Hospitals and optometry: an evolving relationship

Most hospital-based optometrists practice at government hospitals or HMOs that provide comprehensive care. But most U.S. hospitals are private, provide episodic acute care, and limit admitting, staff and clinical privileges to physicians. Most patients that private optometrists treat do not require hospital admission, but many do require laboratory tests or procedures (ultrasonography, radiographic studies, CAT and NMR studies, clinical laboratory blood/serology studies and glucose tolerance tests) that can be provided by hospitals. Hospital admitting, staff, or clinical privileges are not needed for optometrists to order these studies for their patients on an outpatient basis. This type of hospital affiliation may initially be more useful to more optometrists than staff membership, admitting, or clinical privileges and would improve patient care and quality of referrals. This paper reviews hospital organization, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) Standards and how they apply to optometrists wishing to affiliate with private hospitals.