EyeCode Media

By Christopher Wolfe, OD, FAAO, Dipl. ABOEducation How To

EyeCode Media episodes

November 02The Chris Wolfe Podcast: The hidden danger of AI: more findings, not better care
Dr. Christopher Wolfe reflects on a recent conversation with Dr. Aaron Werner, Dr. Shane Kannarr, and Harry Colas about cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and where technology is taking optometry. The episode matters because it connects two things that often get separated: protecting patient data and improving patient care. Christopher shares how his view of cybersecurity has changed, why AI should help clinicians make better decisions rather than just generate more findings, and how technology should support both doctors and staff in building more capable, sustainable practices.
Key topics
Christopher explains why cybersecurity has moved from a “necessary expense” to a clinical responsibility, especially after seeing 37 practice breaches through Practice Performance Partners.
He argues that a breach is not only a financial problem but a patient care problem, since losing access to EHR data can affect follow-up, monitoring, and clinical decisions.
Shane Kannarrs example of an open port left from a previous installation shows why general IT support is not the same as healthcare network security.
Moving imaging and records to the cloud helps, but it does not remove the need to assess local devices, older operating systems, and office infrastructure.
Christopher compares cybersecurity risk management to evaluating suspicious optic nerve findings: you do not need certainty before taking action.
The discussion shifts to AI and clinical imaging, including OCT, OCTA, fundus autofluorescence, and ultra-wide field imaging.
He emphasizes that more data is not automatically better care if it does not change decisions, follow-up timing, or treatment choices.
Christopher warns that AI could make clinicians overly dependent on software recommendations unless they understand how outputs are generated and when they do not make clinical sense.
He sees major potential for AI to help technicians and clinical teams understand the purpose behind the tests they perform, not just move patients from one instrument to another.
Harry Colas’s comments on oculomics highlight the broader role of eye care in identifying systemic disease risk, while also raising questions about how early is too early to detect and act.
26 min
October 28 The AWP: Cybersecurity, AI, and the Future of Eye Care
Is your practice protected and ready for what’s next? Aaron Werner joins Drs. Christopher Wolfe and Shane Kannarr and Topcon’s Harry Colas to discuss cybersecurity risks, cloud technology, and AI’s evolving role in eye care. They explore protecting patient data, supporting staff, and preparing for a more connected future.
To learn more about Harmony and how Topcon can help in your practice, visit https://topconhealthcare.com/.
1 hr 13 min
October 26The Chris Wolfe Podcast: You Bought the Technology. Now What?
This episode focuses on why practice success should be measured by patient flow and care delivery, not just by how many procedures you perform. Christopher Wolfe, OD, FAAO explains how to spot breakdowns in the clinical process, from identifying patients to getting them scheduled, treated, and followed up.He also connects the same framework to dry eye, AMD, supplementation, and photobiomodulation, showing how a small set of meaningful metrics can reveal where your practice is actually losing opportunities.
Key topics
Christopher Wolfe, OD, FAAO explains why counting IPL or photobiomodulation procedures alone does not tell you whether a clinical program is working.
He breaks the patient journey into stages: identification, recommendation, scheduling, evaluation, treatment initiation, and outcomes.
A practice may be missing the real problem if it assumes low procedure volume means doctors need more sales training.
He uses dry eye as an example: if 100 patients should have been flagged from 500 comprehensive exams but only 20 were identified, the issue starts in the exam room.
If patients are identified but not returning for dedicated evaluations, the bottleneck may be communication, checkout, or scheduling.
If patients complete evaluations and choose appropriate treatment, the program may be successful even if only a portion choose IPL specifically.
Christopher emphasizes using a few consistent metrics rather than an overly complex dashboard that nobody reviews.
He applies the same logic to AMD care, including OCTA-based identification, supplementation, annual supply tracking, and follow-up planning.
He argues that capacity matters too: if more patients are identified than the schedule can absorb, the practice must redesign staffing and appointment structure.
The goal is to build a process that does not depend on one motivated doctor or one piece of equipment, but on a repeatable team workflow.
Timestamps
00:00 - Why procedure counts do not prove a program is working
01:21 - Looking beyond the procedure to the pre-procedure process
02:21 - Dry eye example: identifying patients during comprehensive exams
03:17 - Where patients drop off between exam and evaluation
04:11 - Success can still exist even when not everyone chooses the same treatment
05:33 - Turning the problem into a specific team metric
06:02 - Start with a few meaningful numbers, not a complicated dashboard
07:00 - Applying the same thinking to AMD implementation
07:56 - Tracking AMD care through OCTA, supplementation, and annual supply sales
10:48 - Building protocols for earlier identification and follow-up
11:42 - When improved detection exposes capacity problems
12:38 - Financial modeling as support for population-level care
13:33 - How doctor time, staff support, and diagnostic testing can be allocated
14:57 - Why technology without workflow still fails
15:53 - A process should not depend entirely on one doctor
16:48 - The roles of technician, scheduling team, and physician in the pathway
18:13 - The framework for launching or fixing a dry eye or AMD service
19:34 - Why measuring the process reveals unexpected problems
20:33 - Lessons from football about repeatability and consistency in practice
21:30 - Final takeaway: measure the process, improve the process, improve outcomes
Want to take these concepts beyond the podcast and actually build an AMD system for your practice?
Join Dr. Chris Wolfe for the AMD Implementation Workshop in Grapevine, Texas, on October 29, 2026.
This all-day workshop will take a deeper dive into creating an AMD management protocol for your individual practice—from identifying the right patients and establishing KPIs to integrating testing, supplementation conversations, patient education, treatment options, and staff workflows.
Learn more and register:
https://www.practiceperformancepartners.com/amd-implementation-workshop/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email
FREE Complete Clinical AMD Management Course for Podcast Listeners
Want to dive deeper into the clinical side before the workshop?
Podcast listeners can access the Complete Clinical AMD Management Course Bundle FREE through October 31, 2026.
The course includes six educational modules designed to take a deeper dive into the clinical concepts discussed in this episode.
Access the course:
https://www.eyecodeeducation.com/bundles/the-complete-clinical-amd-management-course-bundle
Podcast Listener Coupon Code: ece2026amdpromo
Offer expires October 31, 2026.
26 min
October 23 The AWP: Win the Day: Turn Practice Goals Into Daily Wins
What does success look like for your team today? Aaron breaks down how to turn monthly percentages into clear, attainable daily goals. Learn how to use your schedule to set targets, celebrate progress, and build momentum without carrying yesterday’s misses into tomorrow.

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AMD Implementation Workshop — October 29, 2026
Want to take these concepts beyond the podcast and actually build an AMD system for your practice?
Join Dr. Chris Wolfe for the AMD Implementation Workshop in Grapevine, Texas, on October 29, 2026.
This all-day workshop will take a deeper dive into creating an AMD management protocol for your individual practice—from identifying the right patients and establishing KPIs to integrating testing, supplementation conversations, patient education, treatment options, and staff workflows.
Learn more and register:
https://www.practiceperformancepartners.com/amd-implementation-workshop/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email
FREE Complete Clinical AMD Management Course for Podcast Listeners
Want to dive deeper into the clinical side before the workshop?
Podcast listeners can access the Complete Clinical AMD Management Course Bundle FREE through October 31, 2026.
The course includes six educational modules designed to take a deeper dive into the clinical concepts discussed in this episode.
Access the course:
https://www.eyecodeeducation.com/bundles/the-complete-clinical-amd-management-course-bundle
Podcast Listener Coupon Code: ece2026amdpromo
Offer expires October 31, 2026.
25 min
October 19The Chris Wolfe Podcast: The Real Reason Your IPL Device Isn’t Paying Off
Process Before Outcome: Why IPL and Photobiomodulation Need a Better Clinical Pathway
Christopher Wolfe, OD, FAAO, explores a common implementation mistake in eye care: pursuing an outcome before building the process that can produce it consistently. Using IPL and photobiomodulation as examples, he explains why the goal should be better identification, evaluation, and management of ocular surface disease and macular degeneration—not simply performing more procedures. He also discusses how clinical evidence, professional judgment, and patient preferences work together to support appropriate, sustainable care.
Key topics
Why practices may struggle to implement IPL even when they believe in the technology
The hidden workflows behind successful clinical programs
Why “more IPL treatments” is an incomplete measure of success
How a structured dry eye pathway can move patients from identification to evaluation and appropriate treatment
Why not every patient is a candidate for IPL—or wants a procedure
How research, clinical judgment, and patient preferences inform evidence-based care
How procedure-first goals can unintentionally influence conversations with patients
What a broader macular degeneration management pathway can include
Why photobiomodulation should be one possible treatment option, not the entire goal
Which practice metrics can help identify where care pathways need improvement
Timestamps
(00:00) Why outcome-first thinking can undermine implementation
(00:57) What workshop attendees reveal about IPL adoption
(01:54) When the problem is the process—not the technology
(04:14) The steps behind successful clinical programs
(05:40) Why “more IPLs” may be the wrong success metric
(06:36) Not every dry eye patient is an IPL candidate
(07:59) Research, clinical judgment, and patient preferences
(08:55) How a procedure-first goal can affect patient conversations
(09:49) Reframing success around ocular surface disease management
(10:18) Building a structured dry eye pathway
(11:43) Making IPL one option within a care plan
(12:10) Metrics that show where care can improve
(13:36) A football analogy for process and consistency
(17:42) Why repeatable progress beats relying on exceptional outcomes
(18:37) Applying the same lesson to macular degeneration
(20:02) What a broader AMD care process can include
(21:54) Building a management pathway beyond procedure training
(22:52) Closing thoughts on sustainable implementation
Notable quotes
“If I've decided that the outcome that I want for the patient is for them to accept IPL, then I've potentially created a conflict between what I want for my practice and what I want for their care.”
“I want a process that consistently puts patients in a position to succeed.”
AMD Implementation Workshop — October 29, 2026
Want to take these concepts beyond the podcast and actually build an AMD system for your practice?
Join Dr. Chris Wolfe for the AMD Implementation Workshop in Grapevine, Texas, on October 29, 2026.
This all-day workshop will take a deeper dive into creating an AMD management protocol for your individual practice—from identifying the right patients and establishing KPIs to integrating testing, supplementation conversations, patient education, treatment options, and staff workflows.
Learn more and register:
https://www.practiceperformancepartners.com/amd-implementation-workshop/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email
FREE Complete Clinical AMD Management Course for Podcast Listeners
Want to dive deeper into the clinical side before the workshop?
Podcast listeners can access the Complete Clinical AMD Management Course Bundle FREE through October 31, 2026.
The course includes six educational modules designed to take a deeper dive into the clinical concepts discussed in this episode.
Access the course:
https://www.eyecodeeducation.com/bundles/the-complete-clinical-amd-management-course-bundle
Podcast Listener Coupon Code: ece2026amdpromo
Offer expires October 31, 2026.
28 min
October 12 The Chris Wolfe Podcast: Why Photobiomodulation Shouldn’t Be Judged Only by Visual Acuity
Christopher Wolfe, OD, FAAO, examines how clinicians should evaluate photobiomodulation for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The key question: should treatment be judged only by visual acuity gains, or also by whether it may affect disease progression in patients whose vision is still good?He reviews evidence related to drusen volume, geographic atrophy (GA), conversion to wet AMD, and other measures of visual function. He also considers treatment frequency, patient burden, and what further research is needed before clinicians can confidently reduce the current treatment schedule.
Key topics
Why visual acuity improvement may not be the only meaningful measure of benefit in dry AMD
How photobiomodulation compares with the preventive goals of AREDS 1 and AREDS 2
Findings on drusen volume from the Iovino and LightSite studies
What the available evidence does—and doesn’t—show about conversion to wet AMD and development of GA
Functional outcomes beyond standard high-contrast visual acuity, including contrast sensitivity and low-luminance visual acuity
What may happen when treatment stops, and why ongoing management may be needed
The current treatment schedule discussed in the episode: nine treatments over three weeks, repeated every four months
Why evidence is still needed to determine whether fewer treatments or longer intervals can maintain benefit
How clinicians can discuss potential benefits, uncertainty, treatment burden, and patient preferences
Timestamps
00:13 — The central question: is visual acuity the only measure of benefit?
01:39 — The question for category 3 patients with good visual acuity
03:02 — The comparison with AREDS 1 and AREDS 2
05:00 — Evidence on drusen volume
06:25 — What the studies suggest about conversion to wet AMD
07:50 — Geographic atrophy findings
09:19 — Looking at photobiomodulation through a disease-progression lens
10:16 — Functional measures beyond the eye chart
11:14 — What happens to measured benefits after treatment stops
12:10 — Retreatment intervals and sustaining benefit
14:07 — The treatment burden of the current protocol
15:02 — The limits of anecdotal evidence when considering fewer treatments
15:57 — Wearable and at-home approaches: promising, but not yet a replacement
16:50 — The current best-supported schedule discussed in the episode
17:20 — The research question that could change clinical practice
18:17 — Explaining the evidence and options to patients
20:10 — Why visual acuity should not be the only definition of success
AMD Implementation Workshop — October 29, 2026
Want to take these concepts beyond the podcast and actually build an AMD system for your practice?
Join Dr. Chris Wolfe for the AMD Implementation Workshop in Grapevine, Texas, on October 29, 2026.
This all-day workshop will take a deeper dive into creating an AMD management protocol for your individual practice—from identifying the right patients and establishing KPIs to integrating testing, supplementation conversations, patient education, treatment options, and staff workflows.
Learn more and register:
https://www.practiceperformancepartners.com/amd-implementation-workshop/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email
FREE Complete Clinical AMD Management Course for Podcast Listeners
Want to dive deeper into the clinical side before the workshop?
Podcast listeners can access the Complete Clinical AMD Management Course Bundle FREE through October 31, 2026.
The course includes six educational modules designed to take a deeper dive into the clinical concepts discussed in this episode.
Access the course:
https://www.eyecodeeducation.com/bundles/the-complete-clinical-amd-management-course-bundle
Podcast Listener Coupon Code: ece2026amdpromo
Offer expires October 31, 2026.
26 min
September 29 The Chris Wolfe Podcast: Did AI Just Give Me A COPE Approved Live Lecture?
Did AI Just Give My Continuing Education Lecture?
What happens when artificial intelligence stops helping the educator and starts becoming the educator?
In this episode, Dr. Chris Wolfe shares an experience from a recent COPE approved continuing education lecture that left him asking a bigger question: Who actually created the education he was receiving?
The lecture was delivered by a highly trained retinal surgeon, but much of the presentation sounded heavily AI scripted and appeared to be read nearly verbatim. At the same time, portions of the course focused specifically on one manufacturer's OCT technology and terminology. That combination raised questions that go far beyond whether someone used ChatGPT to make a PowerPoint.
Chris discusses the difference between using AI to improve your expertise and using AI to substitute for the intellectual work of creating education. AI can help organize ideas, research evidence, improve explanations, refine slides, and make educators better. But if AI builds the presentation, writes the script, and the expert simply reads it, what exactly is the expert contributing?
The conversation then turns to the relationship between key opinion leaders, industry, and continuing education. Chris shares a real example of a vendor proactively offering KOLs ready made slides, studies, references, sample reports, and other resources for upcoming conference presentations. None of those things are inherently inappropriate, but AI makes it incredibly easy to turn vendor supplied material into a polished educational presentation with very little additional work from the lecturer.
That raises a much larger question about the effectiveness of our current continuing education safeguards.
COPE has developed standards intended to preserve educational independence and address commercial influence, yet financial disclosures often amount to little more than a list of company names. They may tell an audience that a relationship exists without providing much context about the nature or magnitude of that relationship.
Chris explains why he believes clinicians should become familiar with the CMS Open Payments database and why receiving industry compensation should not automatically be viewed as evidence of bias. He works with industry himself. The issue is not simply whether money changed hands. The issue is transparency and giving the audience enough information to evaluate potential influences for themselves.
Ultimately, this episode isn't an argument against AI, industry relationships, KOLs, or even vendor supplied educational resources. It is a challenge to educators and the organizations responsible for continuing education.
AI should allow us to get more from an expert, not less.
If you have spent twenty years looking at retinas, tell us what those twenty years taught you. Show us your cases. Tell us where you were wrong. Tell us where experience changed your mind. Challenge the literature. Give us the judgment and pattern recognition that cannot be reproduced simply by asking an AI model to explain the topic.
Because if a vendor supplies the material, AI builds the presentation, AI writes the script, and the expert's primary contribution is reading it from the stage, another disclosure form probably isn't going to solve the problem.
The question educators may increasingly need to answer is much simpler:
What did the expert actually add?
In This Episode
Chris discusses AI generated presentations and scripts, the difference between AI assistance and AI substitution, KOL relationships with industry, vendor influence on educational content, the limitations of traditional financial disclosures, CMS Open Payments, COPE and commercial independence, and what audiences should expect from experts in the age of artificial intelligence.
Resources Mentioned
CMS Open Payments
Search financial relationships reported between applicable manufacturers and physicians and other covered recipients:
https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/
COPE / Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry
Information about COPE accreditation and continuing education standards:
https://www.arbo.org/cope
The Bigger Question
AI can write the slides. AI can summarize the research. AI can create the speaker notes. AI can even make the transitions sound polished.
But it hasn't treated your patients.
The value of an expert isn't the ability to deliver information. It is the experience, judgment, mistakes, disagreements, cases, and perspective they bring to that information.
AI should amplify that expertise, not replace it.

AMD Implementation Workshop — October 29, 2026
Want to take these concepts beyond the podcast and actually build an AMD system for your practice?
Join Dr. Chris Wolfe for the AMD Implementation Workshop in Grapevine, Texas, on October 29, 2026.
This all-day workshop will take a deeper dive into creating an AMD management protocol for your individual practice—from identifying the right patients and establishing KPIs to integrating testing, supplementation conversations, patient education, treatment options, and staff workflows.
Learn more and register:
https://www.practiceperformancepartners.com/amd-implementation-workshop/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email
FREE Complete Clinical AMD Management Course for Podcast Listeners
Want to dive deeper into the clinical side before the workshop?
Podcast listeners can access the Complete Clinical AMD Management Course Bundle FREE through October 31, 2026.
The course includes six educational modules designed to take a deeper dive into the clinical concepts discussed in this episode.
Access the course:
https://www.eyecodeeducation.com/bundles/the-complete-clinical-amd-management-course-bundle
Podcast Listener Coupon Code: ece2026amdpromo
Offer expires October 31, 2026.
28 min
September 25 Compliance Corner: Audit Defense: Building Your Internal Shield
https://www.practiceperformancepartners.com/amd-implementation-workshop/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email

https://www.eyecodeeducation.com/bundles/the-complete-clinical-amd-management-course-bundle
41 min
September 24 The AWP: HR Without the Drama: Handbooks, Hard Conversations & Documentation
Aaron sits down with Sarah McCormick of HR for Health to make HR feel less intimidating. They discuss why every practice needs a current handbook, how to handle difficult employee conversations, the importance of clear expectations and documentation, and why addressing problems early can prevent much bigger issues later.

To learn more about the common mistakes Sarah and her team sees in optometry practices, download this free guide: 8 Common Optometry HR Mistakes & How to Respond to Them (https://hrfh.hrforhealth.com/preventative-hr-care-dwld-optometry-optometry?utm_source=partner&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=common-mistakes-guide&partner_source=Vision%20Source)

Connect with HR for Health: hrforhealth.com

58 min
September 21The Chris Wolfe Podcast:Your AMD Technology Isn’t the Problem—Your System Is
Age-Related Macular Degeneration: From Detection to Implementation
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) management has changed dramatically. We have better imaging, better monitoring, more treatment options, and a deeper understanding of risk than ever before.
But having more technology doesn’t automatically translate into better patient care.
In this episode, Dr. Chris Wolfe takes a different approach to AMD. Rather than starting with the newest device, supplement, or treatment, he starts with a more important question:
What happens after you identify a patient with AMD or meaningful AMD risk?
The challenge for many practices isn’t a lack of knowledge or technology—it’s building a reliable system that connects what we know with what actually happens to the patient.
Chris discusses how AMD classification should drive management, where AREDS2 supplementation fits, how testing such as OCT, dark adaptometry, ERG, carotenoid testing, and remote monitoring can be incorporated intentionally, and where newer treatment options such as photobiomodulation may fit into the AMD management pathway.
Most importantly, he discusses why the comprehensive examination should be the entry point—not the endpoint—of AMD care.
In This Episode
You’ll hear about:
Understanding AMD as a spectrum of disease rather than a single diagnosis
Using AMD classification to determine risk and next steps
The practical differences between AREDS and AREDS2
Matching supplementation recommendations to the appropriate patient
Why symptoms shouldn’t be your screening test for AMD
Using the comprehensive examination to identify and capture patients who need additional AMD care
Deciding when OCT, ERG, dark adaptometry, carotenoid testing, and other technologies add meaningful information
Determining which patients may benefit from remote monitoring
Where photobiomodulation may fit into modern dry AMD management
Creating a management “ladder” rather than relying on a single test or treatment
Developing repeatable clinical protocols so patients don’t simply disappear back into routine care
The goal isn’t to collect more widgets.
The goal is to build a pathway.
When a patient leaves your office with AMD, they should understand three things: their risk, their next step, and when you want to see them again.
AMD Implementation Workshop — October 29, 2026
Want to take these concepts beyond the podcast and actually build an AMD system for your practice?
Join Dr. Chris Wolfe for the AMD Implementation Workshop in Grapevine, Texas, on October 29, 2026.
This all-day workshop will take a deeper dive into creating an AMD management protocol for your individual practice—from identifying the right patients and establishing KPIs to integrating testing, supplementation conversations, patient education, treatment options, and staff workflows.
Learn more and register:
https://www.practiceperformancepartners.com/amd-implementation-workshop/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email
FREE Complete Clinical AMD Management Course for Podcast Listeners
Want to dive deeper into the clinical side before the workshop?
Podcast listeners can access the Complete Clinical AMD Management Course Bundle FREE through October 31, 2026.
The course includes six educational modules designed to take a deeper dive into the clinical concepts discussed in this episode.
Access the course:
https://www.eyecodeeducation.com/bundles/the-complete-clinical-amd-management-course-bundle
Podcast Listener Coupon Code: ece2026amdpromo
Offer expires October 31, 2026.
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21 min