Health care practitioners who submit electronic claims are still required to have billing software meeting the new Version 5010 federal standard in place by Jan. 1, 2012. Those who do not will risk claim rejections after New Year’s Day.
However, U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of E-Health Standards and Services (OESS) announced last month it will not actively enforce the software requirement until March 31, 2012. Read the rest of this entry ?
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) is releasing the first of 11 short video and audio presentations for health care providers on top health care compliance topics.
The newest step in OIG’s award-winning Provider Compliance Training initiative, these free videos and audio podcasts, averaging about four minutes each, cover major health care fraud and abuse laws, the basics of health care compliance programs, and what to do when a compliance issue arises. Read the rest of this entry ?
Where's the bean? Chicago, of course! Host to the 2012 Optometry’s Meeting®. “The Bean” is actually a sculpture named Cloud Gate by world-renowned artist Anish Kapoor. Join the AOA and American Optometric Student Association at McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Ill., June 26-July 1 as we celebrate the profession. Visit www.optometrysmeeting.org for more information. Photo credit: © City of Chicago/GRC
The famous Chicago skyline will be the backdrop for Optometry’s Meeting® in June 2012. Always a prime destination for world travelers, Chicago is called America’s hippest and hottest city for its exciting mix of art, fashion, food and fun.
While at McCormick Place Convention Center, optometric professionals can expect to see the latest technologies… new pharmaceutical research, paperless practice innovations, trends in contact lenses and frames, office equipment solutions and more. The AOA will also provide updates on government initiatives that can affect the way you practice.
Educational programming will include breakfast and lunch symposiums. The World Council of Optometry and Illinois Optometric Association will also be joining us in Chicago. Read the rest of this entry ?
In reflecting upon the gains of the past, be sure to log in to AOAConnect and vote for the top story of the past 50 years at http://bit.ly/vANgjA. Here are some of the top selections of past ways in which the AOA helped strengthened the profession:
1963—AOA became an agency member of the American Public Health Association.
1964—AOA files complaint with U.S. Dept. of Justice alleging restraint of trade and conspiracy on the part of the American Medical Association Read the rest of this entry ?
As the second round of candidates for American Board of Optometry (ABO) board certification completed the examination slated from Nov. 28 to Dec. 11, representatives discussed the next steps for the profession.
“We’re extremely excited by the response we’ve had this year,” said ABO Chairman of the Board Paul Ajamian, O.D. “The second exam was administered successfully, and we expect many more to participate in the process in 2012, as we enter the final year of the initial qualifying rules.” Read the rest of this entry ?
As of Oct. 1, 2011, Medicare requires use of a series of new ICD-9 codes to report glaucoma and the stages of glaucoma on Medicare claims, according to the AOA Clinical and Practice Advancement Group (AOA-CPAG).
Other insurance plans will begin requiring use of the new glaucoma codes on Jan. 1, 2012. Although the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) officially mandated the use of the new ICD-9 glaucoma codes on Medicare claims effective Oct. 1, 2011, agency officials will probably allow a brief grace period for claims inadvertently filed with the old glaucoma coding, according to AOA-CPAG. Read the rest of this entry ?
Reprint of 12/16 advocacy message from Jon Hymes, AOA Washington Office Director – 1-800-365-2219 / jfhymes@aoa.org
This is an update from the AOA explaining a significant regulatory action taken today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement a key optometry-backed provision of the 2010 health care overhaul law. The new law, which seeks to expand health coverage to more than 30 million currently uninsured Americans, specifically designated pediatric vision care as an essential benefit and authorized HHS to define what it would include.
Since the law’s enactment 20 months ago, AOA doctors and staff have been meeting with White House and HHS officials, including Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in Washington, DC and in large public “listening sessions” around the country, to press for a benefit based on direct access to optometric care for America’s children and covering a comprehensive eye exam and follow-up care, including materials. At the same time, insurers, organized medicine and other groups with an anti-optometry agenda have actively sought a screening-based benefit and to try to impose limits on patient access to ODs. However, due to the efforts of optometry’s supporters in Congress and the AOA’s clear success in being heard in the regulatory process, optometric care is key step closer to being recognized as essential at the Federal level. Read the rest of this entry ?
With the announcement that the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (more commonly known as the Super Committee) failed to reach an agreement to find $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction, the AOA and other physician organizations are now calling on Congress to take immediate action to address the massive Medicare pay cut set to take effect early next year.
While the AOA believed that the deficit-cutting Super Committee presented Congress with a unique opportunity to stabilize the Medicare program and repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, the failure of the bipartisan panel to find common ground on solutions to the nation’s fiscal problems and to address Medicare’s flawed payment formula now means that ODs and others face the threat of a roughly 27 percent cut scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2012. Read the rest of this entry ?
Editor:
Optometrists should be vigilant to preserve the Medicare third-party model as we negotiate with vision insurers for contracts that are fair to all concerned. Whereas medical insurers typically recognize Medicare as the third-party model, some vision insurers are modifying the Medicare model for their own purposes. Because these corporate giants primarily recruit ODs as their vision providers, optometrists are effectively segregated from the majority of medical eye providers who do not also serve as vision providers. Therein lies a grave threat to optometry. As vision insurance is expanded to include medical eye coverage, optometrists contracted to provide services for combined vision and medical eye policies will likely lose parity on medical eye services with non-contracted ophthalmologists and all other medical eye providers. Read the rest of this entry ?
This is the time of year when I find myself reflecting back and thinking of what I’m thankful for – things like my family, friends, time at home to reconnect with people I care about and the fact that it’s early December and there’s still no snow on the ground outside!
I’m thankful for the opportunity to visit the White House yet again this year. The most recent visit was to deliver the Joint Statement developed by the School Readiness Summit held last April. We had 31 different organizations sign the statement, which calls for comprehensive eye exams to be the foundation of children’s care, in order to make sure that they have every chance to succeed in school. Read the rest of this entry ?
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Dori’s 20/20 Tour Maino’s Memos
