Expanding from dry eye into aesthetics should be “straightforward” but optometrists should be aware standard optometric professional indemnity insurance (PII) may not cover cosmetic procedures, which don’t typically fall within the scope of optometry practice.
Optometry Australia Chief Clinical Officer Luke Arundel said it would be sensible for optometrists to seek advice from their insurer or financial advisor to ensure their PII covers all the techniques they wish to use if considering expanding into cosmetic work.
The issue has arisen with the introduction into Australia of the InMode Envision device for the treatment of dry eye and non-surgical, minimally invasive cosmetic procedures. Envision’s complete suite of technologies delivers bipolar radiofrequency (RF), intense pulsed light (IPL), and fractional microneedling RF.
… practitioners working in this area also keep a close eye on regulatory guidelines around cosmetic procedures
The Envision platform is scalable, with three technologies that can be used independently or in combination. The Forma-I provides the means to deliver RF to the periorbital area and directly on the upper and lower lids. The Lumecca Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) aims to stop the inflammatory process, while the Morpheus8 is a device for aesthetic treatments.
Mr Arundel suggested practitioners working in this area also keep a close eye on regulatory guidelines around cosmetic procedures, which are being closely scrutinised by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra).
The Guidelines for registered health practitioners who perform non-surgical cosmetic procedures are under active review by Ahpra. The guidelines will regulate who can perform non-medical cosmetic procedures and will include guidelines around issues such as advertising. Public submissions on the draft guidelines are due by 2 February.
Additionally, new National Safety and Quality Cosmetic Surgery Standards were launched last month, following broad consultation with consumers, clinicians, services, professional and peak bodies, regulators, and other representatives of the sector. These standards aim to protect the public from harm and improve the quality of cosmetic surgery in Australia.
Adding to the Dry Eye Armoury
Gold Coast optometrists Shaina Zheng and Jackson Yip – co-owners of Mermaid Beach Eyecare Plus – were the first in Australia to take possession of the InMode Envision device to treat dry eye late last year.
Although they operate a full-scope optometry practice, the husband-and-wife team has invested in some serious technology to treat their dry eye patients. The Envision device lines up against the Rexon-Eye, E-Eye IPL, Blephasteam, and BlephEx.
Ms Zheng said patients are always asking “which machine is the best?”.
“I tell them there’s no such thing as a treatment that works for everyone, and that’s why we have more than one machine. All the machines stimulate the meibomian glands but in different ways with different technologies,” Ms Zheng said.
Having more than one machine, for us, was more about trying to get those particular patients some better results
Trying for Better Results
“We do have a lot of (dry eye) patients who come through who aren’t typically your mild case,” Ms Zheng told mivision.
“We do have quite a number of severe dry eye cases… those are the ones that are harder to treat, and harder to get an improvement of symptoms for because they’ve had it for such a long time, maybe 20 years.
“Having more than one machine, for us, was more about trying to get those particular patients some better results.”
Ms Zheng said the introduction of the machine to the practice was fairly straightforward. A theoretical component of the course was conducted online, followed by a day of hands-on training.
When mivision spoke to Ms Zheng, the Envision device had been in operation less than a month – still too early to judge the impact of the new technology.
“We always tell customers that they need a course of four to see how they respond to the treatment. In some cases, people can notice a difference straight away, but statistically we don’t expect that.”
She said it was important for patients – and other health professionals – to understand that there are options to treat the cause of dry eye, rather than just treating the symptoms with drops.
“We need to create awareness in the community and screen patients, even for mild dry eye, when we’re doing eye tests. We’re so good with screening for things like glaucoma. We tell people they have glaucoma before they start losing vision. It would be so good if we started telling people they have dry eye or meibomian gland dysfunction before they have symptoms too. It’s progressive, and when it gets severe, it takes over patient’s lives. Severe cases are a lot harder to treat than mild cases.”
Aesthetics
Having invested in Envision’s InMode devices for dry eye, Ms Zheng is now considering the Morpheus8 for aesthetic treatments.
“I think it is something exciting. But it is not really a rush for us because it is not our focus. You want to make sure you are crossing all your t’s and dotting all your i’s. It’s all kind of new, one step at a time.”
