Changing times

I was at a meeting last night where the lecturer discussed how many OCTs he ordered monthly. He is in an MD/OD practice in a rural area, so he sees more medical patients than most. However, he says he ordered 275 OCTs/month. I think it’s very instructive on how ODs should position themselves in the spectrum of a person’s medical care. We often get bogged down in taking care of our patients’ basic needs, such as making them see better, updating their contact lenses, and updating their glasses. He stressed that he orders OCTs for all kinds of potential issues, and though I think he is a little aggressive, I feel he’s on the right track. Oftentimes, we glance over a patient’s medications, making sure they’re not on Plaquenil or steroids, and then move on. I think we need to change our model, which may potentially involve training technicians, changing our workflow, and changing our schedule. I believe working more testing into our daily care regimen is just as important, if not more…