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| Net Income Is Flat, Yet Spirits Are High
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| It’s the economy, stupid!” goes the old political slogan. The same can be said today: Many of your current troubles can be blamed on the lousy economy. Although the economy hasn’t hurt optometrists as badly as other professions, it still has optometrists in a pinch: Net income is flat, and gross income may have dipped. But, profit margins have held steady. And, perhaps surprisingly, optometrists remain largely satisfied with their income.
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| 10 Things I've Learned about Glaucoma in 10 Years
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| Glaucoma diagnosis and management has undergone significant changes in the past 10 years. We have also seen an explosion of diagnostic tools that allow us to more accurately detect and monitor disease progression. Some long-standing truths remain—for example, the importance of stereoscopic optic nerve head evaluation and risk factor assessment. And so, in no particular order, here are the 10 things I’ve learned about glaucoma in 10 years.
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| Behind the Scenes in an In-Office Lab
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| You see the equipment every day. You and your staff use your lab frequently. But, do you know what to do if the machine stops working—before you pick up the phone and call tech support? In this year’s In-Office Lab Report, representatives from lab equipment manufacturers offer some insight and advice to help you better understand the technology that goes into making your in-office lab work, from pre-launch testing to regular upkeep.
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| Upgrade to the Medical Model
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| Integrating medical eye care into the practice does not mean abandoning our refraction roots, but simply adding value to what we already offer. It allows optometrists to provide valuable services to the community, and it allows patients to have a wider range of options when seeking medical eye care. Not to mention, when implemented properly, medical eye care can also be a significant revenue source and practice builder.
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| Back to the Basics, Part 5: My Patient has an RAPD! Now What?
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| A relative afferent pupillary defect (RAPD) can be a worrisome exam finding, so an understanding of its possible etiologies is crucial. Most often, patients have an ocular or medical history that might explain its presence. However, some patients present with sudden, gradual or no known vision loss and manifest an RAPD for the first time in your office.
Now what? Is this an emergency? What do you do now?
Here are some clinical examples of an APD, its causes and the proper steps to take when managing these patients.
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| 'Welder's Flash' in a Lab Rat?
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| We have all been taught that a good history is the most important part of the clinical visit. Remember: 90% of the diagnosis is made in the history, and the clinical exam only confirms what we suspect.
If the condition eludes an exact diagnosis, treat the basic signs at their root causes (traumatic, infectious or inflammatory, or possibly a combination of these). The situation may become clearer as time progresses. The following is just such a case.
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