Networks + Advocacy
Eyecare Business connected with Jeff Todd, CEO and president of Prevent Blindness, to gain insight into the low vision patient perspective. As a policy-oriented advocate, Todd offered three key tips to assist eyecare professionals when supporting patients with low vision.
Here, EB shares some key takeaways from the conversation.
1. Discover Patients’ Specific Needs.
It isn’t necessarily up to the patient to ask for what they need. It’s up to ECPs to get to know the patient, discover their lifestyle demands, and select the best course of action.
“Every single patient is different. Even if you have two patients with the exact same diagnosis, the exact same visual acuity, they will have different needs,” says Todd. “Really understand what it is that patient uses their vision for and make sure [treatment provided] accommodates their day-to-day routine. Understand them as a patient, not a set of eyes—really looking at the needs of the patient and not just their eye health.”
By keeping up to date with the latest advancements in the field, ECPs can better identify the best solution for each patient’s individual needs. Todd shares that Prevent Blindness is excited about what the future holds for patients with low vision and blindness because there’s a lot of innovation in the space (particularly on inherited retinal diseases and advancements in artificial intelligence) backed by research.
2. Develop a Network of Specialists.
A collaborative approach assists low vision patients with their numerous individual needs.
“Too often, we find that the general ECP sometimes isn’t likely to refer a low vision specialist because they feel like they haven’t exhausted the help that they can provide,” says Todd. “General practitioners [should be] partnering with low vision providers as part of a care team; [don’t] just hand them off but be a partner in the patient’s care with the low vision provider.”
3. Become Involved in Advocacy Efforts.
Prevent Blindness offers action alerts on policy efforts related to eye health and improving access to vision care.
Learn more and sign up at advocacy.preventblindness.org.
“Low vision care today is really in the wrong place,” shares Todd. “[While] there are so many technological advancements…sadly, insurance doesn’t cover many low vision needs. They’ll cover medications for eye health issues; they won’t cover low vision devices to help someone see. And there’s so much need in that space. That’s a policy that we all have to work together to address.”
ECPs can get involved by seeking out opportunities that aim to dismantle roadblocks that prevent patients from getting the support they need.
