Ontario Optometrists at ‘ critical juncture ’
By Denis Langlois
The century-old professional organization that represents 1,600 optometrists in Ontario has a new president .
Dr . Jeffrey Guthrie , who practices optometry in Bancroft , Ont ., will remain at the helm for the next two years . Dr . Guthrie , who has been on the OAO board since 2013 , says it ' s an exciting time to take on his new role .
“ There ’ s been an incredible amount of work done over the past few years to bring the profession forward and ensure that Ontario optometrists are compensated in a way that reflects the true value of our services ,” he said after being elected .
“ I look forward to building on the progress we ’ ve made under the leadership of Dr . Jeff Goodhew in opening a dialogue with the Ontario government and setting the stage to ensure that our members can continue to provide the best care possible to Ontario patients .”
Dr . Guthrie recently discussed with Optical Prism the challenges that lie ahead for optometrists in Ontario , how those challenges can be overcome and why now is the most important time for optometrists to join the OAO .
Q . Why did you decide to take on the role of president of the Ontario Association of Optometrists and what are your objectives for this term ?
A . I decided to assume the president ’ s role because I see the practice of optometry in Ontario at a critical juncture in its evolution . With the rising costs of health care , problems with equity of access to care and a tight provincial healthcare budget , optometrists are well-positioned to take a larger role in the primary eyecare landscape .
Optometrists could be managing more patients with eye conditions , helping to keep unnecessary urgent eye problems out of busy and expensive emergency departments and working with the province to screen more patients with diabetes for retinopathy . However , taking on this role comes with its challenges . Optometrists can either accept the status quo or we can proactively engage with stakeholders to further integrate our profession into primary care .
Q . Please tell us about the main challenges facing optometrists today ?
A . The primary challenge is that optometrists are not compensated at the true value of the services provided , which in many cases impedes the level of care we are able to provide . Our fees from the Ontario Health Insurance Plan ( OHIP ) have essentially remained flat since 1989 . As you can imagine , there has been a lot of inflation in those last 27 years . I may have only been six years old at the time , but I do know that a dollar in 1989 only buys 60 cents worth of goods today ! Ontario optometrists want to play a bigger role in Ontario ’ s primary eye care system , fulfilling our scope of practice to provide better and faster care for patients . However , the current insurance structure is hampering that evolution because it compels optometrists to provide OHIP-insured services at a loss . This problem will grow very quickly over the next decade ; the senior population – the mostfrequent users of optometric services – is projected to grow by 44 per cent .
The Association is advocating hard to improve the remuneration outlook for optometrists , so that we can more ably provide the full scope of care for our patients . As with any advocacy work , there
8 EYE FOCUS | February 2017