Innovation and new technology are at the heart of moving every profession forward, including optometry. Not surprisingly, our patients’ expectations have never been higher, making it all the more important that we deliver on those expectations. Thus, it is imperative that we understand and use new technology not only to provide exceptional patient care, but also to make our practices run more efficiently.
It can be challenging to run a practice, provide daily patient care, and stay up to date on the latest technologies and innovations. Modern Optometry is here to help ease the burden of keeping you well informed. That said, it’s just not possible for MOD to provide an update on all innovations and technologies in one issue. Instead, we decided to focus in this issue on a few of the most important and exciting recent developments.
Telemedicine has been around for a long time, but many would agree that it’s been underutilized. As our profession continues to deal with providing patient care throughout the current pandemic, we must understand the opportunities that telemedicine can provide for us and our patients. Read more here.
Surgical preoperative and postoperative care is increasingly the domain of optometrists all over the country. We are the primary eye care providers for our patients, and they trust us to educate them on new surgical technologies. A new category of IOLs, trifocal IOLs, is set to change patient expectations after cataract surgery. Find out how here. The use of artificial intelligence in custom wavefront-guided or wavefront-optimized LASIK will allow surgeons to produce more reliable results with more efficiency, leading to improved patient outcomes. Get the details here.
Presbyopia is one of the most frustrating vision-related issues our patients experience in their lifetimes. Treatment options have included spectacle lenses with add powers, multifocal contact lenses, monovision corrections, and surgical options with inlays or implants. In the near future, pharmacologic treatments may become an additional option. Soon, patients will have the opportunity to use a topical eye drop to help with near vision and to reduce their dependence on the traditional tools. Read about what’s in the pipeline here.
As we noted, there’s no way we could cover every innovation and new technology in this one issue—and that’s only in reference to what’s now available! There are also many exciting technologies and innovations in the pipeline. For a rundown of these, click here.
Enjoy this issue of Modern Optometry, and please feel free to reach out to us with questions or comments at modernOD@bmctoday.com. Innovations and new technologies will continue to emerge each year at a rapid pace. It is important that we all stay abreast of these changes so that we can continue to provide the best patient care possible. In order to be on the cutting edge of optometry, we need to be on the cutting edge of science and technology.
Leslie O’Dell, OD, FAAO
Co-Chief Medical Editor
Justin Schweitzer, OD, FAAO
Co-Chief Medical Editor
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