Behavioral Health Screenings
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Optometrists see many patients that never go to another physician throughout the year.
Behavioral health evaluations are in the scope of work of primary care providers but are being neglected for a variety of factors.
The primary eye care provider is perfectly aligned to include this valuable service.
Many unhealthy behaviors adversely affect a person’s eye health
The Importance of Screenings
The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force released two recommendations that primary care doctors screen all adults and adolescents for behavioral health issues.
American Academy of Pediatrics
Approximately 50% of chronic mental health conditions begin by age 14 and 75% begin by age 24.
The average delay between when symptoms first appear, and intervention is 8-10 years. Mental health screenings allow for early identification and intervention and help bridge the gap, leading to much better outcomes and less need for long-term care.
Why should eye doctors perform behavioral health screenings ?
IECC began to combat this escalating disruption of professional optometry by creating opportunities to increase revenue per patient and reduce expenses. We have programs that help Optometrists wanting to expand their scope of practice to include allergy, dry eye, behavioral health and/or general wellness services.
NATHAN SU
Members of the House of Representatives held a roundtable forum on Dec. 11 to discuss the role of faith-based spiritual programs in addressing the suicide epidemic among veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The number of veterans who commit suicide has increased to an average of 17 per day, according to the 2019 National Suicide Prevention Annual Report, and the bipartisan group of legislators is looking to do something to try to reverse the trend.
The report was prepared by the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Veteran suicides exceeded 6,000 each year from 2008 to 2017, indicating that more than 60,000 veterans who had served their country committed suicide in those 10 years.
The report also counted an average of 15.9 veteran suicides per day in 2005, with this number increasing to 16.8 in 2017. The report compared the suicide rates of veterans and nonveterans and found that in 2017 the suicide rate of veterans was 1.5 times the rate of nonveterans.