The Ophthalmic Practice of the Future

Abstract

How will the ophthalmologist of the future practice? What will be the effect of government policy? How will this impact the mix of health care providers responsible for the delivery of eye care to patients? What part will health record technology play in clinical practice? These topics were discussed at the Knapp Symposium of the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Ophthalmological Society. The health care system within which ophthalmology will be practiced will be radically different, ruled by changes in collaboration, communication, and practice guidelines. Given the coming uncertainty of our professional lives, it is vital that we anticipate, contemplate, and plan for our futures.

Glaucoma referral refinement in Ireland: managing the sensitivity‐specificity paradox in optometric practice

“…The need for demand management within Irish ophthalmology services is clear; figures for March 2017, show that 34 675 individuals in the Republic of Ireland (total population 2016: 4.76 million) were on a waiting list for a first appointment at a consultant‐led ophthalmology outpatient clinic, with 9309 individuals having spent 12 months or more on the waiting list . This echoes a pattern of systems overload that has been demonstrated in many developed countries: the need for new, more collaborative care paradigms in the face of increased longevity and subsequent increased demand for eye care services has also been recognised in Australia and the US . Worldwide shortages of ophthalmologists are exacerbating this mismatch between capacity and demand .…”

“…25 This echoes a pattern of systems overload that has been demonstrated in many developed countries: the need for new, more collaborative care paradigms in the face of increased longevity and subsequent increased demand for eye care services has also been recognised in Australia 26 and the US. 27 Worldwide shortages of ophthalmologists 28 are exacerbating this mismatch between capacity and demand. 29 Strategic planning is needed if we are to deliver an improved service and avoid an increase in preventable visual impairment.…”

Referral in a routine Italian optometric examination: towards an evidence-based model.

“…Such changes could be targeted to enhance the overall ability of optometrists in case detection, with considerable contribution to the reduction of unnecessary referrals of healthy people. More collaborative eye-care models are increasingly proposed worldwide to alleviate the workload on ophthalmologists, due to increased demand not adequately matched by a similarly growing capacity (Barrett et al, 2018;George et al, 2019;Mets et al, 2012). Nonetheless, both mentioned approaches would require formal assessment of their feasibility as well as of the associated cost-effectiveness.…”

The distribution of subspecialties in ophthalmology group practices in an era of change group practices in an era of change

“…Hospitals, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, academic centers and physicians have all evolved to adapt to this new environment. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Expansion, mergers, consolidation of services, and the formation of satellite offices are some of these adaptations. [15][16][17] Optimizing resource allocation is more vital than ever.…”