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Download a PDF of Integrated Care.

The vision care sector of health care is in the midst of major changes as the population ages, patients demand more services and advancements in eyecare technologies change the way in which care is delivered. In addition, the long-standing model in which ophthalmologists have led the way in providing medical specialty eyecare and optometrists have primarily addressed vision correction and detection is undergoing a transformation.

This is leading to many changes, not the least of which is the way the old model is moving beyond the traditional OD referral relationship with ophthalmologists to mark a new coordinated care approach. Changes and expansion in ODs’ scope of practice in many states also is factoring into this evolution.

As a result, there are a growing number of eyecare practices in which optometrists and ophthalmologists are beginning to work together in a more coordinated and collaborative way, creating an integrated eyecare model that some see as the future of vision care. In some instances, private-equity backed practice management groups are at the forefront of pushing these changes to delivery of eyecare.

The leading example of the integrated care model—but there are others also taking shape—is evident at St. Louis-based EyeCare Partners (ECP), which is putting together a hub-and-spoke model for optometry and ophthalmology across roughly 80 markets in the U.S. The organization’s recent acquisition of CEI Vision Partners expanded this effort on an even greater scale, as the group seeks to bring more efficiency and continuity to patient care.

Several other organizations are working to develop this integrated care model, as well. Two of these groups—Sight360 of Tampa, Fla., and Northeast Ohio Eye Surgeons—and EyeCare Partners are profiled on the following pages.