For more than forty years, Dr. Anthony Clark of Clark Optometric Center has balanced the optical and medical aspects of being an OD, and has strived to use the highest levels of technology in an effort to provide consistent excellence to his patients.
Dr. Clark never wanted to be the last practice in town with newer technology, and this consistent approach has been a practice builder. Accordingly, when Optos introduced Daytona with ultra-widefield retinal imaging, he was one of the first practices to purchase.
New technology can certainly help build a practice and improve patient flow and profitability. Dr. Clark recommends including the optomap® as part of an annual comprehensive eye exam. By doing so, eye care professionals are able to create a complete patient record that, over time, helps identify changes to the retina.
Recently he saw a 56-year-old patient who never misses her annual appointment. She had no new complaints, with no change in refraction and 20/20 acuity in each eye. All other findings were normal and unchanged – that is, until he looked at her optomap, where he saw what he thought was a choroidal nevus in the right eye that he didn’t remember seeing before.
He reviewed her optomap from the previous year, and sure enough, no lesion. He still was not overly concerned, but he brought her back two weeks later for additional testing; it had grown to more than twice the size and showed significant elevation with shallow serous detachment surrounding the lesion. Consultation confirmed melanoma.
She will begin treatment at Duke University shortly. Though it is too soon to know what the patient’s outcome will be, so far no other lesions have been found anywhere else. Dr. Clark is thankful that she understood the importance of annual exams, that she agreed to her annual optomap imaging, and that he caught this cancer in its earliest days.
Purchasing new technology may very well come down to a decision based on revenue and cost analysis; it’s nice to be reminded that the ultimate payoff for the investment is the improved ability to provide care for his patients. View our products and contact us to learn how you can be on the cutting edge of technology and help save not only your patients’ vision, but perhaps their lives as well.
Image Source: Optos