Just a short time ago, we were celebrating a new year and making resolutions. A mere 6 weeks later, how many of those resolutions have we kept? U.S. News & World Report famously asserted in 2015 that 80% of all New Year’s resolutions are broken by the second week of February. This seems to be the norm for New Year’s resolutions, wishing to improve but failing to deliver. I don’t think we make any other resolutions with such low expectations and an overall lack of serious commitment.

For those of us in the ophthalmic community, 2018 started out full of promise. In contrast to our personal — and possibly failed — New Year’s resolutions, our professional “to do” items take priority, as we convert ideas and plans into action.

Hot Topics

This year’s hot issues, some recurring and others unique to this year, are matters we think about repeatedly:

1) Should we expand our clinical practice or ASC?

In this issue, we weigh the advantages and costs of expansion versus a new build.

2) What do we need to know about private equity investment in practices and ASCs?

In this issue, we look at how these acquisitions work and the many issues they raise for physicians and the industry.

3) How do we maintain quality control in our centers? And 4) What about the surgical flow?

Can we be more efficient and, therefore, increase surgical numbers without sacrificing quality and patient comfort? A new quality control column and an overview on best practices from pre-op to post-op cover these issues.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

It’s easy to be complacent. Making crucial decisions is difficult. But with constant CMS payment adjustments, usually downward, we need to work smarter — not harder.

With columns on quality control and coding, the February issue is chock full of the indispensable information that every center needs to make the decisions that are in the best interests of our centers and our patients — and keep our 2018 resolutions. We hope you enjoy the read. ■