We all know that Optical Coherence Tomography was a gamechanger. It has allowed us to see the structures of the eye in a level of definition thought impossible earlier. As a result, we can diagnose pathologies like glaucoma, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy years earlier than we could previously. This level of reliance on technology has led to a higher level of patient care and better patient outcomes.
But along with that exceptional patient care has come a challenge that optometrists were not expecting – care of technology.
Optometry has not been immune to the tectonic shift that has impacted nearly every industry and every other branch of medicine. Technology is changing the entire process of practicing medicine, from the front office and scheduling to diagnosis and treatment.
Take a look around your office. Nearly every piece of equipment is connected to a computer, and the instruments that aren’t now will likely be replaced with newer technology within the next few years.
With all this technology in your office, you have a choice.
You Can Run Your Practice, Or You Can Run Your Technology – But You Can’t-Do Both.
So, what do you do?
There’s no upside in going back to manual diagnosis equipment, so something has to be done.
Here’s the answer.
Partner with an IT support company that specializes in the diagnostic instruments, software, and front office needs of the optometry practice.
By turning over the maintenance, management, and monitoring of your in-house technology to a competent, IT support professional you will remove the burden from your shoulders and give yourself and your staff the seamless, safe IT experience you are seeking.
An IT Support Team That Specializes In The Technology Utilized By Optometry Offices Will Provide Your Business With These Significant Advantages.
- A single point of contact for any technical question or issue
- An individual to deal with technology vendors, equipment purchases, and third-party integrations
- A fast-response team for any technology-related workflow disruption
- An IT consultant that will help you squeeze all the efficiency possible from your technology
- An easily-budgeted monthly payment for comprehensive, proactive IT support
- A secure IT environment that works well for your employees and protects your patient data
- A HIPAA IT advisor that will help you keep your technology strategy in line with legislation
Setting Up a New Practice?
There may be no time that is more daunting than the setup of a new optometry office. On day #1, you’re sitting there on cardboard boxes eating pizza, talking with co-workers, and staring at empty shelves that will – within days – be filled with glasses and other product.
The computers, monitors, and servers show up on day #2 or #3, and you stare at those boxes thinking, “What have I gotten myself into?”
For a fleeting moment, you want to take your old, manual Phoropter into a testing room and hide forever from technology.
But you know that’s not terribly realistic.
By day #5 you’ve hired someone to come in and get your front-office computer system set up. But then a truck pulls up with the OCT, Keratometer, Slit Lamp, Binocular Indirect Ophthalmoscope, and your Retinal Camera – and you know that you are in way over your head.
Sure, each of those pieces of equipment has manufacturer reps that will come and get them set up, that’s not the problem.
The problem is getting it all working together and keeping all the moving parts from “bumping” into each other along the technology highway on your way to top-notch patient care.
That’s when you realize that the guy who set up your front office likely isn’t up to the job of keeping all this technology running flawlessly and secure against cyber-intrusion. So, you pick up the phone and call a company with years of optometry IT experience – a company like NOVA Computer Solutions.
So, on day #6 you put in the phone call to learn more about NOVA Computer Solutions, and on day #7 they are there to take IT management off your shoulders and to coordinate with your instrument and software vendors to ensure that everything works perfectly for your launch date.
Have An Existing Practice And Wondering If Your Current IT Support People Can Handle The Move To AI And Machine Learning?
If you’ve been to the trade shows you know that the next step in technology for optometrists is going to come in the form of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Is your current IT services team preparing your business to leverage this shift for your competitive advantage and to enhance patient care?
If not, it’s likely time for a change.
In the next year or two, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be harnessed to assist optometrists in clinical decision-making. How?
- Enabling high-volume practices to move patients through the process with more efficiency
- Reducing the risk of misdiagnosis
- Providing you with the information to make higher level, specialized opinions regarding diagnosis and treatment
- Enabling you to make better, faster diagnosis
- Analyzing big data for patterns – image data, blood test data, field of vision data
- Take better imaging to see indications of pathologies much earlier than previously possible
The combination of AI and machine learning will be powerful for your patients as wearable tech begins to emerge on the marketplace, augmenting the sight of your patients through optic recognition of objects and auditory information. This technology will learn objects and faces enabling your patients to have a better quality of life – much like the hearing aid did for patients with auditory deficits.
In the end, AI and machine learning will not replace what you are already doing to help your patients, but they will be the tools that will be leveraged in the next few years to assist you in your office to make more accurate decisions in shorter timeframes and to provide revolutionary options to your patients.
If your current IT support personnel in the Northern Virginia area aren’t up to the challenge of the complex technology of your office – now and down the road – make the switch to NOVA Computer Solutions. We have a deep background in serving offices like yours in the healthcare field.
Want to read more about NOVA Computer Solutions? We have more for you here.