Viewpoint FROM THE CHIEF MEDICAL EDITOR

Resolutions for My Practice… and Myself

Larry E. Patterson, M.D.

I've never been one to come up with New Year's resolutions. If I need to change something in my life, it seems to me the best time to do that is now, not wait until some arbitrary starting point. But many of you do just that, so I thought I'd enlist the help of my staff and come up with some ophthalmologically-oriented resolutions. Here are the winning entries:

■ I resolve to walk out the door at the end of the day leaving the practice behind me mentally as well as physically, at least occasionally. For better or worse, I've spent the majority of my adult life consumed with the love of my life: my practice. Personal sacrifice is often required for growth in business. It takes hours of selfless dedication to build a high-quality medical practice. But just as in a marriage between a husband and wife (or however they are defining it these days), you must retain who you are as an individual to be a functional contributor to the relationship. And yes, I'm writing this late at night from my home, so this resolution comes not a minute too soon.

■ I resolve to no longer put premium IOLs into crazy people. The really nutty ones are few and far between, but they can drive you and your staff insane even if they have a standard implant. Multiply that by 3.14 if they opt for a premium lens. I always screen my patients to see how detail-oriented they are before inserting a premium implant, and then I do it anyway, or at least most of the time. I don't think a perfectionist should be denied the joy of spectacle independence — otherwise most of us would not be afforded this technology either. But the really looney patients? I'll skip them for now. Life is too short.

■ I resolve to continue running a financially profitable practice in tough economic times. I'm going to continue a diversified practice, with an optical dispensary and an ambulatory surgery center. We'll do routine eye exams along with cataract surgery. I'll see the dry eye patients along with the diabetics and those with macular degeneration. There's too much eye care need out there to be worried because LASIK numbers are down. With the baby boomers now beginning to develop cataracts, glaucoma and other age-related conditions, many of us are already seeing amazing growth in our practices, at least if we don't put all our eggs in one basket.

And finally, from one of my senior staff optometrists:

■ I resolve to not rip the head off the next patient who says a friend gave her some of her contacts to try and now her eye is killing her.

■ I resolve to not say "You did what?" to the next patient who says he put super glue in his eye.

Have a wonderful holiday with your families this year, and we'll see you in 2009.