socialized medicine affecting optometry?

[hye345]

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I don't think anyone has bought up this issue, so I will:

How would socialized medicine affect the field of optometry? Would the effects be as bad as they would be for medicine?

 

[blazenmadison]

I don't think anyone has bought up this issue, so I will:

How would socialized medicine affect the field of optometry? Would the effects be as bad as they would be for medicine?

Since optometry is more business-oriented than medicine, I think there will be less of an impact. As long as you're not JUST selling your services but also a product, optometry will be fine. But corporate optometry is gaining ground rapidly, and more optometrists are relying reimbursements from their services. optometrists make more money than physicians/dentists in some countries (Nicaragua, CR etc.) with socialized medicine because of the business model.

other thoughts?

 

[jefguth]

other thoughts?

In many instances, optometry is already involved in 'socialized medicine' schemes? Medicare anyone? Depending on your practice modality that could be a very large fraction of the patients you are caring for. However, even in the face of declining reimbursements, there's always the opportunity to make up for it with material sales.

You also have to consider that most optometrists are collecting a large part of their income from crappy vision plans that don't pay alot to begin with, and then discount ophthalmic devices like crazy. At least with a single payer system you're probabaly less likely to see that kind of interference, but then we're probably back to low reimbursements for services. 👎

However, the silver linning is that OD's probably would not face the type of discrimination they face now getting on to insurance panels.

 

[fjpod]

Since optometry is more business-oriented than medicine,...

I would respectfully disagree with this statement. Medicine is into big business even more than Optometry is.

Medicine sells things like face lifts, hair transplants, liposuction, LASIK (which is not medically necessary). Surgeons "sell" stents over diet and exercise,...and the list can go on forever. Selling eyeglasses is no more of a business than when an ophthalmologist sells a patient an accomodating IOL that isn't covered by medicare.

Optometry is like every other health care profession. We examine and treat our patients. We keep the patients best interests in mind, just like the MDs, DDSs, DOs, RNs etc. We prescribe and recommend what we think is best. Sometimes it is something medically necessary, sometimes it isn't.

...but at the end of the day we ALL have to make a living. All healthcare professions are a business.

As far as "socialized medicine" affecting optometry...we are greatly affected, or shall I say "controlled" by it. It has it's good points and bad. A bad point is that it tends to lower fees, and put pressure on the amount of time that can be spent with a patient. A good point is that it might increase utilization of services.

 

[fjpod]

double post, sorry

 

[ku06]

Do you even know what the purpose of a stent does ... if my doc recommended exercise instead of a stent I would change docs.

 

[fjpod]

Do you even know what the purpose of a stent does ... if my doc recommended exercise instead of a stent I would change docs.

Do you know what diet and exercise are?

And it's, "Do you even know the purpose of a stent?" or, " Do you even know what a stent does?"

 

[Ben Chudner]

Do you even know what the purpose of a stent does ... if my doc recommended exercise instead of a stent I would change docs.

I think you missed the point of the post. The poster was responding to the comment that optometry tends to be more "business-orientated" than medicine. You can pick apart one of his examples, but his point is valid regarding the business side of medicine.

 

[somebODy else]

Seems to me the poster was making reference to the recent news that stenting is a common procedure, but has been shown to be no more effective, in certain degrees of artery diseases, than diet and exercise alone. Heard it on NPR , it MUST be true . . .😉

 

[scalded]

Seems to me the poster was making reference to the recent news that stenting is a common procedure, but has been shown to be no more effective, in certain degrees of artery diseases, than diet and exercise alone. Heard it on NPR , it MUST be true . . .😉

I wouldn't take that study as the end all and be all of stent studies. It was a fairly small study and didn't go into quality of life issues as much as it should have. What they didn't mention in the study was if you actually want to be able to do things like say walk up a flight of stairs or have a life other than sitting in front of the TV waiting to die you would be wise to consider stenting over purely drug based therapy

At least that's from my dad. Admittedly he works in a cath lab so he might have a vested interest. 🙄