Concerning Veterans' Eye Care Proposal

Dear Editor,

Last year, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) launched an initiative to establish national standards of practice for health professionals serving veterans to improve efficiency and consistency in the delivery of care across the VA health system. As part of its process, the VA is considering if it can safely expand the scope of practice of certain non-physician health practitioners.

Current VA policy dictates that only ophthalmologists can perform eye surgeries in VA health facilities – and rightfully so. Ophthalmologists are medical doctors who complete 8-10 years of education and training, including medical school, hospital internships, and years of clinical and surgical residency training. If current discussions become reality, though, optometrists could be allowed to perform eye surgeries on veterans – without the extensive surgical training required to perform surgery on patients.

There are no shortcuts to safely performing surgery. If performed incorrectly, eye surgery can be impossible to fix and can result in temporary vision loss or permanent blindness, creating more pressure on the federal system. It could lead to increased patient risks of complications and potentially increase the total cost of VA eye care – a public expenditure covered by hard-working taxpayers.

Montana is proud to be home to nearly 100,000 veterans – one of the highest per capita rates of those who served in any state. I am grateful for the way Senator Tester continually fights for veterans. I encourage him and his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to urge the VA to maintain its existing policy that allows only ophthalmologists to perform eye surgery in its facilities. For decades, veterans have benefitted from consistent, high-quality surgical eye care from trained ophthalmologists. Let's keep it that way.

Sincerely,

Ted Dick

Helena, Mont.