance of maintaining their vision. Think about it.

In addition, this device enables us to see pathology that we did not even know existed. A great example of this is vitreomacular traction (VMT). Although we may not be able to “treat” VMT, it is nonetheless important to identify in order to properly educate patients and possibly save on glasses remakes.

Without digitally created diagnostic lenses, we would still have to sacrifice some magnification to get the desired field of view.

PATIENT EDUCATION

Another great byproduct of OCT is patient education. VMT, for example, is not easy to describe to patients who don’t have a background in science, and attempting to explain it can take up a lot of time. But show them a clinical photo of it vs. a normal retina, and they’ll understand within a minute why their vision can’t be corrected with a new pair of glasses.

THE OUTCOME

With evolving innovations in eye care, we are not only able to further our offerings to our patients, but also improve how patients perceive our profession. It’s truly a win-win. As we move forward, there are likely to be advances in treatment options that hopefully will be a part of furthering this improvement of care. OM

JEFFRY D. GERSON, O.D., F.A.A.O. practices at Grin Eyecare in Olathe, Kan., a full-scope combined O.D./M.D. practice. Email him at jgerson@hotmail.com or visit tinyurl.com/OMcomment to comment on this article.