Fight Like a Spartan Guest Editorial
Steve Nguyen, OD
We hope you and your family had a wonderful Holiday Season! In Texas, we had some legislative success in 2007 (Medicaid eye care direct access, ODs can perform eye exams on combative sports participants, defeat of the opticians' independent refraction bill). For 2008, we hope to lay the ground work for more success in future sessions. We can best achieve this with the support and involvement ALL Texas ODs. With primaries right around the corner in early March, NOW IS THE TIME. As you know, Optometry is a "legislated profession" - which basically means that our ability to deliver care to our patients is determined by the legislature. Because of this fact, the TOA have always been actively involved in the legislative process. A common misconception is that the TOA only works to expand our scope of practice. While expansion of scope is certainly appropriate, the TOA constantly works to defend our current privileges, provide valuable services to Texas ODs and defeat bills that could harm our profession. In order for the TOA to remain successful, we need the support of ALL Texas ODs. All Texas ODs should be TOA and TOPAC members. In addition, ODs should remain politically informed and active. This doesn't mean you have to be an elected official or contribute tons of money to politicians . . . but if you do, we salute you (GO Dr. Tom!!!). Many people think that it's difficult or time consuming to be politically active, but it's not! There are many ways to become involved: - The first step is to be a registered voter.
- Next, you should attend campaign/fund-raising events
- Volunteer for campaigns, and let your legislators know who you are.
- You can become a resource if they have questions about bills dealing with health and eye care.
Again, this may seem intimidating and time consuming . . . but it doesn't have to be. If you care enough about the future of our profession, please become (or remain) involved. If you have questions or need to know how, please contact us . . . we would love to hear from you. If needed, we will work with you to help you become familiar with the political process. As most of you know, one of our own is running for the Texas House of Representatives. This is a HUGE opportunity for us to have an impact on our professional future . . . one that we all should support and be a part of. Again, in order to defend and advance our profession, we need the help of ALL ODs . . . a few hundred of us doing most of the work will not be enough. You may have seen the movie 300. In this movie, a Spartan king leads 300 Spartan soldiers into battle against a massive Persian force. These proud Spartans were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to defend Sparta and their way of life. In addition to the overwhelming Persian force, they had to deal with a corrupt Spartan politician and a Spartan traitor. In the end, the 300 faced their "glorious death" but held off the Persians long enough for 10,000 Spartans and 30,000 Greeks to join the fight to defeat the Persians. Oh, the corrupt politician . . . he faced a "not so glorious" death. So for 2008, which type of "Spartan" will you be? Will you help defend your profession and way of life? (Note: No Spartans, Persians, or ODs we harmed for the purpose of this article.) |
2008 TOA Convention"The Heartbeat of Optometry" The 2008 TOA Convention will be held in Austin February 14-17. "The Heartbeat of Optometry" is scheduled with complete dual-track education, top-name speakers, Behind Closed Doors program with a $200 rebate to participants and special events such as the President's luncheon, awards banquet and the band, featuring optometry's own Roland Montemayor, OD. Watch your mail and email for details or go to TOA's new website texas.aoa.org for a registration form or to register on-line.
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TOA Requests Nominations"Optometrist of the Year", "Young Optometrist" Among AwardsTOA is soliciting nominations for 2008. Each year, TOA awards the Optometrist of the Year, Young Optometrist of the Year, Distinguished Service, Public Service and a new award this year, the Mollie Armstrong Award. The awards are presented at the banquet during the annual convention each year. If you would like to nominate someone for any of these awards, please go to the TOA website at texas.aoa.org, see the category qualifications, download the form and send it to us. Disregard the deadline on the form. The deadline is actually next week, January 8, 2008. The awards will be presented this year on February 16th. |
UPDATE Your "Find An Optometrist" Area of TOA's NEW WebsiteMake sure patients and other doctors can find youTOA is proud and excited to unveil a new website at http://texas.aoa.org. The Doctor Locator or "Find An Optometrist" feature in the top right hand of the banner is an invaluable tool for patients and doctor referrals. To access the members-only feature, TOA members will need to use their AOA ID number and birthday. Once inside the site, members can go into the "Find An Optometrist" section and select the "Doctor Locator Member Update" to insure the correct, up-to-date location information. If you don't know your AOA member ID number, you can contact AOA at 800-365-2219, TOA at 512-707-2020 or email TOACURT@austin.rr.com.
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Billing, Coding and MoreJanuary: National Glaucoma Awareness Month (from CMS) Approximately 3 million Americans have glaucoma. Because the disease often progresses silently in the initial stages, with no symptoms, it is estimated that up to half of the approximately 3 million Americans with the disease don't know they have it. Vision loss from glaucoma is permanent and irreversible. While anyone can get glaucoma, certain groups of people are at higher risk for the disease. Glaucoma is more likely to occur in African Americans than in Caucasians and is a leading cause of blindness among African American and Hispanic populations in the United States. People with diabetes are nearly twice as likely to develop glaucoma as adults without diabetes. And people with a family history of glaucoma are more likely to get glaucoma too. Although glaucoma cannot be cured, early detection and treatment usually can stop further damage and prevent blindness. The benefit provided by Medicare offers a comprehensive glaucoma screening for seniors and others with Medicare at high risk for the disease. Medicare Coverage Medicare provides coverage of an annual glaucoma screening for beneficiaries in at least one of the following high risk groups: - Individuals with diabetes mellitus;
- Individuals with a family history of glaucoma;
- African-Americans age 50 and older; and
- Hispanic-Americans age 65 and older.
A covered glaucoma screening includes: - A dilated eye examination with an intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement; and
- A direct ophthalmoscopy examination or a slit-lamp biomicroscopic examination.
What Can You Do? CMS needs your help to ensure that all eligible people with Medicare take full advantage of the annual glaucoma screening benefit. Your high risk Medicare patients may not remember to schedule their annual glaucoma screening exam. You can help remind them by talking with them about glaucoma and their risk for the disease, what can happen when glaucoma goes undetected/untreated, and how they can help protect themselves from severe consequences with early detection by getting an annual glaucoma screening exam. Your reminder and referral for a glaucoma screening exam can help provide high risk Medicare beneficiaries with peace of mind and safeguard their vision. For More Information CMS has developed a variety of educational products and resources to help health care professionals and their staff learn more about coverage, coding, billing, and reimbursement for preventive services and screenings covered by Medicare. The MLN Preventive Services Educational Products Web Page ~ provides descriptions and ordering information for all provider specific educational products related to preventive services. The web page is located at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNProducts/35_PreventiveServices.asp on the CMS website. Glaucoma Screening Brochure ~ This tri-fold brochure provides health care professionals with an overview of Medicare's coverage of glaucoma screening services. To view online go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNProducts/downloads/glaucoma.pdf on the CMS website. To order copies of the brochure, go to the Medicare Learning Network Product Ordering System located at: http://cms.meridianksi.com/kc/main/kc_frame.asp?kc_ident=kc0001&loc=5. The CMS website provides information for preventive service covered by Medicare. Go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov, select "Medicare", scroll down to the "Prevention" section. For information to share with your Medicare patients, visit http://www.medicare.gov
For more information about glaucoma, visit The National Eye Institute http://www.nei.nih.gov/index.asp
For more information about National Glaucoma Awareness Month, please visit http://www.preventblindness.org/. Medicare Changes: The Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 made several changes affecting payments to physicians. One such change provides for a 0.5 percent increase to the physician fee schedule conversion factor for dates of service beginning January 1 through June 30, 2008, instead of the (negative) -10.1 percent that was scheduled to take place. Effective for dates of service on and after July 1, 2008, the (negative) -10.1 percent update to the physician fee schedule will go into effect. The new fees will be posted on www.trailblazerhealth.com as soon as possible. Since there is a change to the 2008 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rates, CMS is extending the Participation Decision Period an additional 45 days. The participation decision period now runs through February 15, 2008, instead of ending on December 31, 2007. All participating status changes will be effective January 1, 2008. To become a participating physician, complete the CMS-460 form which can be found on the CD that was mailed to physicians in November. You can also request the form from your local contractor. The form must be completed, signed, and mailed to your local contractor and post-marked by February 15, 2008. If you are changing your participation status to non-participating, please send your request in a letter to your local contractor, post-marked by February 15, 2008. |
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