ASCRS News
Summer 2025

by Liz Hillman
Editorial Co-Director

The second Business of Refractive Cataract Surgery (BRiCS) Summit will take place October 3–5 in Chicago, Illinois, giving a new set of surgeon-implementor teams the opportunity to gain insights and resources to enhance their advanced-technology IOL practice. 

As Vance Thompson, MD, Vance Thompson Vision, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, chair of the program, put it at a BRiCS breakfast symposium that took place at the 2025 ASCRS Annual Meeting, many patients want advanced-technology IOLs (almost half), but only 11% are receiving presbyopia-correcting implants. 

“This gap between patients wanting advanced implants and patients getting advanced implants is something the BRiCS Summit hopes to close,” Dr. Thompson said. 

In addition to meeting patient demand and improving patient outcomes, Debbie Davis, COE, Atwal Eye Care and Buffalo Ambulatory Surgery Center, Lancaster, New York, said the BRiCS Summit will help teams provide customizable surgical solutions, be competitive within their market, and achieve financial growth. “Traditional cataract surgery does not ensure financial stability for ophthalmology practices any longer,” she said. “Patients are looking for enhanced vision, and they are interested in the most advanced technology available in cataract surgery.”

The BRiCS Summit is designed for a surgeon-implementor team to attend together, with registration covering the cost of two attendees. Additional registrations are available to bring more than two attendees from the same practice. 

“Surgeons don’t like selling, but surgeons like educating,” said Richard Tipperman, MD, Wills Eye Hospital, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. “You don’t have to sell, you just have to educate, and your staff is your most valuable resource, and that’s everyone on your staff.” 

Dr. Tipperman said it’s important to get everyone on staff using the same language at the different touchpoints on the patient education journey when it comes to refractive cataract surgery; BRiCS can help with this. 

Who should attend the BRiCS Summit as the “implementor” along with the surgeon? Dr. Thompson said whoever will be most effective at championing this effort among the rest of the staff. 

In addition to the pearls and insights provided during the in-person BRiCS Summit, ongoing support is part of the package, with attendees gaining access to the extensive Resource Library (which houses forms, checklists, protocols, and other materials), an exclusive LinkedIn group, and live webinar check-ins. 

Mina Farahani, MD, Spindel Eye Associates, Derry, New Hampshire, was a 2024 BRiCS Summit attendee. She said she loved the course and created a presentation with resources from BRiCS, with her surgery manager who attended the course as well, to present to their staff. This was intended to be a 45-minute discussion that ended up being 2.5 hours due to staff feedback. “Everyone was really excited,” Dr. Farahani said, adding that action items and 3- to 6-month goals and beyond were created in that meeting. “It was very practical.” 

Jeff Holt, MD, Holt Eye Clinic, Hot Springs, Arkansas, also a 2024 BRiCS attendee, shared in an earlier review that he “essentially doubled his conversion percentage” by adopting various principles and resources from BRiCS. “I gained more confidence in ATIOLs just from hearing about personal experiences from [Dr. Vance Thompson] and all the others that spoke at the conference.” 

Along with Dr. Thompson, Dr. Tipperman, Dr. Farahani, and Ms. Davis, Dagny Zhu, MD, Jamie Johannesen, and Thuy Bui were on the faculty for the BRiCS breakfast symposium.