From the Editor
Tools and Training

Most discussions on developing a low vision service within an established practice concentrate on the management of time for these patients and the ability to code and bill for the services. These are important issues, but they should not be the reason one adds low vision to the practice.

Providing low vision care cannot be learned out of a book or in a day-long continuing education course. These are important, but the key to success is obtaining clinical experience testing and managing real patients. Before you invest in the time and money for setting up a low vision practice, make sure you are able to participate in a mentorship type of training program where you have hands-on experience working with visually impaired patients.

Developing a low vision service within an established practice requires allotting the time to see patients, training the staff to be a part of the low vision program, and having the appropriate equipment. Nothing destroys the enthusiasm for seeing low vision patients more quickly than not being able to manage your first patients due to lack of available devices.

You will need the tools to work with the variety of problems patients present. If you cannot demonstrate success with a specific device, the patient gets discouraged and the doctor gets discouraged, and slowly phases low vision back out of the practice.

With the right tools and training, providing low vision care can be invigorating. You can make money and bring in more collateral primary care patients. But the real reward in low vision is the smile you get as the husband sees his wife's face for the first time in five years; the young man who looks through a magnifier and realizes a spider has eight legs; or the parent who can now watch her son play on the soccer field. That satisfaction that will keep you going through the ups and downs of vision rehabilitation.

Sincerely,

Focus on Low Vision is an insert to the June 2004 issue of Eyecare Business, a monthly magazine published by Boucher Communications Inc. For more information or to receive additional copies of this insert, call 215-643-8146