Pros
The best part of being part of a telemedicine company is harnessing the power of the latest technology to reach and help a lot more people than possible with the traditional model, and at a lower cost and overhead.
This model does not seek to uproot traditional private practice optometry and ophthalmology, but rather complement them. There are many patients out there who are not being reached because they can't afford a traditional exam, or they don't know/think that they need an eye exam. The 20/20 model provides a high quality, in-person, subjective refraction and objective exam, with doctors remotely reviewing, consulting, and advising to provide the best care for each patient, and referring those that need more in-depth examination for further care from colleagues. The 20/20 model acts as a gateway into the healthcare system and is able to screen many more people at a large scale for asymptomatic and sight-threatening eye disease.
While most of the patients seen in 20/20 centers are normal and healthy, we have also helped many patients seek the further care that they needed, and the role we play in this screening process is lifechanging.
Unlike online refraction systems and refraction-only kiosks, 20/20 is actually equipped to screen patients for systemic and eye diseases such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, hypertension, high cholesterol, glaucoma, and many other asymptomatic conditions. In addition, since the doctors are remote and covering many sites at once, they are able to care for and impact many more patients than they ever could before through the hands of their highly trained and experienced ophthalmic technicians throughout the country.
Beyond the grand scope of serving as many patients as possible and continuing to scale that up, I also have really enjoyed working with the staff and the management. Everyone works well together, listens to each other, and continually makes improvements based on our suggestions.
Cons
Can't really think of any, but whenever our technicians move on to other opportunities (school, other careers, etc) it does cause a little stress on the system. But this isn't anything that would be any different from any other doctor's office.
