NTERIOR SEGMENT COVID-19 SPECIAL REPORT
Ophthalmologists Face ‘Grim Sight’
Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic by Sam McCommon
I
t’s no secret that the coronavirus pandemic has affected every single sector of the economy, and mostly for the worse. This includes the medical field — and ophthalmology. While hospitals and other clinics are feeling overwhelmed, ophthalmologists are feeling a different sort of pinch. To discuss the effects of the coronavirus on ophthalmic clinical practice, we spoke with Dr. Sudhir Singh from Rajasthan, India, and Dr. William Trattler, from Miami, Florida.
COVID-19’s Impact on Ophthalmic Business All over the world, the pandemic has had a major impact on businesses, with customers and patients opting to stay away from clinics and all elective surgeries cancelled. According to Dr. Trattler, “We have scaled down our 15 ophthalmology
and three optometry practices to just a few doctors, seeing only urgent and emergency patients. We have halted all elective surgery. Those (doctors) seeing patients are wearing PPE,” he shared. “It has been a dramatic shift in our practice in just a week, but something that we needed to do to try to keep as many people home as possible to limit the spread of COVID-19.” In India, it’s no different. “The coronavirus has impacted business very badly in India also,” shared Dr. Singh. “Elective surgeries were suspended as of two weeks ago and will remain suspended until April 15, 2020, as India is under lockdown. Only emergency services are open in eye hospitals.” Dr. Singh also pointed out that expenses have not dropped. Doctors still have plenty of bills to pay. “There is no business, but expenses like staff salaries, house taxes/rents, electricity
bills, every month installments (EMI), annual maintenance contract (AMC) fees and other expenses are on as usual,” he said.
Understanding Patients’ Behavior Of course, people everywhere are anxious and scared — and many are wary of even leaving the house, much less venturing out for treatment. Dr. Trattler confirmed this sentiment among his patients. “Patients are concerned, and even if we were to allow non-urgent patients to come for their visit — most, if not all, would prefer staying at home right now.” The anxiety is universal. “Patients are concerned about falling ill due to corona infections,” said Dr. Singh. “They are following the measures taken by our government, like cooperating in our three-week
| May 2020
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