Practice Management

Folsom, CA-Eyefinity will use its Web site (www.eyefinity.com) to promote Signet Armorlite's Kodak lenses, Corning SunSensors lenses, as well as Kenmark Group's complete frame portfolio under new partnerships. Among the lens products to be featured online will be Kodak Precise progressives, which include Corning's SunSensors Gray and Brown, EvoClear, PolyClear, and standard Resin.

With daily operating costs rising, reimbursement rates declining, and concerns over soaring liability insurance prices, profitability is a hot topic for the modern ophthalmology practice. Some groups are finding an effective solution in the symbiosis between ophthalmology and optometry. By adding optometrists to their staffs, ophthalmologists are offering a more complete vision-care package to their patients and driving up profits in the process. The advantages, as seen by the doctors involved in these relationships, are many.

Mountain View, CA-California's Medicare Part B carrier will begin to cover transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT) and feeder vessel (FV) laser protocols to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

If ophthalmologists and other physicians are looking to the nation's capital for assistance in dealing with the jury awards that far exceed actual economic losses by plaintiffs, one doctor believes it is a colossal waste of time.

This year's Advocacy Day marked the largest turnout in the history of the event. Almost 200 ophthalmologists from around the nation left their practices and headed to Capitol Hill in early April to discuss with their senators the need for medical liability reform and fair reimbursement. Among those hoping to make a difference was James Felch, MD.

Austin, TX-The VersaSuite software system (Universal Software Solutions Inc.) provides a total practice management solution to ophthalmology practices of any size or scope, said Darius Samani, PhD, MBA, and CEO of Universal. He first designed VersaSuite in 1997. There has been a major release of the program every year since then.

Alexandria, VA-Healthcare providers should be especially mindful of enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission and state consumer protection agencies as they embark on new federal patient privacy standards.

Washington, DC-The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has expanded the list of procedures it will cover, including several important ophthalmic procedures.

Golden, CO-Noridian, the Medicare carrier for 14 western states, has proposed limiting coverage for monitored anesthesia care (MAC) for cataract surgery, except for severely ill patients.

How should you, and why is it advisable to, integrate optometrists into your ophthalmology practice? Should the physician treat the optometrist as a "super-tech" or as an eye doctor?

Chapel Hill,NC-The time is right for incorporating an electronic medical record (EMR) system into your practice, according to Maurice B. Landers III, MD, who has used them for the past 4 years.

Washington, DC-Though the 1.6% increase to the 2003 Medicare fee schedule may not be statistically significant in and of itself, it does mark a first step to remedy an ailing reimbursement formula.

Washington, DC-The federal government is requiring health-care insurers, providers, and clearinghouses to establish new ways to protect the confidentiality of electronic health information under a new set of security standards.

Padua, Italy-The Safilo Group will produce and distribute Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani collections of eyewear under a multiyear, worldwide license.

Baltimore-Physician groups, such as the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), are advocating tort reform as the solution for the medical liability crisis that doctors are now facing.

Baltimore-Digital imaging techniques in medicine have been promoted since the 1980s, but recent technological advances have made it far better than before, saidRajendra S. Apte, MD, PhD, who spoke during the Current Concepts in Ophthalmology Meeting here.

Here's some good news regarding Medicare reimbursement. American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) member William L. Rich III, MD, has been appointed to an influential American Medical Association (AMA) committee on physician reimbursement.

Baltimore-The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) has embraced a unified strategy with the hope that the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Congress may sign off on a 2003 budget that guarantees no budget cuts and corrects projection errors, according to William L. Rich, MD, AAO's secretary for federal affairs (See related article this issue, "AAO member named to AMA reimbursement committee," Page 14).

Ophthalmologists are always looking to broaden their procedure offerings to increase their revenue stream.

Before the November elections, a political ad on the radio really caught my attention. An elderly patient was talking about a candidate who was running for a state office. The candidate was an ophthalmologist. The patient explained that he had asked this physician's receptionist if the doctor would accept assignment for his eyeglasses after his cataract surgery. The answer was no. The patient commented, "I guess the doctor doesn't really care about seniors. He gets his money from us first and we have to wait for ours (reimbursement from Medicare)."

Orlando-Ophthalmologists need to develop a vision and work together to fulfill that vision in order to succeed, according to Michael R. Redmond, MD,

New York-Safilo Group will offer Liz Claiborne Inc.'s collection of metal and plastic eyewear through a licensing deal announced in December.

New year begins with ophthalmic resolution to halt 4.4% cut in Medicare reimbursement

Orlando-Protecting patients' privacy has always been a top priority for physicians and staff alike, but now it is mandatory. By April 14, your practice must have taken the necessary steps to comply with Title II of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, which pertains to privacy of health data, according to a panel of experts who spoke during the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting.

Washington, DC-The Sixth National Congress on Health Care Compliance being held Feb. 5 to 7 in Washington, DC, will focus on new areas of special interest for the compliance professional, including corporate responsibility and governance; patient safety and quality of care; and privacy, data security, and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance.

San Francisco-The Academy Network (TAN), the largest national membership organization of administrators, office managers, and managing physicians of ophthalmology practices, is changing its name to the American Academy of Ophthalmic Executives (AAOE).

Washington, DC-As Congress resumes its post-election session, doctors frustrated by continued cuts in the Medicare physician fees are lobbying for change.

Like an old car, our office practice management system ran well for about 10 years and then gave up the ghost. Actually, it wasn't so much the system that failed as the company that sold us the system and helped maintain it.