August 2020

Inside this Issue:

• President’s Message

• Retina Corner

• Eye See

• CE Corner

• Insurance Needs of Small Business Owners

• Classifieds

• Volunteer Corner

• SDCOS Announcements

It’s hard to believe that we’re more than half-way through the year, in the heat of summer, and many of us are still learning to cope with our “new normal” in response to this global pandemic. As we struggle with uncertainty about the future, it is important to stay positive and focus on the constants we can depend on.

August is National Eye Exam Month, and back to school season. While back to school may look a bit different this year, the value of good eyesight cannot be underestimated, whether it be for in-person or virtual classes.

It is important to remind parents that while vision screenings are an invaluable service, there is no substitute for a comprehensive eye exam by an Optometrist. Many parents are unaware that a child who can see 20/20 can still have difficulty with their vision in other ways. While the most common problem is refractive error, we know that there are many more potential issues such as amblyopia, strabismus, and binocular or accommodative deficiencies.

Many difficulties in school can stem from an undiagnosed learning-related vision problem. In fact, experts estimate that 80% of what a child learns in school is presented visually, and visual problems are often erroneously diagnosed as laziness, learning disabilities, behavioral issues, or even severe attention deficits.

It is our job as Optometrists to provide these children with the clear and comfortable vision they need to learn effectively and do our best to educate our patients on the importance of an annual comprehensive eye exam.

Our history forms are pretty involved now, so do we really need more history?

Asking patients if they use unconventional treatments might not even be on your questionnaire, but not having that info could get your patient into serious trouble.

In one case, a gentleman who had been drinking an herbal tea for several months because he heard it would relieve gastric distress, and it was soon discovered that the tea contained a toxin.

We’re being inundated with cures for various conditions, and it is reported by WebMD that more than half of adults in the US say they use some form of alternative medicine. There is Chinese medicine, weight loss pills, energy therapies, magnetic field therapies, and many others.

A good question to open this discussion is: Do you take anything to improve your health? or, perhaps: Are you trying to lose weight?

Another researcher indicated that more than 40% of Americans now use some sort of alternative therapy, spending about $13 billion out of pocket annually.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative medicine (CAM) defines those practices as ‘not taught widely in medical schools, not generally used in hospitals, and not usually reimbursed by medical insurance companies.’ There are now more visits to CAM providers than have been made to primary care physicians.

The reason these mostly middle to upper class college grads use alternative medicine is to maintain or regain control over their health, and they feel that this might afford them a greater sense of personal achievement in decision-making.

Patients who use alternative and OTC advertised products also use orthodox Western Medicine, and about 70% of them don’t tell their healthcare providers that they are using these therapies for fear of being ridiculed.

Check out Dr. Newman’s website, www.thehumorfactory.com!!!

The dreams of small business owners and the business plans that outline the strategy to fulfill those dreams rarely include the insurance protections that business owners will need. Yet, having adequate protection can help your business succeed, while protecting you and your family from financial risk.

Consider these key insurance protections:

BUSINESS OWNER POLICY (BOP)

This is a typical package of coverage that addresses the basic and most important needs of the small business owner. This package includes:

• Liability coverage, which provides defense and damages protection if you, your employees or products and services cause bodily harm to a third party;
• Property insurance, which will cover buildings or other business property such as equipment, computers and inventory from losses due to fire, vandalism, theft, smoke damage, etc.;
• Business interruption insurance, which can provide income when events prevent you from conducting business
• Vehicle coverage for vehicles the business may own or for when employees use personal automobiles for business purposes
• Worker’s Compensation: This insurance covers employees who are injured on the job with wage replacement and medical benefits. In exchange for these benefits, employees forfeit the right to sue. All states require this coverage and levy stiff penalties for noncompliance.

Other insurance coverage that may be applicable to a smaller subset of business owners include:

PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY INSURANCE

Also known as errors and omissions insurance, this provides you with defense and damages in the event that you fail to provide, or improperly render, professional services. (Your general liability policy will not cover this risk.) Typically, this coverage is for professional firms, e.g., lawyers, accountants, consultants, and real estate agents

DATA BREACH

With unending stories of business data being compromised by hackers, if your business has sensitive or non-public information (on computers or in paper files), your business can be held responsible if this information is stolen.

BUY-SELL AGREEMENT

If you are in business with one or more partners, your business may want to consider a buy-sell agreement that provides, in the event of the death of one of the partners, the remaining partners buy out the deceased partner’s share from the surviving spouse. This avoids having a surviving spouse as a partner, which can cause complications for the business and the remaining partners. Life insurance on the lives of each partner can provide the necessary funds to complete the agreed-upon purchase.

KEY PERSON INSURANCE

If you have a valuable employee (e.g., a superstar salesman) whose loss would take considerable time for the business to recover from, the proceeds of a life insurance policy on a key employee would act as a financial bridge until you can bring on an equally effective replacement.

Monarch School Screening

Contact Dr. Bob Meisel for more information at rmeisel47@gmail.com ; www.monarchschools.org

DONATE GLASSES
Please bring to a CE meeting or contact the society office at 619-663-8439 for arrangements to pick up.

SDCOS keeps a list of all doctors willing to speak in front of groups about various topics, do home visits for patients, and assist in student mentoring. ODs interested in the Speakers Bureau, Home Visits, Student mentoring, and Low Vision OD’s, please contact the society office at 619-663-8439 or email sdcos@sdcos.org

• Click here for most recent SDCOS Board Meeting Minutes
• Click here for the 2020 CE schedule!
• Click here for COA membership benefits!

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