Dr. Sampalis looks over information and analysis provided by CSI Dry Eye. She says that both care and practice efficiency were improved by use of AI in her practice.
Artificial intelligence (AI) applications in optometry
By Maria Sampalis, OD
Sept. 4, 2024
Artificial intelligence is more readily available than ever before to improve patient care and business operations in optometry.
Here are a few ways I am using this technology in my practice.
Altris AI
This technology boosts efficiency and delivers the “wow” factor for my patients.
Altris’s platform can “store, organize and support in-depth analysis of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) scans. The platform provides secure, in-the-cloud, web-based access to facilitate more convenient and accurate OCT scan analysis in ophthalmology and optometry,” according to the company.
What a great way to double check my diagnoses and reduce chances of misdiagnoses that can lead to malpractice!
So far, I use it primarily for macula imaging. I have the ability to show patients their prognosis for developing future disease, making me a better clinician.
CSI Dry Eye
I have a dry eye clinic, so CSI Dry Eye is a wonderful addition to my practice!
According to the company’s website, “CSI Dry Eye Software is a cloud-based Saas platform that can enhance your practice and drastically improve patient care. Once you enter a patient’s information into the system, the software can analyze the data and identify possible causes of dry eyes. The system will also recommend potential treatment options.”
It can analyze symptoms and images, taking my care to the next level. My staff can follow the software and insert the data. It often saves me time while adding accuracy and effectiveness in creating treatment plans.
CSI Dry Eye also helps me spot potential drug interaction issues. I send my new dry eye patients a SPEED questionnaire, which they fill out ahead of time. It is then automatically uploaded into the CSI Dry Eye software ahead of their visit.
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This software is also great because I can customize it for myself.
With “Dr. Google,” patients will question things. This technology allows us to give patients a thorough report about the state of their dry eye and their need for intense pulsed light (IPL) and other treatments. It serves as a second opinion, backing up my recommendations.
ChatGPT
A social media post written with the help of AI via ChatGPT. Dr. Sampalis says this technology is making communicating with and marketing to patients easier than ever before.
We all have avenues we use to market to our patients, some external and some internal.
ChatGPT allows my staff and I to easily, quickly and effectively create a letter to patients with promotional offers and news updates. It even helps us write thank you letters to them for a great year during the holiday season!
In addition, ChatGPT helps me repurpose content for my blogs and social media channels. This help saves me significant time, and can be done by any of my employees!
ChatGPT can also be a big help in adapting referral letters. You give it a general template and it can update the template with patient-specific information.
Future AI Additions I’m Considering: Automated Scribing EHR & Chatbots that Answer Phones & Book Appointments
There have been impressive improvements in EHR and automated scribing that I am looking into. For example, I did a demo of technology from Barti.
“Barti’s AI technology was designed to allow providers to generate accurate medical notes by pressing a record button. Built directly into the Barti EHR, the integration is intended to save time and enhance the patient-doctor connection,” according to an announcement made by the company at the time of its launch.
Barti’s voice-to-EHR scribe would save me substantial time and help with detailed charting.
In addition to Barti, it would also be nice to have AI technology capable of answering the phone and interacting with patients to book appointments. I will be exploring technologies that use chatbots for practice websites.
I want to use these technologies to enhance care and the patient experience, while speeding our office’s efficiency and profitability. The rapid advancement of AI makes it seem like reaching those goals in the near future won’t be too hard!
Maria Sampalis, OD, is the owner of Sampalis Eye Care in Warwick R.I. and sublease at Warby Parker. She is also the founder of Corporate Optometry on Facebook. Dr. Sampalis is also founder of the job site, corporateoptometrycareers.com. She is available for practice management consulting. To contact: msampalis@hotmail.com
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
