editor’s perspective

Spring Has Sprung

BY JASON J. NICHOLS, OD, MPH, PHD, FAAO

Do you feel spring in the air? Technically, spring is defined as the astronomical point when the most direct rays of the sun move north of the equator (a.k.a., the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere). While no one usually celebrates the vernal equinox or daylight savings time (who wants to get one less hour of sleep?!), I think most people appreciate coming out of a long, hard winter to enjoy fresh and warm air, birds returning to sing their joyful noises, and buds turning to blossoms. While spring cleaning probably doesn’t top many people’s lists, I think there is a certain cleansing and renewal of spirit that is associated with this often practiced ritual.

In addition, the concept of a spring cleaning is also critical for practitioners to use when looking deeply at their practice’s many facets—both globally and specifically. For instance, it may be the time to rethink your contact lens fees and billing procedures, or to take another look at the contact lens technologies being used in your practice.

It is all too easy to get stuck in our ways and to use technologies with which we are comfortable. However, I would really like to encourage practitioners to make sure that they are introducing innovative technologies that will benefit patients in new ways.

While we look to industry to bring forth new technologies, we also play a role in making sure these technologies translate into our clinics. As we enter this spring season, I encourage you to follow the advice of author Leo Tolstoy who said: “Spring is the time of plans and projects.”