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EW SHOW DAILY 27 February 2011 ASCRS SYMPOSIUM, SAN DIEGO 2011 If you decide to bring on an OD, avoid the pitfalls of an expectation mismatch, Dr. Harvey cautioned. This can include, for example, the optometrist expecting to devote time to disease management while you want him or her to essentially help you with technician-type re- sponsibilities. You'll also run into problems if there's a lack of respect between MDs and ODs within the practice, he said. Concerns that optometrists may have about working with an MD include limited autonomy and limitations for advancement and compensation, said Derek Cunning- ham, OD, Austin, Texas. However, some may choose to make the leap because they have certain clinical specialties that can fit well into the practice or they enjoy using certain kinds of technology. Places to recruit optometrists include associations, optometry schools, commercial placement services, sales reps, and professional networks, said Hayley G. Boling, MBA, Elkhart, Ind. Online sites like Linkedin and even Craigslist can be less expensive avenues to find ODs, she added. When hiring an OD, make sure that job expectations are clear, and formalize a compensation plan. A flat salary may be $85,000 to $130,000, or you may arrange a productivity-based compensation, such as 24% to 28% of gross clinical collections and 3% to 8% of gross optical collections. Another option is a hybrid of these options. Your practice staff should have an open attitude to bringing an op- tometrist on board, said D. Brian Kim, MD, Dalton, Ga. "As far as the culture of the practice goes, you need staff buy in," he said. If adding an optometrist is not in your practice playbook for now, there are other ways to generate ad- ditional income, said Laurie Oliver, COE, Fort Myers, Fla. This includes: • mining your data and contacting patients who have not returned to your practice for 2 years, • investing in optical (but be careful about reactions from local optometrists), • expanding into retinal services, • adding plastics and esthetics (be prepared for patients even more demanding than your LASIK crowd, Ms. Oliver cautioned), • adding hearing services, • adding allergy testing, • selling vitamins, and • selling low vision aids. An up-and-coming revenue stream will be practices receiving payments to sell their electronic health record data to companies for benchmarking and forecasting, Ms. Oliver added. EW Symposium: Adding an OD to your practice takes planning but can have rewards To evaluate the need for an OD at your practice, Ms. Wohl recom- mends the review of various practice metrics, such as physician produc- tivity and how long patients wait to be seen. Physicians should also consider how they feel about adding an OD to the practice and how doing so fits into a strategic vision for the prac- tice, said Ms. Wohl. For example, it could be that the MDs see patients for surgery, laser, and injections, while optometrists conduct routine exams, yearly checkups, and postop appointments, said Parag Parekh, MD, Brookville, Pa. "The goal is to play to your strengths," Dr. Parekh said. "Part of it has to be your personal preference." Some practices may even decide it's not the right time to add an OD, especially if they are primarily refer- ral-based, Ms. Wohl said. P anelists at the Sunday symposium "The Inte- grated Eyecare Model: Should I or Shouldn't I?" discussed the ins and outs of adding optometrists to an oph- thalmology practice. Thanks to an aging population and increasing demand for eyecare services, there will be a 2:1 or possi- bly even 3:1 ratio of ODs to MDs by 2025, said Corinne Z. Wohl, MHSA, COE, Wilmington, Del. Additionally, the number of ophthalmology residents continues to dwindle, from 1,400 in 1996 to 1,200 in 2012 and an even expected smaller number in 2020, said Thomas Harvey, MD, Eau Claire, Wis. All of these factors point to an increasing need for ODs to help see patients, even though only 40% of ophthalmology prac- tices now have ODs, said Ms. Wohl. by Vanessa Caceres EyeWorld Contributing Writer Places to recruit optometrists include associations, optometry schools, commercial placement services, sales reps, and professional networks, Ms. Boling said in the symposium. Boston Fun Fact The 60-story John Hancock Tower contains 13 acres of glass.

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