IOL selection on the go using ZEISS VERACITY Surgery Planner

As a surgeon who spends time at multiple practice location, travels to conferences, and otherwise has a busy life spent in planes, trains, and automobiles, I need a surgical planning option that allows me to communicate with my on-the-ground staff so that they can prepare for surgery and keep my clinic running smoothly.

Since I’ve started using ZEISS VERACITY Surgery Planner, I’ve leveraged pockets of dead time in my otherwise busy schedule to select IOLs for forthcoming surgeries, allowing my staff to order IOLs in a timely manner.
 

A recent real-world scenario illustrates the convenience and connectivity ZEISS VERACITY Surgery Planner offers.

While I was in Europe for a surgical conference, my staff reminded me on Sunday afternoon that I needed to select IOLs for surgeries scheduled for Wednesday. I would not be back at my clinic until Tuesday, which meant that if I were to select IOLs upon my return, our clinic would be liable for various rush order fees—or worse, subject to potential hiccups in shipping that would delay surgery. And that’s assuming that my travel itinerary went as planned.

This is where ZEISS VERACITY Surgery Planner came to the rescue. While waiting in the terminal at the airport, I took the following steps:

• I connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot, logged into veracitydoc.com, and reviewed the profiles of patients whose surgeries were scheduled for Wednesday. All patient data were in a central location, which meant I didn’t need to switch back and forth from various interfaces to match patients to their specific biometric data.
• I confirmed which formulas and surgical approaches were best for each patient. In a few instances, I toggled between formulas to ensure that I selected the best option for a given patient. Toggling between formulas is easy with ZEISS VERACITY Surgery Planner and requires only that I select a formula from a dropdown menu and reconcile it with predicted outcomes. If I don’t like the outcome of a particular formula, I simply revert to the previous plan. With ZEISS VERACITY Surgery Planner, there’s no need for third-party calculators. 
• I selected the IOLs best suited to each patient’s anatomy and visual goals. ZEISS VERACITY Surgery Planner did an excellent job recommending which IOLs were best for each patient, which meant that I selected from a curated menu rather than an endless one. I submitted the list of IOLs for Wednesday’s surgery to my staff, who shipped the materials on time.

No fumbling with PDFs, no late order fees, no stressed staff scrambling to compensate for an atypical schedule. Just a digital experience that mirrors the ease of modern technology.

Prior to embracing ZEISS VERACITY Surgery Planner, I sometimes selected IOLs while on the go. Imagine the same scenario (i.e., selecting lenses from afar on a Sunday so they can be delivered on Wednesday), but without ZEISS VERACITY Surgery Planner.

First, I would have requested from my staff emailed printouts from ZEISS IOLMaster 700. This process presents several problems. A manual method of collating patient data is prone to delays if my staff isn’t immediately in front of the device; at best, this process results in trickling data uploads as each patient’s report is sent individually. Further, keeping track of dozens of digital documents is a hassle, especially on a tablet or laptop screen.

Next, I would have had to submit a manually generated list of IOLs to my staff for ordering. The risk of transcription error using this method is high. Given that a small transcription error could have significant negative consequences for my patients and my practice’s reputation, in this scenario, I would probably have preferred to head to the clinic immediately upon landing to select IOLs manually. This option would be inconvenient, inefficient, and expensive.

It’s obvious why ZEISS VERACITY Surgery Planner is my go-to interface for IOL selection: it’s accurate, efficient, and (in some cases) saves me money. Rather than remaining tethered to my physical clinic, I can connect to my practice’s digital infrastructure to keep everything running smoothly. I get time back, my staff have one less stressor, and my patients are processed without delay on the day of surgery.

^{The statements of the author reflect only his personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any institution with whom he is affiliated.
The author has a contractual or other financial relationship with Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. and has received financial support.}