The first day in ophthalmology clinic
March 15th 2018The famous line from George Bernard Shaw's "Man and Superman"-"those who can, do; those who can't, teach"-is sometimes quoted to explain why certain of us choose a career in academics. Fortunately for many medical students, the head of medical student education in my medical school was both a doer and a teacher.
Topography-guided LASIK rivals SMILE for myopia, myopic astigmatism
March 15th 2018Topography-guided LASIK and small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) were compared for the treatment of myopia and myopic astigmatism in a randomized, contralateral eye study. Results were good with both procedures, but at 3 and 12 months, there were statistically significant differences for most outcomes favoring LASIK.
Treating more patients with LASIK
March 15th 2018LASIK is a highly customized treatment option, which makes it a sought-after procedure to the millennial generation.The popular online review platform Yelp! is a helpful tool in generating positive feedback, which then attracts younger people to visit your practice.
Worming their way into the news
March 1st 2018Two headlines broke new ground recently when it comes to horror and adversity. Coincidentally, they both involved worms and left eyes: "Woman pulls wiggling cattle worms from her eyeball, makes medical history" appeared along with "Brain-eating pork worm removed from man's eye."
Weighing impact of procedures targeted for re-valuation
March 1st 2018Despite a heightened atmosphere on the Relative Value Scale Update Committee due to Congressional mandates to reallocate funds from specialty codes, ophthalmologists have been spared from the significant financial impact affecting certain other specialties. However, a number of important ophthalmic codes have been placed under review, leading to decreases in payment for some procedures.
Novel accommodating IOL achieves unique level of accommodative change
February 16th 2018A prototype of a novel dual-mode, accommodating-disaccommodating intraocular lens with zonular capture haptics has been fabricated successfully. The lens has shown in bench studies to exhibit axial shift and shape change that results in up to about 26 D of accommodative change,
MACRA changes are part of volume-to-value shift
February 15th 2018The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 and its Merit Based Incentive Payments System are here to stay for the foreseeable future and are likely to significantly impact reimbursement for ophthalmologists as part of a shift away from traditional fee for service medicine. In this changing landscape, eye care practitioners need to understand the basics of the system, such as reporting requirements, and begin to consider new models of care.
Shaffer Prize report goes down one path, but leads to another
February 9th 2018Research aiming to elucidate the underlying factors for oxidative damage to the trabecular meshwork in glaucoma has led to studies of alterations in gene expression that may ultimately guide the development of genetic therapy for glaucoma, said Carla J. Siegfried, MD, recipient of the 2018 Shaffer Prize for Innovative Glaucoma Research.
Virtual reality on the horizon for treatment of glaucoma
February 9th 2018One laboratory is at work on new devices that use visual stimuli to prompt retinal ganglion cells to regenerate, while two other researchers describe techniques through which virtual reality might diagnose the disease more accurately than standard automated perimetry.
Shaffer Prize report goes down one path, but leads to another
February 9th 2018Research aiming to elucidate the underlying factors for oxidative damage to the trabecular meshwork in glaucoma has led to studies of alterations in gene expression that may ultimately guide the development of genetic therapy for glaucoma, said Carla J. Siegfried, MD, recipient of the 2018 Shaffer Prize for Innovative Glaucoma Research.