2024 in the rearview: What was the biggest development in optometry this year?

2024 was a year of innovation, both within and without optometry. Over the course of October and November, our editorial team asked optometrists what their favorite breakthrough of the year was. Themes included new dry eye therapies, a rapidly evolving technological landscape, novel treatments for geographic atrophy, and an emphasis on patient care. Here, key opinion leaders Carolyn Majcher, OD, FAAO; Melissa Barnett, OD, FAAO, FSLS; Julie Rodman, OD, MS, FAAO; David Geffen, OD, FAAO; Mila Ioussifova, OD, CNS, FAAO, FOWNS; and Nate Lighthizer, OD; share each of their favorite innovation from this year and how it has shaped the optometric landscape.

Video transcript

Editor's note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Carolyn Majcher, OD, FAAO:
So the most exciting thing in optometry for 2024 I think, you know, the advent of new retinal therapies is a really, really exciting thing that's ongoing. So in 2023 we had approval of complement inhibition therapies for geographic atrophy. We're now emerging into the space of even some really novel, innovative therapies for neovascular wet AMD with like, subretinal injection delivery, genetic type of therapies. And then I had just met with LumiThera, and they had their like, photobiomodulation device just FDA approved, I think, like on Monday, actually. And so this is going to be the, like, a new type of therapy that we've never had before for macular degeneration. Optometrists are going to be able to do this in their office. And, you know, for patients that otherwise really had no options other than, like AREDS2 vitamin supplementation. So before neovascular disease, before center-involved GA, we're now going to have something to try to actually improve vision, not only just slow the progression of macular degeneration over time. So it's really exciting. Everything coming down the line for retina.

Melissa Barnett, OD, FAAO, FSLS:
2024 has been an amazing year when it comes to the treatment of dry eye disease and ocular surface disease. We now have more products than ever before to really help our patients with the signs and symptoms of dry eye. So not only prescription medications, in-office procedures, looking at different ingredients and products, we have so much to offer our patients, and we can have more impactful conversations and more individualized care for our patients than we ever could before.

Julie Rodman, OD, MS, FAAO:
I think, from an academic standpoint, the fact that this profession is constantly changing, meaning that there are certain states in the country where optometrists can do some fantastic things, really is exciting. I think that you know, in the future, our scope of practice is going to continue [to expand], and there's just so much hope on the horizon.

But my favorite advancement, or my thing that I've been most excited about is really the advancement in geographic atrophy. There's 2 new treatments. You know, this has been a condition that forever we've told our patients, sorry, you know you're going to go blind. Hopefully you'll outlive your disease, but eventually you're going to go blind. And so now we have 2 new options where patients can have somewhat of hope, somewhat, you know, thinking, well, maybe we'll be able to slow down the progression of this disease so that they'll be able to keep and maintain the vision that they have, be able to see their grandkids, be able to drive, be able to read. So I'm certainly excited about not only the advances in our scope of practice, but also in the therapeutic realm. Because every week, every year, your great stuff is coming; front of the eye, back of the eye. So that's what I love about optometry and about the eye field.

David Geffen, OD, FAAO:
So I would say in the year 2024, the most impactful change that we've seen is the approval of several new dry eye pharmaceuticals. And I think this is going to change the whole face of how we treat dry eye. I think it's becoming a much bigger issue than what we've seen over the years, certainly more than when I got out of school, you know, 35, 40 years ago. So this is a huge change. I think it's going to be great. And I think doctors need to get on the bandwagon and start using these new drugs.

Mila Ioussifova, OD, CNS, FAAO, FOWNS:
I know that so much has changed as far as technologies go. Maybe not just looking outside of like day-to-day, sort of technology that we do in our with our patients, like for diagnostics or treatments, and looking more on a broader [scale] like AI. I know there's softwares that are incorporating AI for in electronic medical records, or scribing and things like that, or even like in diagnostics, like for dry eye diagnosis and things like that. I personally haven't used that, but I know that's big, and it's probably going to be even bigger, I'm sure, and we're going to utilize them in all different aspects of our patient care.

For me, I do utilize virtual assistants, so in my personal experience, in my practice, that's been one of the biggest things. That's really, we actually have 2 virtual assistants, and one of them is my scribe, and she's been with me for over a year now, and most of 2024, so that would be the the biggest thing that I've noticed in my efficiency and thorough notice of my charting; how much it's been, it's been a huge help. And also patient communication. So she really helps me stay on top of sending things to patients, communicating with patients. That's been a game changer as far as how much time I'm saving and how thorough and comprehensive I am with my patient care.

Nate Lighthizer, OD:
In the past year, what I have found has been most impactful in optometry is the movement towards interventional dry eye management and interventional glaucoma management. What I mean by that is when we treat dry eye or treat glaucoma, and put all of the burden on the patient, whether it's dry eye drops, warm compresses, lid scrubs, or whether it's drop number one, drop number two, drop number three in glaucoma, that burden is on the patient to take their drops every single day to help to control their disease. I think we're seeing a movement into more interventional glaucoma and interventional dry eye, meaning SLT done earlier in glaucoma, MIGs, done earlier in glaucoma, drug delivery done earlier in glaucoma, along with intense pulse light therapy in-office, heat treatment to the meibomian glands in dry eye. So a mix and match of treatments, some on the patient for drops, but also in the hands of the doctors in-office to help ease that burden on patients.