EB Shares the Mic.

Welcome to the debut of EB’s brand new livestream x magazine series—#EBSharetheMic—a social endeavor that passes the microphone to two industry icons for an engaging conversation, moderated by Eyecare Business editor-in-chief Erinn Morgan.

In this new series, we pull three of the most compelling ideas and actionable business strategies from the live broadcast interview to run in the pages of Eyecare Business.

For the inaugural #EBSharetheMic, Howard Purcell, O.D., FAAO, president + CEO of the New England College of Optometry, sat down with Derrick Artis, O.D., a respected industry consultant and the former COO of Vision Source, to get an insider’s outlook on the industry—discussing topics from the power of diversity to the common sense of camaraderie and the biggest takeaways from Covid. 

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#EBSharetheMic

Dr. Purcell: What are your words of wisdom for our colleagues in this profession?

Dr. Artis: When I reflect on my career, Howard, there are three things that stand out to me. [First, for] any young doctor, get exposure. Sometimes exposure comes to you, but, also, you can create exposure and opportunities. Get out and get involved in your profession. Support organized optometry. Get involved [with optometry] on the state and local level.

Number two—and there is no real secret to this—it’s all about hard work.

Number three—and here is probably the most important thing—whatever you do in our profession is going to require help. We’ve got to get out of that exam lane and get out and connect with others. Every step along the way in my career, there’s been a person or organization that’s supported what I wanted to do.

Dr. Purcell: I want to give you the opportunity to comment on why [diversity] is so important in our industry.

Dr. Artis: It’s not just the right thing to do from a moral perspective. Absolutely, it’s the right thing to do to give everyone an opportunity—we get that.

Also, it’s the right thing to do for the business and the industry. Data shows that when, over the years, companies hire people of diverse backgrounds, those companies are more successful.

In our profession, simply because we serve people, Howard, we’ve got to take care of our patients, and patients come of all persuasions. We need to provide minority, diverse practitioners and staff—people that work in our industry in order to serve our patients well.

In the end, you’ve got to have support from the whole industry to make a difference. So, I applaud The Vision Council, and companies like yours, Eyecare Business, Erinn, to give us the exposure we need to bring diversity, equity, and inclusion to our industry.

Erinn Morgan: Derrick, I have one more question for you. So many practices are struggling right now. But there are some silver linings and a lot of new things that came out of the Covid crisis that will remain important to keep. What are the key changes that independent O.D.s will need to adopt to survive and thrive in the future?

Dr. Artis: Covid has increased the need for remote access to all kinds of health care—ours as well.

Telemedicine is starting to take off, and that’s a quandary for us as a profession, but I would encourage us to embrace technology and learn how to promote that technology. That is just part of the equation—ultimately, you need the doctor’s expertise, and the doctor makes the clinical decision.

So, we need to communicate to our patients, “Yeah, you can use telemedicine and certain technologies, but ultimately, you need the doctor’s expertise to prescribe the products and take proper care of the patient.”

The other [topic] that I really think we need, as a profession, to focus on more, and we do at Salus [University], is expanding our scope of care beyond just eye care to primary care. That’s a huge opportunity for us.

Optometry is strong. The young doctors that [NECO] is producing and Salus and these other schools, they’re phenomenal young doctors and great leaders. Our profession is going to be around for a long time. I’m bullish on optometry.

 Click to watch the full debut #EBSharetheMic livestream session right here.