I also have no idea what the other poster meant when he said,
"Of course we can order a CT/MRI, but many OD staff are not trained to pre-certify scans". Pre-certify scans???? I assuming he's talking about insurance issues. That's a whole 'nother story. But I've never had a problem. I write out the order on an Rx pad or letterhead and it get's done. I get a friendly call from the radiologist and a note the next day. Never a problem with 'pre-certifying' except recently with Medicaid. When that happens, I get on the phone and get the person's name and degree (don't have one) and explain to them that I need it for the patient's attorney if they happen to die from something undiagnosed from the lack of the scan. That works about every time.
But in my opinion, you can go through life afraid and wondering where a lawsuit will come from. What happens if you refer to a neurologist and he doesn't bother with a scan and there IS a problem. Don't you think the OD would be sued in this case too?
If it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen. Another poster seems to basically be saying, "why bother, refer it up the food chain from the get go". I suppose there is nothing wrong with that. But I think many times, the willingness to go the extra mile is worth it. It's one of the things that seperates a 'doctor' from a technician.
But by all means, I do encourage ODs to only work within their comfort level. My comfort level seems to be higher........but I enjoy the challenging cases and have always worked beyond the little OD programs to educate myself. It's a shame organized ophthalmology moved to BAN ODs from their continuing educational programs in the early 2000's. But knowledge is everywhere. Fortunately no one group has a monopoly on it.