ASCRS offers program to synergies ophthalmologists and optometrists

The program has been designed specifically to promote and advance the integrated eye-care model and will provide the opportunity for optometrists to earn continuing-education credits and to attend a networking reception.
The Integrated Ophthalmic-Managed Eyecare Delivery Model (IOMED) was created by the ASCRS IOMED Task Force and the ASCRS Integrated Eyecare Program Committee, both of which include representatives from ophthalmology and optometry.
A recent ASCRS mber needs-assessment survey revealed that 34 per cent of mbers currently ploy optometrists and 38 per cent plan to ploy optometrists in the future.
The IOMED model encourages arrangents in which optometrists ployed by ophthalmologists, as well as optometrists ployed by the military or industry, play a role in the delivery of non-surgical eye care.
The patient-centered model encourages greater efficiency and coordination of care with ophthalmologists and optometrists working together to meet the growing dands for service and address the pending changes in Medicare and health care delivery, and to meet the needs of the 77 million American ‘Baby Boomers’ nearing retirent age.
The new integrated eye-care-model track for optometry and ophthalmology will be offered at the ASCRS on cataract, IOL and refractive surgery and American Society of Ophthalmic Administrators Congress on Ophthalmic Practice Managent, held jointly in San Francisco on 19-23 April. Optometrists can register under this category only and must certify one of the following: ployed by an ophthalmologist, ployed by a medical school (not a college of optometry), ployed by a managed-care provider, ployed by the military, ployed by industry/manufacturer or ployed by a corporate center (TLC, LCA, etc.).
The IOMED Task Force has also launched an online job network on LinkedIn aimed to connect optometrists with ophthalmologists working in an integrated setting.