Welcome to the fourth issue of Corporate Optometry Today!, where we dig right in to the controversial topic of telemedicine to reveal how some corporate optometrists are approaching this fast-growing reality today.
In our feature article on the topic—Tele-Corporate Optometry?, starting on page 10—our expert Contributing Editor Maria Sampalis, O.D., tells us that “Telemedicine [in optometry] harnesses advancing technology to provide refractions and even full exams outside a traditional optometrist-controlled exam lane.”
“I want to use telemedicine as a service after an in-person baseline exam is established for those who are having office-visit-type problems to really triage and/or treat.”
—Torrey Carlson, O.D., who has five practices affiliated with LensCrafters in Tennessee, tells us in TeleCorporate Optometry?, page 10
Dr. Sampalis also checked in with members of the @CorporateOptometry Facebook group for their thoughts about the use of telemedicine in corporate optometry. Some of the key concerns included:
» “missing or misdiagnosing medical conditions”
» “Rx remakes”
» “decrease in job market”
» “patient dissatisfaction”
» and “competing against it in their own corporate sublease.”
In our feature on the topic, we check in with three corporate O.D.s to examine the good, the bad, and the future of telemedicine in optometry. It’s definitely a compelling read.
And, there’s so much more in this content-packed issue of COT! On page 14, check out our must-read interview with Jeff Cole, the former chairman and CEO of Cole National Corporation. Today, Cole is still active in GrandVision (which he co-founded as Pearle Europe in 1996) and he’s on the Board of Directors at Safilo and other companies. In this issue, he answers Corporate Optometry Today!’s 5 big questions on corporate optometry.
Want more? Check out our Facebook page: @CorporateOptometryToday! We hope you enjoy the issue!
Erinn Morgan
Editor-in-Chief + Editorial Director
Corporate Optometry Today! + Eyecare Business
