editor's perspectiveToo Many ECPsBY JOSEPH T. BARR, OD, MS, EDITOR There are too many eye doctors. Too many O.D.s and too many ophthalmologists. Not only does the Rand study say so, but other recent events are symptomatic. Recently, optometrists in Philadelphia joined the AFL-CIO and picketed Blue Cross headquarters, claiming unfair treatment. It seems the managed care plan not only offers low examination fees, but it also tells patients to buy their contact lenses directly through Davis Vision, a vision care plan and supplier of eyecare products and services owned by Blue Cross/Blue Shield. This takes more bread from the optometrist's pocket and table. And I've certainly heard more than one story about recent ophthalmology residents taking optometry positions and salaries. Ophthalmology residency programs are cutting back. These things wouldn't be happening if there was a doctor shortage. Additionally, at least in optometry, paraoptometric personnel are underutilized. Automated equipment used by the office staff makes data collection efficient, leaving the doctor with more time to see patients. With 1,150 O.D.s graduating per year and an expected overall growth from 30,000 to 32,000 O.D.s in just a few years, where will all the patients come from? Sure, there are a lot of baby boomers getting older who will need care. But even now as they become increasingly presbyopic, it's dog-eat-dog, and an oversupply of doctors puts the buyer (patient or third-party) in the driver's seat. The problem is not just a poor distribution of eyecare practitioners in the United States, with too many in metropolitan areas and too few in rural areas. I know my colleagues in optometric education may not like this, but I think we're training too many O.D.s. I guess future generations of eye doctors will have to become accustomed to a more modest lifestyle than previous generations. Thankfully, eye care is rewarding in intangible ways as well.
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Article
Too Many ECPs
Contact Lens Spectrum
March 1, 1998