EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/932603
EW MEETING REPORTER 132 February 2018 Reporting from Hawaiian Eye 2018, January 13–19, Maui, Hawaii Reporting from Hawaiian Eye 2018 Mr. Corcoran weighed in on how today's private equity trans- actions differ from the physician practice management companies in the 1990s. He said there are several noteworthy differences, including the amount of money that's float- ing around. The number of players in this space is enormous, and the environment is different from the government and payer point of view. There is a more competitive and harsher environment today than there was then, he said. J. Matthew Owens, JD, Wash- ington, D.C., said he thinks that private equity these days has learned a lesson to be more hands off rather than trying to come in and uproot One topic discussed during the session was if private equity is a good fit for ophthalmology and optometry. Kevin Corcoran, COE, San Bernardino, California, said that he thinks the answer to this ques- tion is both yes and no. "It depends on who you are and what you want," he said. There are enormous geographical differences across the country that play in. Mr. Corcoran said to answer this question, you have to look inside the culture of your practice and examine factors like how old the doctors are, what they want, and what the vision of the practice is. Economic concerns are important as well. Looking at the ophthalmic practice environment Candace Simerson, COE, Mara- na, Arizona, discussed business in ophthalmology and a number of factors driving change: the perceived future of healthcare under the ACA, consolidation trends, a continuing onslaught of regulatory and admin- istrative burdens making it difficult for smaller practices without a scal- able infrastructure to remain compli- ant, increasing complexity and skills required to effectively manage the practice, a new generation of phy- sicians with different priorities (for example, desiring work/life balance and less risk), and physician recruit- ment challenges. Sponsored by