June 30th 2025
Patients express mixed feelings about AI in healthcare, favoring its use for documentation and administrative tasks while demanding transparency and safety standards.
Safilo Group, Hugo Boss ink licensing ageement
March 15th 2006Padua, Italy?Two of Europe's fashion trendsetters, Safilo Group, a leader in high-end eyewear, and Hugo Boss, Metzingen, Germany, one of the leading international groups in the high-fashion market, have signed a license agreement in force through Dec. 31, 2013 for the design, production, and worldwide distribution of Boss and Hugo eyewear collections.
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Medicare reimbursement process considered top AAO priority
March 15th 2006Baltimore?The Medicare reimbursement system may seem like a bowl of alphabet soup, but physicians can't afford to ignore what lies behind the acronyms because of the enormous impact on their practice bottom lines, said Michael X. Repka, MD, secretary for federal affairs for the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).
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On-line neuro-ophthalmology resource now available
January 1st 2006The Neuro-Ophthalmology Virtual Education Library (NOVEL) is a digital library produced through collaboration between the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library (EHSL) at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society (NANOS), Minneapolis.
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CMS ruling, new products make 2005 another banner year for cataract surgery advances
December 1st 2005Advances in techniques and technology for cataract surgery and IOL implantation have continued through the past year. Those innovations combined with changes in reimbursement have improved the practice setting, contributed to an overall air of increased optimism among ophthalmologists, and have made the contemporary era of cataract surgery more of a golden age than ever before, said I. Howard Fine, MD, reflecting on the state of cataract surgery as the year 2005 nears its end.
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Now that practices in ophthalmology and other specialties have adopted electronic billing systems nearly universally, the next step for many is to explore office management solutions that can further improve efficiency, reduce overhead, eliminate considerable paper shuffling, and integrate a range of functions.
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Stay ahead of curve with AAO resource center offerings
October 15th 2005Where can one preview the latest products from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), get answers to specific coding questions, talk to Washington insiders about reimbursement, personalize patient-education DVDs, get a first look at the academy's new Maintenance of Certification (MOC) products, and learn the ins and outs of acquiring and installing an electronic medical records system? There's only one place and it happens only once a year—the annual meeting, where all these resources and much more can be found at the academy resource center and technology pavilion.
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Keep on the watch for internal fraud and abuse
October 15th 2005Fraud and abuse in the ophthalmologist's optical dispensary are difficult to detect. Once suspected or even discovered, it is even more difficult as well as time-consuming to assess what is really happening, and to what extent it is having a negative impact on the practice and dispensary.
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Stay ahead of curve with AAO resource center offerings
October 15th 2005Where can one preview the latest products from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), get answers to specific coding questions, talk to Washington insiders about reimbursement, personalize patient-education DVDs, get a first look at the academy's new Maintenance of Certification (MOC) products, and learn the ins and outs of acquiring and installing an electronic medical records system? There's only one place and it happens only once a year—the annual meeting, where all these resources and much more can be found at the academy resource center and technology pavilion.
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Stay involved by overseeing procedural coding for reimbursement
October 1st 2005Must ophthalmologists understand procedural coding? Perhaps a staffer or even a computer program could do the job? Unfortunately, the answer today is that physicians need to remain involved, understanding and then overseeing the process in their offices.
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Annual meeting 2005: A spotlight on some highlights
September 1st 2005In our continuing look at the highlights of this year's annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Oct. 15 to 18, we look now to new courses and offerings, practice management, a special program for young ophthalmologists, and new advances in technology that will benefit ophthalmic patients.
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Advanced AMD places patient at increased risk of mortality
July 15th 2005Madison, WI—An association between mortality and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) was found in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS). All-cause mortality increased with increasing severity of disease, with category 4 AMD having a significantly increased association with death compared with category 1 AMD. A protective effect was seen for zinc in participants randomly assigned to therapy with the mineral.
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Academy requests input on coding reimbursement
May 1st 2005You can help influence the reimbursement level for specific CPT codes by participating in the Five-Year Review of Work Values, a comprehensive review of all physician relative work values conducted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
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Practice management committee explains Medicare patients' access to new technology
April 16th 2005Washington, DC — The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) issued a paper last year regarding the mission to deliver safe and effective cataract surgery services to all Medicare patients and that all beneficiaries have the right to "essential services," explained Priscilla P. Arnold, MD, immediate past president of ASCRS and the chairman of the government relations committee.
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Dr. Steinert assumes ASCRS presidency, sends message of 'inclusion'
April 16th 2005Washington, DC — It's an annual rite of spring: each year the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) passes the baton from one leader to another. Roger Steinert, MD, assumed the presidency of the society during its general session Saturday morning.
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Credit cards can help lower costs and increase revenue
March 15th 2005The cost to process a credit card payment is around 50 cents for an average copayment, as opposed to about 35 cents for a check. Credit cards become more cost-effective when the costs of bounced checks and unpaid invoices are factored in.
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