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The American health care system is placing new emphasis on the prevention and early detection of disease. And that, in turn, is placing increased responsibility on optometrists, according to Blair Lonsberry, O.D., a professor at the Pacific University College of Optometry in Forest Grove, Ore., and the clinic director for the college’s Portland Vision Center.

Like other health professionals, optometrists are expected to be vigilant in diagnosing systemic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. They are also being called on to more actively counsel patients on factors such as obesity, smoking and sedentary lifestyle that can affect both their eyesight and overall health.

Moreover, under programs such as Medicare’s Physician Quality Report System (PQRS) and Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program, optometrists are now financially rewarded for helping to maintain their patients’ systemic health. In the not-too-distant future, they will be penalized if they do not.

However, many optometrists still have questions about how to efficiently incorporate diagnosis and counseling on systemic conditions into daily practice, Dr. Lonsberry acknowledges.

The Systemic Health Board Certification Review Course, recently introduced on the AOA’s EyeLearn™ continuing education Web portal, is intended to help, Dr. Lonsberry said.

While designed in large part to assist optometrists who are preparing to seek American Board of Optometry certification, the course also offers an outline for the diagnosis of a range of systemic conditions during an eye examination as well as suggestions for the appropriate counseling of patients with such conditions.

The five-part, interactive, online course begins with an overview of optometry’s place in public health – with special emphasis on the nation’s top public health concern, diabetes.

A second module emphasizes optometry’s role in addressing heart disease, stroke, and other chronic diseases. It also outlines counseling on the common causes of systemic illness such as obesity and smoking. It even suggests ways optometrists can introduce older patients to the concept of “healthy aging,” Dr. Lonsberry said.

The roles and responsibilities of other health care providers, ancillary health professionals, and specialists are outlined in a third module.

“We do not practice in isolation,” Dr. Lonsberry emphasizes. “Optometrists are increasingly called on to act as part of a comprehensive health care team. We must be prepared to work with endocrinologists, rheumatologists, and a range of other health care providers.”

An entire module is devoted to hypertension, as Dr. Lonsberry believes optometrists have an important role to play in spotting the condition and counseling patients on its implications. Almost a third of Americans with hypertension are unaware of the condition, and 40 percent not receiving adequate treatment, he notes. 

A final module reviews “eyelid lumps and bumps,” Dr. Lonsberry said. The eyelid region is highly susceptible to cancer, accounting for five to 10 percent of all skin cancer cases. However, many optometrists feel uncomfortable counseling patients on what, for many, is still an emotionally charged diagnosis, Dr. Lonsberry notes. 

The EyeLearn™ course suggests ways to concisely but compassionately inform patients of benign or malignant lesions.

“With incidence of eyelid cancer increasing, optometrists clearly have an important role to play in dealing with one of the nation’s most important health problems,” Dr. Lonsberry said.

The EyeLearn™ Systemic Health Board Certification Review Course units range in length from 9 to 25 minutes. Practitioners can take the entire course in around 87 minutes.

As with all EyeLearn™ courses, the interactive learning modules allow practitioners to log on and access the learning materials whenever they are ready. The electronic format allows them to pause at any point and return to the course later. They can immediately repeat a unit if they do not adequately understand the material covered.

Each unit comes with one or more self-assessment quizzes that appear periodically. Course handouts are provided on the Web site. Course takers can even follow the speaker word-for-word using course transcripts that are also provided on the site. 

In addition to interactive learning modules, practitioners can easily access supplemental resources such as AOA Optometric Clinical Practice Guidelines and articles from Optometry: Journal of the American Optometric Association as well as a range of pre-recorded audio or video lectures.

A CE Finder feature allows optometrists to find appropriate classroom continuing education programs on systemic health conditions and related subjects, offered by state optometric associations, regional optometric organizations, and the AOA.

The EyeLearn™ Systemic Disease Board Review Course has been rated “Excellent” by AOA members who have taken the course.

EyeLearn™ is an exclusive AOA member benefit. AOA members can take courses and access materials free of charge. The optometric education portal can be accessed at www.aoa.org/eyelearn.