Lance Kugler, MD
Founder & CEO, Kugler Vision, Omaha NE
As someone who has spent my entire career working towards the goal of growing refractive surgery, I view office-based surgery (OBS) partnerships with optometry as a flexible, collaborative, and compliant way to achieve that goal.
I have an OBS suite located inside Kugler Vision Surgery Center where I perform both private-pay refractive surgery (laser and lens-based) and insurance-covered cataract surgery every week on patients who find us online, hear about us through word-of-mouth from other patients, or are referred in by other doctors. But recently, we’ve tried a new, collaborative approach with local optometrists. How it works: a local optometric practice leases the OBS suite (which includes use of the facility, staff, and equipment) one half-day per month. On the leased days, the optometrist bills the patient, collects the money, pays all the expenses of the procedures performed that day, and keeps the remainder as profit. I receive the surgical fees for the cases I perform, just as I would be paid to perform surgery at an off-site ASC or hospital.
For me, this is an opportunity to expand my reach to more patients. Advertising simply doesn’t reach the majority of vision-corrected patients who are candidates for refractive surgery. But all of those patients are in optometry practices, where they are mostly being offered glasses or contact lenses for vision correction. They aren’t necessarily hearing about the superb technology and excellent outcomes of surgery, in part because of how the financial incentives are aligned, and in part because of optometrists’ lack of familiarity with the nuances of refractive surgery. MD-OD OBS partnerships can address both issues.
As we see more vertical integration across the eye care industry, OBS is a great way for optometrists and ophthalmic surgeons to work together responsibly to remain independent and competitive, and to offer our patients the best of all worlds.
