optoblog.com

Previously, professional eye doctors were not allowed any official capacity to run a school screening, but that may change with this proposed legislation.

I got a very special e-mail today (see below for full text). After a huge campaign which cost taxpayers…well, nothing, I’m one of the few optometrists who have been selected to attend the Walmart annual Health and Wellness Conference for 2010.

I intend to blog about my experience daily. As one of the few selected, I imagine there will be an occasion for me to express concerns and ask questions. If you have any comments or questions you would like me to consider voicing in Bentonville, then please write it in the comment section below. (Please be serious and civil.)

Here’s that e-mail:

Dear David Langford

Historically, the annual Doctor meeting was primarily focused around Optometry. As our health and wellness businesses continue to become more integrated, we seek to further expose the important work of health care professionals to the greater Walmart organization. We also want our senior leadership to better understand the difference you are making every day in the lives of our patients. With that in mind, we will be hosting the Health & Wellness Conference May 3-5th, 2010 in Bentonville Arkansas.

You have been chosen through a nomination process to take part in this exclusive gathering of professionals; you’ll hear from the executive leadership of Walmart on our company’s ongoing growth strategy; discussion from governmental and NGO’s on health care reform in America as well as inspirational messages from medical visionaries on the impact they are making within their communities.

We have made several changes of this conference design from years past. For example a smaller more intimate gathering will facilitate the opportunity for you to interact with and learn from key leaders as well as your peers. Representatives from all of the Walmart Health & Wellness business units will take part including professionals from the practices of Optometry and Pharmacy as well as our Clinic Operator partners in addition to select representatives of our internal support teams.

In addition we elected to conserve time and resources in an effort to present a holistic message around health care and the challenges that our customer, health care professionals and company is facing today, therefore CE credits will not be offered at this meeting. And as this meeting has been limited to a select group of attendees, we are asking that spouses not attend.

We look forward to having you take part in the Health & Wellness Conference 2010. Please click the View Event Summary link below, view the event details, and respond by clicking either the Yes or No button at the bottom of the invitation. Or you can simply select the register button on the Event Summary website. Registration will close on March 13th, 2010

Thank you,
Health & Wellness Professional Affairs

Tags: commercial, Consultants, optometrist, Wal-Mart, WMHWC2010

By the way, I have to apologize. I haven’t been using the official optometry seafoam green color in my Optoblog comics.
It has been described at OptViSci. From what I gather, it can be somewhat of a range of color, but I would assume that at least one of the colors on the aaopt.com website are probably the true Optometry Seafoam.
The RGB value I have been using on my first 24 comics has been an easy to remember 150,200,150 (Hex# 96C896). I thought it looked good, but now I’ve found something better: 132,175,148 (Hex# 84AF94).
I think it looks more seafoamy, and now that I’ve written it down, I know where to look if I forget the numbers. Look for comic #25 and onward to have the corrected color.

Tags: artist, Comics

slippery and wet
needles poke the acute
conquered in one hour

More Optoblog poetry here.

Tags: contacts, Poetry

It appears that another optometrist with an actual art degree has been making comics for years and now has a book out. Review of Optometry even did a profile on Dr. Scott Lee, O.D.

I’ll bet he even draws them on paper instead of using a mouse in Paint.net.

Well, I see I shall have to get my game on to compete. But there is one thing Dr. Lee doesn’t have: seafoam green backgrounds. Yup, that was my idea.

I also now have Optoblog poetry, so I’m really diversifying my portfolio which will pay big dividends when I cash in on my book deal.

Be sure to stay tuned to my Optoblog comics. They’re just for optometrists. Patients won’t get them, but you will. Feel free to use them in your C.E. presentations. Send me a cell phone photo when you do!

Tags: artist, Comics, optometrist

with thumb red and burned
I curse Risley and Jackson
closed eyes see beaches

Click here for #001.

Tags: lifestyle, Poetry

Optoblog.com revolutionized optometric blogging when it added the cartoon comic feature. Well, I’ve done it again with a new feature: Poetry. This inaugural poetry post features a form of haiku called cirku.

Enjoy! Subscribe to the site feed to stay updated!

Tags: optometrist, patients, Poetry

So apparently people have caught on about the negative verification and con the system to get contacts without actually getting an eye exam.

This patient from Dr. Bazan’s office shares her experience.

It really does help to see the doctor to get the best contacts for your eyes. Not only contacts, but info about contact lens solutions. I can’t tell you how many people love ClearCare yet they had never heard of it before I explained it.

I wish people would value the doctor.

BUT, should the law should punish people who buy contacts without a real prescription?

The libertarian in me says no. I should be able to buy antibiotics at the pharmacy without a prescription if I want. The only thing bringing some people in for an eye exam is getting that piece of paper, but it turns out some people don’t even bother with the Rx paper and just game the mail-order system.

The solution? Teach people to value the doctor. We can foster that value every time the patient has an evaluation by explaining how glad we are that they came in. We must be sure to educate how great it is that they had an eye exam whenever:

1. their Rx changes
2. we change their contacts to a better lens for comfort and eye health
3. we recommend a better, more compatible, care system for their eyes and contact lenses
4. we educate them on the latest and greatest options for them, even if they don’t want or require a change in lens or care system
5. they have a medical condition related to their eyes

And I don’t hold the prescription over their heads. The Utah law is that I make the expiration date for two years if their eyes are healthy; however, I frequently mention that it is best to have a yearly eye exam, especially if they note even a subtle change in their vision.

Tags: 1-800, Acuvue, Check Yearly, contacts, optometrist, patients

I did this one because someone searched for “LASIK comic,” and I’m sure they were sadly disappointment that I didn’t have one.

Now before you get all over me for not spreading sunshine and lollipops about refractive surgery, let me first clarify that the above comic is comical, I thought. If I was told that my chance of winning the lottery was 99%, then I’d probably play it. If I was told that if I played the lottery that I had a 1% chance of dying then I wouldn’t play it.

I feel bad that I have to explain the resurrection reference, but I must make sure that those of you who never went to Sunday school understand that in the resurrection, our spirit will be reunited with our bodies which will be in a perfect form (our bodies, not us), so any LASIK disaster that plagued our days in mortality won’t bother our resurrected body.

My actual opinion regarding LASIK is pretty main stream. If someone really, really wants it and they have the proper medical prerequisites like cornea thickness, refractive error, good eye health, etc. AND they have a really good understanding of the risks and expectations, then I will recommend them to a good surgeon. Perhaps the surgeon that would do my LASIK if I wanted it.

But I don’t want it. I don’t fit the psychological profile since I’m perfectly happy in Night and Day contacts. I’m also rather wary of my family history since I’ve had three close blood relatives get it and most were left still needing glasses or enhancements.

Tags: Comics, contacts, Jokes, LASIK, patients

I think we should all consider going the route of “insurance free medicine.”
From guest blogger Dr. Mintz at Kevin, MD:

Thus, I think a term that I would like to propose for use in further discussions of newer ways of practicing primary care is “insurance free medicine.” The term “insurance free medicine” captures the essence of the newer models of primary care. Patients have certainly seen their premiums and deductibles increase and can probably relate quite well to reasons why a doctor would not accept insurance.

Insurance free primary care practices could certainly adopt retainer membership fees and promote improved access, but eliminating terms like “boutique,” “concierge,” and “cash only” might help eliminate the notion that primary medical care without insurance is somehow tainted or only for the super-wealthy. Previously, I discussed that without substantial changes, primary care will soon go the way of psychiatry in that patients who use their insurance to see a psychiatrist get one kind of care (very brief visits, mostly management by a non-physician) and those who pay their psychiatrist out-of-pocket get the kind of care that we see in TV and the movies.

With more frequent use of the term “insurance free medicine,” patients might start realizing that if they continue to pay their primary physician using their health care insurance, they should expect even briefer visits, longer waits to get in, seeing non-physicians, and greater delays getting a return phone call or results back.

I calculated the other day that I spent about $2000 a year to be set up and able to bill insurance. Further, I spent all that time and money for about 538 patients, or close to one-fourth of my patients per year. Now that Walmart no longer bills many vision plans for me, both numbers will go up, and so will my accounts receivable. In anticipation of this, my fee went up by $5 per patient at the beginning of the year.

I would lower my price if we could all convince the general public that routine medical office visits should be paid out of pocket. Your car insurance doesn’t pay for oil changes.

Tags: commercial, insurance, management, optometrist, patients