we still need to ensure that people's corrected vision is ok,
When I did my car driver exam (a long time ago) the examiner stopped me on the way to the car, and asked me to read the license plate of a certain car 25 meters away. When I could read it OK, that counted as a pass as far as the medical is concerned.
Why not put a very basic see/hear test like this in the LPC/BFR and only refer people to an AME if they fail this simple test? Heck, you could even calculate somebody's BMI and refer them to an AME if it's above a certain number. (Assuming that a too-high BMI is actually indicative of a potential cardiac problem - I don't know if that's true.)