{"id":34955,"date":"2020-04-13T10:08:08","date_gmt":"2020-04-13T14:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reviewofmm.com\/?p=34955"},"modified":"2020-05-02T08:38:49","modified_gmt":"2020-05-02T12:38:49","slug":"34955-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reviewofmm.com\/34955-2\/","title":{"rendered":"A Practice Works to Outlast COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

April 13, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Robert Burke<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Pamela A. Lowe, OD, FAAO, Dipl. ABO<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It takes a lot of smarts and strength to build a practice that can last 28 years and keep growing.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Pamela A. Lowe, OD, FAAO, Dipl. ABO<\/strong>, has done, and this year she was expecting to build on that success. \u201cI gotta tell you, 2020 was my year,\u201d she says. She had hired an optometrist to take on her patient-care duties and wanted to spend these months expanding her business consulting work.<\/p>\n

The COVID-19 pandemic flattened that plan, and now her sole focus is keeping her practice afloat. \u201cIt never entered my mind that I would have to close my doors and maybe lose my business,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Professional Eye Care Center<\/a> is a Vision Source<\/a> member in Niles, Illinois. There are three optometrists including Dr. Lowe, and the practice treats a wide range of eye diseases and conditions, including myopia.<\/p>\n

Everything changed in mid-March after guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged tighter protocols and the Illinois governor issued a stay-at-home order. The news came on a Wednesday when the practice is usually closed to do administrative work. \u201cWe called a meeting and said, \u2018Okay, Thursday is going to be a different day for us,\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Now they see only urgent-care patients, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., on four weekdays. Patients who need to enter the practice are screened in a vestibule that is already part of the practice building. Staff, wearing gloves and masks, take patients\u2019 temperatures in that space before escorting them directly to an exam area.<\/p>\n

Inside the practice, staff members sit a safe distance apart and take care to wipe down their keyboards and phones, she says. “So whenever you\u2019re using a work station you clean it, and when you walk away you clean it.”<\/p>\n

The practice provides curbside pick up as well for some items. At first there were plenty of eyeglass orders to deliver, she says, and the practice also does a lot of business in ocular nutrition. There is an online portal for patients to order supplies \u201cand we bag it up for them and take their payment over the phone,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Myopia care presents its own challenges. The practice offers low-dose atropine, center-distance soft multifocal contact lenses and orthokeratology lenses. Just as the practice was reducing its access, two school-age children came in, Dr. Lowe says. There wasn\u2019t time for an in-person visit to teach them how to insert and remove the lenses, so the parents opted for low-dose atropine until the practice can re-open. For now the practice will supply the drops and use telehealth technology to examine the eyes. \u201cWe can at least do something,\u201d Dr. Lowe says.<\/p>\n

Her current telehealth option is Doxy.me<\/a>, a free service, she says. She\u2019s also able to bill for some services with established patients, but that doesn\u2019t help some retinal patients, including myopes and high myopes, that she has to see in person.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, she has employees whom she needs and who need to know what\u2019s going to happen to them. She has applied for funding through the Paycheck Protection Program<\/a>, which would provide a loan that would be forgiven if most of the money goes toward payroll and insurance, or rent and utilities. \u201cMy goal has been to keep everyone gainfully employed\u201d until that funding arrives, she says.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to know when the practice can open again. Dr. Lowe has one staffer who sits in a back office and only handles rescheduling. \u201cAt first we said we\u2019d schedule in May, but now we\u2019re saying June and after,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

When the practice does re-open, Dr. Lowe expects to be working full-time again in patient care. \u201cWe have to make up all this revenue,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Plus, the re-entry into a full-time business is going to be difficult. \u201cNow everyone\u2019s going to be fighting to recoup their share of the pie,\u201d she says. Whenever she does re-open she is taking a clear-eyed view of that challenge. It doesn\u2019t matter that she has been in practice for nearly three decades. \u201cI\u2019m just thinking, \u2018I\u2019m a cold start.\u2019 It\u2019s a new world so I\u2019m a cold start.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

April 13, 2020 By Robert Burke It takes a lot of smarts and strength to build a practice that can last 28 years and keep growing. That\u2019s what Pamela A. Lowe, OD, FAAO, Dipl. ABO, has done, and this year she was expecting to build on that success. \u201cI gotta tell you, 2020 was my year,\u201d she says. She had hired an optometrist to take on her patient-care duties and wanted to spend these months expanding her business consulting work. The COVID-19 pandemic flattened that plan, and now her sole focus is keeping her practice afloat. \u201cIt never entered my mind that I would have to close my doors and maybe lose my business,\u201d she says. Professional Eye Care Center is a Vision Source member in Niles, Illinois. There are three optometrists including Dr. Lowe, and the practice treats a wide range of eye diseases and conditions, including myopia. Everything changed in mid-March after guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged tighter protocols and the Illinois governor issued a stay-at-home order. The news came on a Wednesday when the practice is usually closed to do administrative work. \u201cWe called a meeting and said, \u2018Okay, Thursday is going to be a different day for us,\u2019\u201d she says. Now they see only urgent-care patients, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., on four weekdays. Patients who need to enter the practice are screened in a vestibule that is already part of the practice building. Staff, wearing gloves and masks, take patients\u2019 temperatures in that space before escorting them directly to an exam area. Inside the practice, staff members sit a safe distance apart and take care to wipe down their keyboards and phones, she says. “So whenever you\u2019re using a work station you clean it, and when you walk away you clean it.” The practice provides curbside pick up as well for some items. At first there were plenty of eyeglass orders to deliver, she says, and the practice also does a lot of business in ocular nutrition. There is an online portal for patients to order supplies \u201cand we bag it up for them and take their payment over the phone,\u201d she says. Myopia care presents its own challenges. The practice offers low-dose atropine, center-distance soft multifocal contact lenses and orthokeratology lenses. Just as the practice was reducing its access, two school-age children came in, Dr. Lowe says. There […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":295,"featured_media":34967,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1386],"tags":[2009,2036,1546,2037,2038,324],"yoast_head":"\nA Practice Works to Outlast COVID-19 - Review of Myopia Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reviewofmm.com\/34955-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Practice Works to Outlast COVID-19 - Review of Myopia Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"April 13, 2020 By Robert Burke It takes a lot of smarts and strength to build a practice that can last 28 years and keep growing. That\u2019s what Pamela A. Lowe, OD, FAAO, Dipl. ABO, has done, and this year she was expecting to build on that success. \u201cI gotta tell you, 2020 was my year,\u201d she says. She had hired an optometrist to take on her patient-care duties and wanted to spend these months expanding her business consulting work. The COVID-19 pandemic flattened that plan, and now her sole focus is keeping her practice afloat. \u201cIt never entered my mind that I would have to close my doors and maybe lose my business,\u201d she says. Professional Eye Care Center is a Vision Source member in Niles, Illinois. There are three optometrists including Dr. Lowe, and the practice treats a wide range of eye diseases and conditions, including myopia. Everything changed in mid-March after guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged tighter protocols and the Illinois governor issued a stay-at-home order. The news came on a Wednesday when the practice is usually closed to do administrative work. \u201cWe called a meeting and said, \u2018Okay, Thursday is going to be a different day for us,\u2019\u201d she says. Now they see only urgent-care patients, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., on four weekdays. Patients who need to enter the practice are screened in a vestibule that is already part of the practice building. Staff, wearing gloves and masks, take patients\u2019 temperatures in that space before escorting them directly to an exam area. Inside the practice, staff members sit a safe distance apart and take care to wipe down their keyboards and phones, she says. “So whenever you\u2019re using a work station you clean it, and when you walk away you clean it.” The practice provides curbside pick up as well for some items. At first there were plenty of eyeglass orders to deliver, she says, and the practice also does a lot of business in ocular nutrition. There is an online portal for patients to order supplies \u201cand we bag it up for them and take their payment over the phone,\u201d she says. Myopia care presents its own challenges. The practice offers low-dose atropine, center-distance soft multifocal contact lenses and orthokeratology lenses. Just as the practice was reducing its access, two school-age children came in, Dr. Lowe says. 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The news came on a Wednesday when the practice is usually closed to do administrative work. \u201cWe called a meeting and said, \u2018Okay, Thursday is going to be a different day for us,\u2019\u201d she says. Now they see only urgent-care patients, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., on four weekdays. Patients who need to enter the practice are screened in a vestibule that is already part of the practice building. Staff, wearing gloves and masks, take patients\u2019 temperatures in that space before escorting them directly to an exam area. Inside the practice, staff members sit a safe distance apart and take care to wipe down their keyboards and phones, she says. “So whenever you\u2019re using a work station you clean it, and when you walk away you clean it.” The practice provides curbside pick up as well for some items. At first there were plenty of eyeglass orders to deliver, she says, and the practice also does a lot of business in ocular nutrition. 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