The first part of our two-part special episode of The MOD Pod – Contact Lens Business in the COVID-19 Era: Products on the Market. Listen to Jeffrey Lewis, OD; Anith Pillai, OD, FSLS; Jennifer Tsai, OD; and Jessica Yu, OD, FAAO, discuss trends in contact lens utilization, patient profiles, and best practices when fitting new lens types.

Join our expert panel of Ivan Mac, MD; Damon Dierker, OD; and Brandon Ayres, MD, as they deliberate on a myriad of interesting cases across the ocular surface spectrum. 

This month, we hear four more articles from Modern Optometry’s final issue of 2020—all of which are on different topics. First, Jessica Haynes, OD, FAAO, talks about some of the more common retinal lesions ODs can encounter in the clinic, because recognizing the presentations of these common culprits can help clinicians refer patients promptly when necessary (00:48). Next up is Jaclyn Garlich, OD, FAAO, with a primer on Demodex blepharitis: what it is, how to manage and educate patients, and options for treatment (12:07). Stephen Cohen, OD, follows with ideas for boosting a practice’s health as optometrists move forward in and eventually after, the COVID-19 pandemic (21:44). In the final segment of the episode we hear about when Walter O. Whitley, OD, MBA, FAAO, decided to pursue a career in optometry, what has been the most memorable experience of his career so far, and more (33:44).

Presbyopia affects 1.8 billion people globally and is a tremendous frustration for both the patients who have it and the physicians who treat it. In this episode of The MOD Pod, Selina McGee, OD, FAAO, Dipl ABO, explores how presbyopia negatively affects quality of life, and why it's important for optometrists to educate patients.

In this month's business-focused episode, Melanie Denton Dombrowski, OD, MBA, FAAO, shares her first-hand experience on opening a practice cold (00:52), then Jessilin Quint, OD, MBA, MS, provides five tactics to sustain a practice's growth, success, and relevance (9:50). Jason E. Compton, OD, FAAO, follows with some great tips for developing a practice marketing plan (17:42), and Rachael Wruble, OD, FAAO, offers guidance on how to approach three common insurance and reimbursement problems (24:29).

Listen in as S. Barry Eiden, OD, FAAO; Dorothy Hitchmoth, OD; and Mary Beth Yackey, OD, join host Damon Dierker, OD, for a discussion of the important role that early detection of age-related macular degeneration plays in optimizing patient visual outcomes, and how the ForeseeHome AMD Monitoring Program aids practitioners in this endeavor.

Damon Dierker, OD, FAAO; Josh Johnston, OD, FAAO; Brianna Rhue, OD, FAAO; and Walt Whitley, OD, MBA, FAAO, discuss best implementation practices for telemedicine and speculate about its future based on its versatility. 

Damon Dierker, OD, FAAO, leads a faculty panel including Josh Johnston, OD, FAAO; Brianna Rhue, OD, FAAO; and Walt Whitley, OD, MBA, FAAO, on the differences between routine care and notable complexities when using telemedicine.

In this month's episode, Robert Chu, OD, explains how optometry can help to improve efficiency by participating in perioperative cataract surgery care in the article he co-wrote with his brother Richard Chu, DO (0:45). Kayla Karpuk, OD, offers some tips for helping unhappy cataract surgery patients cross the goal line to 20/happy in the article she cowrote with Justin Schweitzer, OD, FAAO, (9:33) and in the last segment of the episode, Tracy Offerdahl, BSc, PharmD, FAAO, provides an update on oral medications used in the COVID-19 era (16:40).

The conclusion of our two-part special episode of The MOD Pod – Contact Lens Business and Patient Safety in the COVID-19 Era: Redefining Normal. Listen to Rachael Wruble, OD, FAAO, speak with colleagues Brianna Rhue, OD, FAAO; William To, OD; and Justin Weigel, OD, about how they navigated the immediate challenges COVID-19 posed on their contact lens businesses, what protocols they implemented to promote patient and staff safety, and the strategies they used to strengthen their practices through the pandemic and beyond.