SOCIAL

  THE WAY I SEE IT

OLD DOG, NEW TRICKS

ADAPTING TO CHANGES HELPS YOU PROVIDE BETTER CARE TO PATIENTS

IN ARIZONA, you don’t have to update your license photo until you are 65 years old. That is both crazy and sad. My outdated photo is a constant reminder that I am getting long in the tooth. I have more freckles (yes, freckles!) than ever before and fewer follicles on my now barren head. And as I note my changing appearance, I also reflect on how differently I practice optometry.

For example, I recently had a patient in my chair who had complaints of blurred vision and asthenopia. Being the astute clinician that I am, I also noted that my patient had a not-so-subtle head tilt. Thus, I knew I needed to perform a Parks Three Step test (PTS).

As I excused myself from the lane to find my folder entitled “Tests I don’t do enough to remember so I have them written on index cards,” my intern asked, “Why don’t you use the PTS App?” She then proceeded to whip out her phone, open the app and input the information for the PTS.

In the amount of time it took me find my index card, she had gotten the answer (left superior oblique). Being an O.D. sure is easier in 2015 than it was in 1994.

REAPING THE BENEFITS

Advancements in technology make many once-arduous tasks simple and easy. Technology has made us soft and spoiled and, frankly, I don’t have any remorse. The ability to capture information quickly and more accurately not only helps my practice, but it helps my patients, too. The days of sifting through my notes from a lecture to find an answer are now replaced with a quick search on Google or an optometry app. I can sit in my boxers and get practice management advice via my smartphone, and my patients can sit in front of their computer and get a refraction. Oh, technology — so crafty.

OLD SCHOOL, NEW SCHOOL

The funny thing about technology is I don’t even realize that I continue to incorporate it into the lane because it feels seamless.

Since I began practicing, I have seen many innovations, including visual field, topographical instruments, autorefraction, VHS tapes with patient education information, soft contact lenses, AR lenses, amniotic membrane, wave-front optimized refractors and digital imagery to go with ocular coherence tomography.

We bring new styles and fashions to our optical and provide knowledge on the new pseudophakic lens options and advancements in contact lens material and comfort.

GETTING ONBOARD

O.D.s are a rare breed of both old school and new school, like a finely remixed retro rap. It’s like Einstein’s train-and-platform experiment: some O.D.s, like myself, “get onboard” with technology, while others stand on the platform and watch the train fly by.

I don’t fear the challenges that this new age of advancements affords my patient base and me — and you shouldn’t either. The way I see it, by embracing change, our profession has been able to provide our patients with the best eye care possible.

Einstein said, “Why worry about the future? It will be here soon enough,” and another visionary, Timbuk 3, said, “The future’s so bright, I gotta wear sunglasses.” Get onboard with innovation and you, too, will have a bright future. OM

MARC BLOOMENSTEIN O.D., M.B.A., currently practices at Schwartz Laser Eye Center in Scottsdale, Ariz. He is a founding member of the Optometric Council on Refractive Technology. Email him at mbloomenstein@gmail.com, or visit tinyurl.com/OMcomment to comment on this article.