The Independent Advantage

Diana Canto-Sims, OD, kicks off her interview series with a conversation with Kevin J. Kovach, MD, on comanagement.

Kevin J. Kovach, MD, said that patient education as a part of the referral process can both improve care and comanagement relationships.

Giannie Castellanos, OD, calls on optometrists to empower others in the field and refer within their specialty.

Giannie Castellanos, OD, outlines what ODs can implement into their communications strategies today to strength the referral power between MDs and ODs.

Kevin J. Kovach, MD, and Giannie Castellanos, OD, gave their insights this season on what helps build referral trust and long-lasting comanagement relationships.

The strength of our referral relationships defines the quality of our patients' eye health journey.

In the first episode of the second season of The Independent Advantage, Diana Canto-Sims, OD, chats with practice owner Maria Sampalis, OD, on why artificial intelligence has boomed in practice ownership spaces.

In the latest episode of The Independent Advantage, Maria Sampalis, OD, gives a resounding "absolutely not" when posited with the question of whether or not eye care providers will be replaced by AI.

Maria Sampalis, OD, is an advocate for getting artificial intelligence to do tasks that provide more time to spend with patients, such as letter-writing.

Maria Sampalis, OD, tells Diana Canto-Sims, OD, in this week's episode that the biggest impact AI has made at her practice is when used in the exam room as a scribe for routine patients.

Maria Sampalis, OD, discusses her implementation of the EHR software Barti in her practice.

For Maria Sampalis, OD, implementing AI isn't an excuse for practice owners to replace their staff with new technology; it should instead lift the burden of certain tasks to make for more patient visits.