Eyeworld Daily News

EW SHOW DAILY 14 Sunday, May 8, 2016 ASCRS News Today by Chiles Aedam R. Samaniego EyeWorld Asia-Pacific Senior Staff Writer T echnicians and nurses embarked Friday on the "inaugural voyage" of the Technicians & Nurses Tech Talks—a new interactive forum comprising several 10-minute paper presentations by technicians, nurses, orthoptists, and ophthalmic photographers on various practical topics of interest to technicians. Paul Larson, MBA, COE, San Bernardino, California, kicked off with a discussion of what tech- nicians should do when new equipment arrives at the clinic. He provided a series of questions that technicians should consider when setting up the equipment. The ques- tions include: What does the equip- ment do? Is it better or just different from other equipment? How big is it? What are its power and utility requirements? What are its comput- er hardware/software/EMR/imaging interface requirements? Does it require PHI protection? ADA access? What are the training requirements and concerns? What about coding, coverage? Is there a warranty/return policy? Mr. Larson later returned with 3 fascinating patient dilemmas "you can't make up" illustrating how "danger comes in many forms": the first in a patient carrying a concealed weapon (a .44 magnum, "the most powerful handgun in the world"), requiring knowledge of your state's concealed carry weapons law; a patient having his own jump drive to copy his data—carrying the risk of a computer virus that could infect a clinic's electronic records; and a patient with extremely drug resistant (XDR) tuberculosis. In each case, Mr. Larson empha- sized the value of being proactive and having a plan to address the unexpected. In her lecture on "A Study on Compensation Trends of Oph- thalmic Technicians," Christine McDonald, COE, COA, St. Louis, highlighted 2 myths clinicians have about technicians: (1) If clinicians train or certify their technicians, technicians will leave, and (2) certi- fied technicians cost more. Ms. McDonald said that the results of a survey conducted by the Association of Technical Personnel in Ophthalmology (ATPO) actually indicate the opposite. According to their data, the average employment length with 1 employer was longer if technicians were certified. Mean- while, pay scale correlates to length of employment, training, employees supervised, size of practice, and ur- ban location rather than to certi- fication. In addition, trained and certified technicians tend to work more efficiently. Ginny Hendricks, COT, MBA, Cleveland, in discussing "The Tech- nician's Role in Rare, Posterior Uve- itis Cases," highlighted the critical role played by ophthalmic medical personnel (OMP) in the diagnosis of cases—how they can be heroes in their respective clinics. In 1 case, the OMP, examining a patient complaining of decreasing vision with mild pain and irrita- tion in 1 eye, decided not to ignore the patient's passing remark about having hurt a toe. Examining the toe revealed a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection—a systemic infection that was ultimate- ly responsible for the visual symp- toms. The patient was admitted and give IV antibiotics. "The work-ups performed by OMP play an essential part in the physician's ability to accurately diagnose, treat, and manage the care plan of patients," Ms. Hendricks said. Similarly highlighting the value of technicians in the clinic, Joyce D'Andrea, COMT, ASCRS director of allied health education, talked about "The 'Observant' Technician: Tips for Efficient Patient Screening." In her lecture, she demonstrated how close observations of patients— the proptosis of 1 patient guiding the medical history interview; a patient's demeanor, anxious, sweat- ing and crying so much his face was wet, preparing her for the onset of a patient's vasovagal syncope—can make an examination more efficient. Quoting Henry David Thoreau, Ms. D'Andrea said, "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." In the final talk of the session, Jane Shuman, COT, COE, Needham, Massachusetts, enumerated the "different pathways" 1 can take after acquiring certification as an oph- thalmic technician. The COT can choose to do whatever she wants, but remaining within the field, Ms. Shuman encouraged technicians to "pursue the area that you enjoy the most." These "pathways" include various subspecialties. The COT, she said, can pursue further training and education to become certified as: an ophthalmic surgical assisting (OSA); a registered ophthalmic ultrasound biometrist (ROUB); a certified di- agnostic ophthalmic sonographer (CDOS); a certified retinal angiogra- pher (CRA); an ophthalmic coher- ence topographer-certified (OCT-C); a certified medical scribe specialist (CMSS); an ophthalmic scribe, cer- tified (OSC); an ophthalmic coding specialist (OCS); or a certified oph- thalmic executive (COE). At the end of the session, attendees voted for their favorite speaker to be awarded the "People's Choice Award." The votes ended in a tie, with Ms. Hendricks and Ms. Shuman sharing the award. EW Editors' note: The speakers have no financial interests related to their comments. Techs talk pertinent topics in Tech Talks Ms. D'Andrea discusses how a technician's careful observations during a patient interview can make screening more efficient. Today's winner of an Apple Watch was Ajay Sanan, MD, Tucson, Arizona Today at 4:45 p.m., a drawing will be held for a hotel suite and transportation to and from the airport for the 2017 ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Congress in Los Angeles.

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