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Emerging Trends in Optometric Patient Care

November 25, 2007 by Charles F. Mullen
  • Incentive-based compensation plans that integrate student and resident training will become an essential component of optometric education and provide the means to enhance faculty income and improve the ability to recruit and retain highly qualified clinicians.
  • Patient-centered and efficient health care will replace the current educational or training environment in college-operated clinics.
  • Telemedicine technologies, such as imaging and interactive care management systems, transmitted from practitioner to centers of excellence for immediate consultation on cases will become the standard of care in rural areas and certain urban areas where access to specialists is limited.
  • In an environment made possible by advances in technology and made necessary by economic imperatives to be as efficient as possible, there will be unprecedented pressures for academic optometry and ophthalmology to work together in a cooperative spirit. For more information see the articles posted in the Academic Affiliations section.
  • Interdisciplinary care will become the standard as optometrists manage more complex clinical conditions requiring consultation and the close coordination of care with other disciplines.
  • Electronic medical records will become the standard of care.
  • New technologies and the need for optometrists to be more efficient in a competitive health care market will lead an increased demand for more optometric technicians.

Filed Under: Emerging Trends and Issues

Emerging Trends in Health Care Policy Pertaining to Optometric Clinical Education and Patient Care

November 25, 2007 by Charles F. Mullen
  • There will be a convergence of clinical services provided and community health care needs as expressed in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Vision Objectives.
  • Growth in the volume of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries will increase significantly.
  • Optometry will eventually become a full participant in the federal programs Graduate Medical Education (GME) and the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and other federal programs for patient services providers. Participation in these programs will likely require a separate clinical legal entity and collaboration with community-based health care programs and/or hospitals.
  • (GME) will provide significant funding to the clinical entity for the training of optometry students.
  • (NHSC) will provide loan repayment for optometry students assigned to Federally Qualified Community Health Centers (FQCHC) possibly beginning in their 4th year. Residents assigned to FQCHCs and optometrists who are employed by FQCHCs will also be eligible for educational loan repayment. The NHSC program will also fund resident stipends for community-based programs.
  • Schools and colleges of optometry will become proactive in influencing national and state health care policy.
  • There will be an increase in the number of optometrists pursuing careers in public health.
  • There will be an increase in the number of optometrists in federal policy making positions.
  • The National Rural Health Alliance (NRHA) and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) will support optometry’s legislative and regulatory initiatives.
    The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will contract with FQCHC’s to provide care to Veterans.
  • The Department of Defense (DOD) and the VA will significantly enhance capabilities in treating vision problems associated with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

Filed Under: Emerging Trends and Issues

Emerging Trends in Optometric Clinical Programs Administration

November 25, 2007 by Charles F. Mullen
  • Quality assurance, risk management, compliance and accreditation of clinical facilities will become increasingly important.
  • There will be more proactive risk management and patient safety initiatives.
  • Quality of care assessment and peer review using published clinical practice guidelines as the benchmark will become the standard of assessment.
  • There will be more collaboration with community health care programs and an increased awareness of public health needs.
  • College affiliated clinical organizations will realize performance improvements in partnering with health center administrations in addressing common clinical practice and administrative issues by sharing of evidence-based best practices and then adapting them to their local environments.
  • Patient services revenue management from patient registration to coding and documentation to submission of charges to net collections will become increasingly important.
  • Comprehensive marketing programs consisting of public relations, advertising and direct sales will be essential to succeed in a competitive health care market.
  • Incentive-based compensation will become commonplace for attending staff and clinical administrators.
  • Accreditation groups and funding sources will set standards relating to academically affiliated clinical programs addressing public health needs.

Filed Under: Emerging Trends and Issues

Emerging Trends in Optometric Clinical Programs Governance

November 25, 2007 by Charles F. Mullen
  • Optometry colleges’ clinical programs will be reorganized into separate legal entities with their own governing boards and administrations. Creating a legal entity will provide for separation of risk – giving a degree of protection for College assets from risks associated with the provision of health care. For further information please read: Distinct and Separate Legal Structures for Clinical Programs of Schools and Colleges of Optometry
  • Schools and colleges will establish accounting models that differentiate clinical program capital and operating costs from the costs associated with clinical education.
  • Negotiated educational services payments will be made to the separately-organized clinical programs for educational services. The clinical entity will make administrative services payments to the school or college for any shared services.
  • The ability for soliciting funds will be improved as foundations, patients, alumni and others who do not support educational institutions will find patient care a worthy cause to support. Free care pools provided through various organizations will become available to the clinical organization.
  • Separation of the college and clinical programs Boards of Trustees/Directors and Administrations will facilitate the appointment of individuals with different skill sets appropriate to the mission, values and priorities of the respective organizations. Separation of the Boards and Administrations will encourage more focused attention to the priorities of the respective entities which are often different.

Filed Under: Emerging Trends and Issues
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