72 | EYEWORLD | JUNE 2022
OPERATION SIGHT
NEEDS YOUR HELP
Operation Sight, the ASCRS Foundation's charitable cataract
surgery program, serves eligible uninsured or underinsured
Americans who cannot otherwise afford or access cataract
care. The pandemic's impact on America's working class
has been profound. As the need for this vital program
continues, volunteers are needed to help eligible
patients on our waitlist. With our waiting list growing,
Operation Sight has a pressing need for volunteers
in the following states:
Florida Idaho New York
North Carolina Tennessee Texas
For more information, go to ascrs.org/foundation.
R
EFRACTIVE
time educating our community ophthalmolo-
gists and optometrists," he said, adding that this
can be anything from monthly emails to live and
virtual continuing educational events.
The most important thing is education on
both sides, he said. The ophthalmologists and
optometrists have to be able to get together,
and there needs to be an open line of commu-
nication all the time. "It's having very candid
conversations about what the concerns are and
realizing that, above all, it's the patients' needs
and safety that will dictate the relationship," he
said.
While comanagement is often most set up
for LASIK and cataract surgery, Dr. Cunningham
noted that his practice also does a number of
other procedures, and he mentioned the success
of comanagement for corneal crosslinking.
Dr. Cunningham also noted the impor-
tance of constantly reevaluating the system to
ensure that the comanagement model is still
providing better service than a sole practice. We
need to make sure as clinicians and physicians
that we're providing the best possible care for
patients, he said. "In the beginning, we thought
we had a template that could increase the level
of care for patients in our system if it was done
properly. It was what we foresaw would be
the new model, and now it makes more sense
because of the crush of the healthcare system,"
he said.
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