Who Owns Ophthalmology?

Dr Paul Rosen, Chairman of the ESCRS Practice Management & Development Committee, previews the two-day programme for ophthalmologists and practice managers in public and private practice.

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Dr Paul Rosen, Chairman of the ESCRS Practice Management & Development Committee, previews the two-day programme for ophthalmologists and practice managers in public and private practice. I am delighted to announce that after a two-year absence, the ESCRS will be holding an in-person Practice & Development programme in Milan in September. Our last in-person meeting was held at the 37th Congress of the ESCRS in Paris in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted some of our activities, but thanks to the splendid work of my fellow committee members Arthur Cummings, Daniel Kook, Guy Sallet, Keith Barton, Pavel Stodulka, and Sheraz Daya, we continued to deliver the programme through a series of webinars and articles in EuroTimes, the official news magazine of the society. The principal focus of the ESCRS is clinical education and research, but there are other aspects to our professional lives which we ignore at our peril. To advance and introduce innovative technologies, we have to maximise the efficiency of our practices, public or private, and work in a more business-like way. Ophthalmologists, as a rule, are not natural business people, but they need to know about the business of ophthalmology in its broadest sense in both the public and private systems. In our two-day programme in Milan, we will hold a series of workshops looking at some of the components that will help ophthalmologists to improve their skills in marketing, economic management, staff development, retention, and effective leadership. If you are in public or private practice, you must have the tools that help you develop a vision when you are leading and collaborating with your teams. The ESCRS Practice Management & Development programme is aimed at ophthalmologists working in private practice, business managers (non-ophthalmologists) working in private practice, senior clinicians who run their own ophthalmology departments in public hospitals and clinics, and young ophthalmologists approaching the end of their training. The programme has been run successfully at the annual congress for the last 14 years since its first meeting in Berlin in 2008. The COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionised the way ophthalmologists think about their businesses and deliver healthcare. Now is the time to reinvent the ESCRS Practice Management & Development programme. With that in mind, our programme in Milan will focus on a number of essential topics, including Leadership and Innovation, Negotiation, Building and Developing Your Private Practice, Managing and Developing a Public Ophthalmology Department, and Sustainable surgery. SHARING OWNERSHIP One of the key questions we will be asking is “Who Owns Ophthalmology?” In recent years, there has been growing pressure on ophthalmologists - in both public and private practice - to cede some independence to private investors who wish to include ophthalmology in their healthcare portfolios. The ESCRS has always valued the support of industry in assisting us in delivering premium services to our patients. It is our belief this should be done in the spirit of collaboration. We also believe ophthalmology should be physician-led, and that we must retain control of our practices both in the public and private environments. At our meeting in Milan, we will be engaging with key opinion leaders in industry and discussing how we can collaborate in the future. As I have noted in the past, when you work with hospital managers, government regulators, insurance negotiators, bankers, investors, and existing and prospective patients, you need a different skillset to the clinical skillset which makes you a successful surgeon. Understanding the fundamentals of finance, marketing, people management, strategic planning, process mapping, organisational behaviour, and leadership, you are required to support patients and colleagues alike. I look forward to seeing you in Milan where you will enjoy an engaging and informative ESCRS Practice Management & Development programme. Paul Rosen is Chairman of the ESCRS Trustees, Chairman of the ESCRS Practice Management & Development Committee, and Past President of the ESCRS.