EyeCode Media

Christopher Wolfe, OD, FAAO, examines how clinicians should evaluate photobiomodulation for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The key question: should treatment be judged only by visual acuity gains, or also by whether it may affect disease progression in patients whose vision is still good?He reviews evidence related to drusen volume, geographic atrophy (GA), conversion to wet AMD, and other measures of visual function. He also considers treatment frequency, patient burden, and what further research is needed before clinicians can confidently reduce the current treatment schedule. Key topics Why visual acuity improvement may not be the only meaningful measure of benefit in dry AMD How photobiomodulation compares with the preventive goals of AREDS 1 and AREDS 2 Findings on drusen volume from the Iovino and LightSite studies What the available evidence does—and doesn’t—show about conversion to wet AMD and development of GA Functional outcomes beyond standard high-contrast visual acuity, including contrast sensitivity and low-luminance visual acuity What may happen when treatment stops, and why ongoing management may be needed The current treatment schedule discussed in the episode: nine treatments over three weeks, repeated every four months Why evidence is still needed to determine whether fewer treatments or longer intervals can maintain benefit How clinicians can discuss potential benefits, uncertainty, treatment burden, and patient preferences Timestamps 00:13 — The central question: is visual acuity the only measure of benefit? 01:39 — The question for category 3 patients with good visual acuity 03:02 — The comparison with AREDS 1 and AREDS 2 05:00 — Evidence on drusen volume 06:25 — What the studies suggest about conversion to wet AMD 07:50 — Geographic atrophy findings 09:19 — Looking at photobiomodulation through a disease-progression lens 10:16 — Functional measures beyond the eye chart 11:14 — What happens to measured benefits after treatment stops 12:10 — Retreatment intervals and sustaining benefit 14:07 — The treatment burden of the current protocol 15:02 — The limits of anecdotal evidence when considering fewer treatments 15:57 — Wearable and at-home approaches: promising, but not yet a replacement 16:50 — The current best-supported schedule discussed in the episode 17:20 — The research question that could change clinical practice 18:17 — Explaining the evidence and options to patients 20:10 — Why visual acuity should not be the only definition of success AMD Implementation Workshop — October 29, 2026 Want to take these concepts beyond the podcast and actually build an AMD system for your practice? Join Dr. Chris Wolfe for the AMD Implementation Workshop in Grapevine, Texas, on October 29, 2026. This all-day workshop will take a deeper dive into creating an AMD management protocol for your individual practice—from identifying the right patients and establishing KPIs to integrating testing, supplementation conversations, patient education, treatment options, and staff workflows. Learn more and register: https://www.practiceperformancepartners.com/amd-implementation-workshop/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email FREE Complete Clinical AMD Management Course for Podcast Listeners Want to dive deeper into the clinical side before the workshop? Podcast listeners can access the Complete Clinical AMD Management Course Bundle FREE through October 31, 2026. The course includes six educational modules designed to take a deeper dive into the clinical concepts discussed in this episode. Access the course: https://www.eyecodeeducation.com/bundles/the-complete-clinical-amd-management-course-bundle Podcast Listener Coupon Code: ece2026amdpromo Offer expires October 31, 2026.

Did AI Just Give My Continuing Education Lecture? What happens when artificial intelligence stops helping the educator and starts becoming the educator? In this episode, Dr. Chris Wolfe shares an experience from a recent COPE approved continuing education lecture that left him asking a bigger question: Who actually created the education he was receiving? The lecture was delivered by a highly trained retinal surgeon, but much of the presentation sounded heavily AI scripted and appeared to be read nearly verbatim. At the same time, portions of the course focused specifically on one manufacturer's OCT technology and terminology. That combination raised questions that go far beyond whether someone used ChatGPT to make a PowerPoint. Chris discusses the difference between using AI to improve your expertise and using AI to substitute for the intellectual work of creating education. AI can help organize ideas, research evidence, improve explanations, refine slides, and make educators better. But if AI builds the presentation, writes the script, and the expert simply reads it, what exactly is the expert contributing? The conversation then turns to the relationship between key opinion leaders, industry, and continuing education. Chris shares a real example of a vendor proactively offering KOLs ready made slides, studies, references, sample reports, and other resources for upcoming conference presentations. None of those things are inherently inappropriate, but AI makes it incredibly easy to turn vendor supplied material into a polished educational presentation with very little additional work from the lecturer. That raises a much larger question about the effectiveness of our current continuing education safeguards. COPE has developed standards intended to preserve educational independence and address commercial influence, yet financial disclosures often amount to little more than a list of company names. They may tell an audience that a relationship exists without providing much context about the nature or magnitude of that relationship. Chris explains why he believes clinicians should become familiar with the CMS Open Payments database and why receiving industry compensation should not automatically be viewed as evidence of bias. He works with industry himself. The issue is not simply whether money changed hands. The issue is transparency and giving the audience enough information to evaluate potential influences for themselves. Ultimately, this episode isn't an argument against AI, industry relationships, KOLs, or even vendor supplied educational resources. It is a challenge to educators and the organizations responsible for continuing education. AI should allow us to get more from an expert, not less. If you have spent twenty years looking at retinas, tell us what those twenty years taught you. Show us your cases. Tell us where you were wrong. Tell us where experience changed your mind. Challenge the literature. Give us the judgment and pattern recognition that cannot be reproduced simply by asking an AI model to explain the topic. Because if a vendor supplies the material, AI builds the presentation, AI writes the script, and the expert's primary contribution is reading it from the stage, another disclosure form probably isn't going to solve the problem. The question educators may increasingly need to answer is much simpler: What did the expert actually add? In This Episode Chris discusses AI generated presentations and scripts, the difference between AI assistance and AI substitution, KOL relationships with industry, vendor influence on educational content, the limitations of traditional financial disclosures, CMS Open Payments, COPE and commercial independence, and what audiences should expect from experts in the age of artificial intelligence. Resources Mentioned CMS Open Payments Search financial relationships reported between applicable manufacturers and physicians and other covered recipients: https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/ COPE / Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry Information about COPE accreditation and continuing education standards: https://www.arbo.org/cope The Bigger Question AI can write the slides. AI can summarize the research. AI can create the speaker notes. AI can even make the transitions sound polished. But it hasn't treated your patients. The value of an expert isn't the ability to deliver information. It is the experience, judgment, mistakes, disagreements, cases, and perspective they bring to that information. AI should amplify that expertise, not replace it.   AMD Implementation Workshop — October 29, 2026 Want to take these concepts beyond the podcast and actually build an AMD system for your practice? Join Dr. Chris Wolfe for the AMD Implementation Workshop in Grapevine, Texas, on October 29, 2026. This all-day workshop will take a deeper dive into creating an AMD management protocol for your individual practice—from identifying the right patients and establishing KPIs to integrating testing, supplementation conversations, patient education, treatment options, and staff workflows. Learn more and register: https://www.practiceperformancepartners.com/amd-implementation-workshop/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email FREE Complete Clinical AMD Management Course for Podcast Listeners Want to dive deeper into the clinical side before the workshop? Podcast listeners can access the Complete Clinical AMD Management Course Bundle FREE through October 31, 2026. The course includes six educational modules designed to take a deeper dive into the clinical concepts discussed in this episode. Access the course: https://www.eyecodeeducation.com/bundles/the-complete-clinical-amd-management-course-bundle Podcast Listener Coupon Code: ece2026amdpromo Offer expires October 31, 2026.

https://www.practiceperformancepartners.com/amd-implementation-workshop/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email   https://www.eyecodeeducation.com/bundles/the-complete-clinical-amd-management-course-bundle

Aaron sits down with Sarah McCormick of HR for Health to make HR feel less intimidating. They discuss why every practice needs a current handbook, how to handle difficult employee conversations, the importance of clear expectations and documentation, and why addressing problems early can prevent much bigger issues later. To learn more about the common mistakes Sarah and her team sees in optometry practices, download this free guide: 8 Common Optometry HR Mistakes & How to Respond to Them (https://hrfh.hrforhealth.com/preventative-hr-care-dwld-optometry-optometry?utm_source=partner&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=common-mistakes-guide&partner_source=Vision%20Source) Connect with HR for Health: hrforhealth.com

Age-Related Macular Degeneration: From Detection to Implementation Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) management has changed dramatically. We have better imaging, better monitoring, more treatment options, and a deeper understanding of risk than ever before. But having more technology doesn’t automatically translate into better patient care. In this episode, Dr. Chris Wolfe takes a different approach to AMD. Rather than starting with the newest device, supplement, or treatment, he starts with a more important question: What happens after you identify a patient with AMD or meaningful AMD risk? The challenge for many practices isn’t a lack of knowledge or technology—it’s building a reliable system that connects what we know with what actually happens to the patient. Chris discusses how AMD classification should drive management, where AREDS2 supplementation fits, how testing such as OCT, dark adaptometry, ERG, carotenoid testing, and remote monitoring can be incorporated intentionally, and where newer treatment options such as photobiomodulation may fit into the AMD management pathway. Most importantly, he discusses why the comprehensive examination should be the entry point—not the endpoint—of AMD care. In This Episode You’ll hear about: Understanding AMD as a spectrum of disease rather than a single diagnosis Using AMD classification to determine risk and next steps The practical differences between AREDS and AREDS2 Matching supplementation recommendations to the appropriate patient Why symptoms shouldn’t be your screening test for AMD Using the comprehensive examination to identify and capture patients who need additional AMD care Deciding when OCT, ERG, dark adaptometry, carotenoid testing, and other technologies add meaningful information Determining which patients may benefit from remote monitoring Where photobiomodulation may fit into modern dry AMD management Creating a management “ladder” rather than relying on a single test or treatment Developing repeatable clinical protocols so patients don’t simply disappear back into routine care The goal isn’t to collect more widgets. The goal is to build a pathway. When a patient leaves your office with AMD, they should understand three things: their risk, their next step, and when you want to see them again. AMD Implementation Workshop — October 29, 2026 Want to take these concepts beyond the podcast and actually build an AMD system for your practice? Join Dr. Chris Wolfe for the AMD Implementation Workshop in Grapevine, Texas, on October 29, 2026. This all-day workshop will take a deeper dive into creating an AMD management protocol for your individual practice—from identifying the right patients and establishing KPIs to integrating testing, supplementation conversations, patient education, treatment options, and staff workflows. Learn more and register: https://www.practiceperformancepartners.com/amd-implementation-workshop/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email FREE Complete Clinical AMD Management Course for Podcast Listeners Want to dive deeper into the clinical side before the workshop? Podcast listeners can access the Complete Clinical AMD Management Course Bundle FREE through October 31, 2026. The course includes six educational modules designed to take a deeper dive into the clinical concepts discussed in this episode. Access the course: https://www.eyecodeeducation.com/bundles/the-complete-clinical-amd-management-course-bundle Podcast Listener Coupon Code: ece2026amdpromo Offer expires October 31, 2026. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, share it with a colleague, and support those who support the show.