The future is always changing. Most of what we talked about as futuristic ideas a decade ago is now commonplace. What we talk about today will be ubiquitous in a decade or less because innovation continues to move forward. This means change, a lot of it — and it is coming fast. As motivational speaker, columnist and author Sukant Ratnaker once said, “Our future success is directly proportional to our ability to understand, adopt and integrate new technology into our work.”

While the virtual practice has been discussed as a possibility over the years, it got a major shot of growth hormone, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, providers and patients alike were more or less forced to adapt to telemedicine, virtual consults and the sharing of clinical images via cell phone or online, among other technologies, so they could provide and receive needed eye care, respectively. Through this now year plus-long experience, we, as providers, and our staffs have recognized these technologies offer a better, faster and smarter way of working, no doubt paving the way for their evolving use in the future.

Here’s a look at the technology that has transformed office tasks to be more efficient and convenient and our predictions for the future of this technology (See “More Predictions,” p.30).

ONLINE SCHEDULING

Initially offered as an option, some practices have promoted online scheduling, due to decreases in staff brought on by the financial implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the increased use of online scheduling, remaining staff members have been able to dedicate more of their time to other areas of practice, such as pre-testing, that could not be automated, but might soon be. (See graphs on p.28, from a 2016 PatientPop survey.)

Meanwhile, optometrists have benefitted by gaining access to patients’ self-reported reason for their visit and demographic information prior to the visit, enabling a more streamlined appointment and decision-making process.

Prediction: In recognizing the practice efficiencies gained by online scheduling, we believe the patient demographic review, insurance coverage and verification also will occur prior to the visit, and that patients, in now realizing the intuitiveness and convenience of online scheduling, will continue to choose this route of appointment-making, allowing for a more seamless and efficient patient experience.

TELEMEDICINE

When the U.S. government and CMS issued policies allowing for the use of telehealth services a little over a year ago, optometrists quickly moved to learn this new way of processing patients. Soon, they discovered that certain ocular conditions could be managed effectively via virtual visits, enabling their practices to stay afloat and their patients to receive care efficiently and conveniently. To date, the following conditions have been managed via a virtual visit:

• Blepharitis
• Chalazion
• Conjunctivitis
• Dry eye disease
• Ocular allergy
• Pediatric myopia (See bit.ly/3aWwff4 )
• Pinguecula
• Pterygium
• Subconjunctival hemorrhage.

Telemedicine is here to stay. This is the time to review the various telemedicine options that exist and start utilizing one for follow-up phone calls.

Prediction: We believe the history-taking element of an office visit will likely occur via a telemedicine virtual visit. Our reasoning: Many patients are now comfortable with a video telemedicine consult, and these meetings still enable the human interaction patients desire, without requiring them to leave the comfort of their homes.

Additionally, we wouldn’t be surprised if telemedicine was developed further by an augmented medical intelligence decision-making platform that would allow for real-time clinical-decision support to streamline history taking, diagnostic testing and clinical management decisions. This also could improve the consumer experience even further.

Also, we feel pre-testing will look and feel very different. Specifically, we see a telemedicine platform that enables remote testing. Already camera attachments allow for retinal and external photography, acuity, perimetry and binocular vision. While virtual diagnostic testing and, specifically, machine vision are still in their infancy, we are sure they will soon grow into an essential technology.

Today, interface connectivity across platforms and utilization of virtual interactive technologies are a challenge, but we think 5G and beyond will likely eliminate those challenges shortly.

VIRTUAL FRAME TRY-ON

As was the case with online scheduling, this technology didn’t appear to fully catch on until the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the doors of optometrists’ and big box retail optical dispensaries. Those practices that offered the technology — some with a live consultation with the practice’s optician — were able to retain frame sales during lockdown, while impressing patients with the service and doorstep delivery.

Prediction: Retailers, including the likes of Warby Parker, Zenni Eyeglasses and LensCrafters, among others, have invested lots of money in virtual frame try-on because they realize patients appreciate the ability to order prescription eyewear easily from their phones, tablets and computers. Mark our words: Virtual frame try-on will become a common element in the eye care industry in readily available and custom frame designs.

More Predictions

 

Electronic communication personalization. In recent years, the best way to market and communicate with patients has become more personal than print advertisements or billboards. Email, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have completely changed how we attract, educate and retain patients. Education, in particular, has become more personalized, as practices are able to regularly send targeted educational emails, automated messages and tailor social media posts to their patients. These platforms can serve to remind and teach patients of important concepts in the eye care industry, such as explaining cataracts or astigmatism, or even the importance of wearing sunglasses to protect from UV light. As a result, we believe that feedback-powered technology will be more personalized, as platform profiles allow for a more complete picture of an individual’s likes, dislikes needs and wants.

 

Virtual CE is here to stay. Education is also on the precipice of a major change. This year, for better or for worse, all conferences and meetings were forced to go virtual. Being able to attend multiple lectures that occurred close in timing without needing to run from one conference room to another, or the ability to listen to a recording of a conference presentation and data that may have been ongoing at the same time as another meeting allowed for more in-depth learning opportunities. Because of these benefits, we believe societies will have to consider virtual education options, even as we move out of the pandemic.

 

WHAT’S AHEAD

All forms of “work” have changed across the world, and the duration of this change has been long enough to create meaningful change that will continue to stay globally. Our lives, our work and our industry will not be an exception. We have opened the doorway to virtual, interactive, collaborative medicine, so the virtual office is not going away. Throughout this fast-paced change, there will continue to be challenges, and our resistance or acceptance of change will be the differentiator in how we, as health care providers, move forward.

We, as mankind, often suffer from metathesiophobia (or fear of change). The one certainty in life is change and our challenge, should we so choose, is to accept and adapt. We are currently in a state of rapid acceleration in technology development and implementation, and we are about to jump the innovation chasm. Despite all the technological and virtual changes to practice, the single biggest change we will see is in the way we acquire knowledge. Much of our health care data has been predicated on individual provider knowledge and experience, and individual office workflow as well as provider-owned data sets. OM

DR. MORRIS is the former chief optometric editor of Optometric Management magazine, an international speaker, educator, author and management consultant, who practices at Eye Consultants of Colorado, LLC. He is heavily involved in industry, and is well-versed in many companies that offer advances in health care technology.

DR. MARTIRE earned her Doctor of Optometry degree and her Masters of Science in low vision research at the New England College of Optometry. She is completing her residency in refractive/ocular surgery and specialty contact lenses at Georgia Eye Partners. She has trained at Eye Consultants of Colorado, the VA Hospital in Boston, various greater Boston-area community health centers and in specialty clinics.