"OD-MD Partnership: the Co-Owned Practice Must Benefit Both" written by David I Geffen, OD

After the first presentation this year Bill Nolan discussed many aspects of Private Practice Optometry that really interested and surprised me. One point he emphasized was that most Optometry Private Practices work best with one owner as he deals with many “divorces” of Optometry partners. I found this surprising because I’ve had conversations with the Optometrist who is my mentor from home about how much he wished he had a partner in his practice. I found OD-MD Partnership: the Co-Owned Practice Must Benefit Both written by David I Geffen, OD, FAAO to be an interesting third opinion on the topic.

In his article, Dr. Geffen discusses the benefits of owning a practice with an MD. One benefit is that the OD’s patients won’t be lost to the Ophthalmologist when the OD has to refer them for a surgical procedure. It is also very convenient and efficient for an Optometrist to be able to go to the office next door for a surgery consult. In this particular practice each partner is paid according to their individual revenue generated and Dr. Geffen states that he now generates 3 times more revenue than before. The MD may also train the OD to do procedures beyond the normal scope of OD private practice or at least allow the OD to assist in the procedure. This would likely not be an option in most private practices with just ODs.

I thought that this article offered yet another option when we are deciding what kind of practice we would like to be a part of. And while it is still a while away for some of us, it’s never too early to start thinking about all our options! The link is below if you would like more information from the article.

http://www.reviewob.com/od-md-partnership-the-co-owned-practice-must-benefit-all.aspx