EDITOR'S PAGE

For RealDoctors Only

I've heard it and you've heard it, too. You're not a "real doctor." You're a "glorified refractionist," a "wannabee" who lacks the skill and training to be a "real doctor," such as an ophthalmologist or internist (or osteopath). So much for you, the chiropractor, dentist, high school principal, etc.

To which I say, doctor, you are a real doctor because why else would I have just called you "doctor?"

Now a couple of things are in the works that would make you a real doctor in the eyes of just about everyone except for the state Academy of Ophthalmology lobbyist who's still fuming about your TPA bill. Not that he matters much.

1.The National Committee for Quality Assurance—a.k.a. NCQA—is moving ahead on writing credentialing guidelines for optometrists. This is a checklist that insurers and hospitals use to determine if doctors measure up so they can join the club. There hasn't been any such checklist for O.D.s. So, organizations that haven't had the wherewithal to make their own checklist have always had a fallback excuse: The NCQA doesn't credential your kind. (There's that "real doctor" thing again.) These credentials would make you a "real doctor" in the eyes of those befuddled hospital executives and insurance company MBAs. Here's to chipping away at that excuse.

2.The AOA at its annual Congress next month will take up the issue of board certification for O.D.s. Hopefully, this will result in a nationwide standard for optometrists and, eventually, tear down some of those walls that reciprocity hasn't been able to scale yet. Let's make it easier for O.D.s to move from state to state, the way most citizens can.

Throw on top of this the word that the NCQA has suggested that health plans allow diabetics to visit an optometrist annually—without referral or co-pay—to obtain a retinal exam (see Managed Care Update, "Of Alphabet Soup and Diabetic Patients," page 34). It's proof that optometry is truly a primary care profession, that any assessment of the visual system requires an eye health exam, and that you, indeed, are a real doctor.

Besides, you have the piece of paper that proves it. Soon, hopefully, you'll have the recognition that NCQA credentialing and board certification can bring, too. Doctor.