EnVision Summit 2025: A weekend for comanagement and all things eye care

Katie Rachon, OD, FAAO, Dipl ABO, a faculty member of the optometry track at the EnVision Summit in Puerto Rico, expresses her excitement about the event due to its intimate and interactive nature, which fosters communication and discussion among colleagues. She will be covering topics in the glaucoma, cornea, and comanaging sections, with MDs on panels to discuss comanagement. Rachon emphasizes the importance of collaboration between optometrists and ophthalmologists for better patient care. She also highlights the summit's family-friendly schedule, which allows for a better work-life balance. The conference includes additional fun activities, making it an enjoyable learning experience.

Video transcript:

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

Hi everyone. I'm here with Dr Katie Rachon, who is part of the esteemed faculty of the optometry track at the upcoming EnVision Summit in Puerto Rico. So welcome, Dr Rachon.
Thank you.
Of course. So, so happy that you could be here. Could you first tell me why you are excited to be part of the faculty for the EnVision Summit?
So I was part of the faculty for the optometry section last year, along with many of my esteemed colleagues. And it was a very great time. The setting of course is excellent. I think the timing of the conference is very good. The quality of the education was great. I learned from my colleagues. We had great discussions in our lecturing. So this is going to be a great weekend of education and fun. So that's why I'm very excited to participate again.
Absolutely. And what is it about the EnVision Summit that makes you want to participate in it?
So, regular conferences, you go into a conference room, you sit, someone stands 50 feet away from you. This is a very intimate and open setting, so it really fosters communication and discussion, rather than just listening and absorbing. This is more like sitting down at a table with your colleagues and just talking about cases. And that's what I love about this conference, is because there's so much opportunity to actively participate in your learning.
Absolutely. And could you give us just a quick preview of some of the content that you will be covering?
So there is a lot of content that there's going to be covered. I am participating mostly in the glaucoma section, the cornea section, and then the comanaging section, especially with IOLs and glaucoma. So we will have MDs on our panels too to talk about comanagement.
I think that's really fantastic. I mean, part of the EnVision Summit is that it is meeting for both optometrists and ophthalmologists. Why do you think it's important for all eye care specialists to join in and learn together?
Because it really benefits the patients, and that's why we're all here. So there are cases that we manage very well, and there's cases that our ophthalmology colleagues manage very well, and using the best of both worlds to get the best care for the patient and the most efficient care for the patient benefits everyone. You might come to learn, when do I need to send a post operative cataract patient back, or when do I make a referral for glaucoma versus treating or wanting to do surgery? So those are the types of things that we're all going to talk about, and that is going to make it easier for you to go back and tell your patients with confidence what the plan is going to be between you and your ophthalmology group at home.
Yeah, that's absolutely fantastic. You work in post operative care and ocular disease. How does effective comanagement affect your work?
So I work directly with ophthalmology, so if I have a problem, I just walk down the hallway and talk to my cornea or my glaucoma or my oculoplastic specialist, and it's very easy for me. So working in a tertiary care center, we see kind of the last of everything. So we're the last stop, maybe before they need to see, like a very, very big hospital, like outside of the state. So it's very easy for me to comanage with my ophthalmology colleagues. However, my job and my colleagues' (that are going to be on the OD panels) job is to let you know how to build those relationships when you aren't working with ophthalmology. So how do you introduce yourself to an ophthalmology practice? How do you let them know what value that you have in comanaging with them? So we can give you all the insider tips, being from an OD/MD setting, in order for you to best serve your patients.
That sounds absolutely fantastic. And is there anything else that you want to mention that we haven't discussed?
So with the EnVision Summit conference, they wanted it to be more family oriented. So a lot of these conferences start on a Wednesday, and then everybody's gone by Saturday. So you have to take 4 or 3 days off of work to get CE, whereas this conference is over the weekend, so you don't have to take as much time off. For those of the doctors that have families that want to do stuff outside of the optometry track, then you can have your kids...have their own like daily activities that they can do. You can have your spouse or your partner go to the resort that we stay at and do their own thing. But there are also programs into the sessions, these fun activities. Like last year, we had a big welcome dinner that was overlooking the ocean, and we have a little rum tasting. So there's activities planned for us that are going for CE as well. So it's not just like you get your CE, and then you go off on your own and do your own thing. That's fun. You can do that, but we have extra activities planned as well, and those are super fun.
Yeah, that sounds fabulous. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to chat today, Dr. Rachon. I can't wait to learn with you at the EnVision Summit.
Yes, I'm excited, and I hope to see you all there.