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If practices start to transition, does that leave technicians unemployed or do technicians also have a role in telehealth?
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if practices start to transition to telehealth, what does this mean for employees whom aren't ODs?
- Thread starter chicagotech
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How exactly will optometry do telehealth?
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Besides face timing and trouble shooting for benign issues of the eye Tele Optometry just seems difficult to grasp. Sure a subconjuctival hemorrhage, external hordeolum can easily be assessment/plan over Skype. How would a Dr ever get an image of the cornea, anterior chamber angle through gonioscopy, stereo imaging on the retina? Also hearing a patient's voice, attitude, body language in physical proximity makes a big difference. Who knows what the next 30 years of Optometry will bring but I don't think the face to face exam will go away in my career.
Now sending patients a bill or billing their insurance (if medically necessary) for phone calls to answer questions may become more common (i.e. like lawyers bill).
Also you would have to convince the state licensing boards to change the Optometry rules to what constitutes a comprehensive eye exam.
Now sending patients a bill or billing their insurance (if medically necessary) for phone calls to answer questions may become more common (i.e. like lawyers bill).
Also you would have to convince the state licensing boards to change the Optometry rules to what constitutes a comprehensive eye exam.
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i am just talking about now, during covid-19. some practices may want to utilize telehealth during this time and i am wondering if technicians would also have a role in that or if that is solely doctor and patient
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It's very important that you clearly define your concept of telehealth or teleoptometry. There is a very big misnomer out there and for whatever reason, telehealth immediately conjures an idea of optometrists being replaced—this simply isn't true.
I believe there are 4 types of telehealth solutions in optometry at the current moment, and only 1 of them is considered a large threat to optometry.
1) Online refractions/exams: probably the worst type, but I don't believe it's utilized too much. Also, this isn't what you've been seeing pop up in the news when it comes to telehealth in optometry and COVID-19. This has limits and isn't as popular as you might think. Companies like opternative have had huge legal issues as well and its a messy place to try to start a business. Good job to the AOA for fighting them!
2) Remote optometry: companies like digital optometrics are pioneering remote exams performed by an optometrist who is completely remote. The primary use case is in locations where ODs will not work due to their geographic location, typically rural areas. There are hundreds of "dark stores" - basically retail locations that cannot find ODs to work their due to their location. Our company tries to support them and sometimes we're successful. This is private and corporate by the way.
3) Testing performed by a technician: for example, a nurse uses a fundus camera or a handheld device to capture an image of the retina and this gets sent to an MD or OD for analysis. Not the worst thing in the world and actually will help bring more patients to our offices since AMD, DR, and other pathologies are very common and are going undetected.
4) Lastly and what you're seeing a lot of with eyecarelive or doxy.me are digital solutions to connect patients and doctors securely: so if I have a new or existing patient with a red eye, they can essentially dial and OD up over video, have a chat, and they can show the OD their eye or describe their problem and the OD can decide their protocol from there. It totally works for external diseases but obviously not for internal or refractive. Once again, a very powerful tool. I believe it's key for all ODs to use this. Trust me, it is better than texting your patients which isn't hipaa compliant.
I'm no expert but this is my analysis. Only option #1 is bad, the rest I believe are helpful for optometry. Sure it can be a slippery slope but we can't not innovate. We need to move forward and help guide and steer these companies—perhaps even be their future CEOs. Trying to prevent them from happening is like trying to stop the force of evolution—not possible. Might as well guide them and ensure optometry is a healthy part of the conversation and gets a piece of the pie. There are 7 billion people on this planet—there is plenty to go around.
Hope this helps.
I believe there are 4 types of telehealth solutions in optometry at the current moment, and only 1 of them is considered a large threat to optometry.
1) Online refractions/exams: probably the worst type, but I don't believe it's utilized too much. Also, this isn't what you've been seeing pop up in the news when it comes to telehealth in optometry and COVID-19. This has limits and isn't as popular as you might think. Companies like opternative have had huge legal issues as well and its a messy place to try to start a business. Good job to the AOA for fighting them!
2) Remote optometry: companies like digital optometrics are pioneering remote exams performed by an optometrist who is completely remote. The primary use case is in locations where ODs will not work due to their geographic location, typically rural areas. There are hundreds of "dark stores" - basically retail locations that cannot find ODs to work their due to their location. Our company tries to support them and sometimes we're successful. This is private and corporate by the way.
3) Testing performed by a technician: for example, a nurse uses a fundus camera or a handheld device to capture an image of the retina and this gets sent to an MD or OD for analysis. Not the worst thing in the world and actually will help bring more patients to our offices since AMD, DR, and other pathologies are very common and are going undetected.
4) Lastly and what you're seeing a lot of with eyecarelive or doxy.me are digital solutions to connect patients and doctors securely: so if I have a new or existing patient with a red eye, they can essentially dial and OD up over video, have a chat, and they can show the OD their eye or describe their problem and the OD can decide their protocol from there. It totally works for external diseases but obviously not for internal or refractive. Once again, a very powerful tool. I believe it's key for all ODs to use this. Trust me, it is better than texting your patients which isn't hipaa compliant.
I'm no expert but this is my analysis. Only option #1 is bad, the rest I believe are helpful for optometry. Sure it can be a slippery slope but we can't not innovate. We need to move forward and help guide and steer these companies—perhaps even be their future CEOs. Trying to prevent them from happening is like trying to stop the force of evolution—not possible. Might as well guide them and ensure optometry is a healthy part of the conversation and gets a piece of the pie. There are 7 billion people on this planet—there is plenty to go around.
Hope this helps.
