The AOA is pleased to announce that members have access to an advanced point-of-care tool called Ophthalmic Resources On-Demand, the AOA’s online resource service for its members. Ophthalmic Resources On-Demand, different from any other health care Web service available today, is a novel and comprehensive tool that delivers immediate access to an ever expanding offering, such as pharmaceutical product prescribing information, patient education on products and medical conditions, coupons, patient assistance programs and other resources for provider and patient success in managing medical conditions. Read the rest of this entry ?
Archive for the ‘From the AOA’ Category
Volunteer and support your section in the AOA Central booth at Optometry’s Meeting® and get a chance to win an iPad
May 31, 2012Support YOUR section by volunteering in the AOA Central sections booth at Optometry’s Meeting® and be eligible to win an iPad!
How? Volunteer at the sections booth. Advocate for your section. The sections will provide talking points and an awesome incentive. For each hour volunteering in the booth, members will receive a raffle ticket toward an iPad 3. For every three AOA members signed up, the volunteer gets another raffle ticket. Read the rest of this entry ?
AOA EHR courses draw rave reviews
May 27, 2012The AOA’s “Navigating Meaningful Use, Quality Reporting, and e-Prescribing with Electronic Health Records (EHRs)” continuing education courses will be offered during at least 28 national or state optometric meetings this year – with more courses still being added to the schedule, according to the AOA Clinical and Practice Advancement Group (CPAG). Read the rest of this entry ?
AOA immediate past president calls on vision plans to halt anti-optometry lobbying in DC and state capitals, urges ODs not to be bullied
May 25, 2012Joe Ellis, O.D., past president of the AOA and Kentucky Optometric Association, called on vision plan executives to immediately halt their anti-optometry lobbying efforts now under way in Washington, D.C., and state capitals around the country and to work with optometric leaders to lock in the profession’s recent legislative and regulatory victories, including the new designation of pediatric vision care as essential and the Harkin patient access law targeting discriminatory Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) plans. Read the rest of this entry ?
Munson: advocacy key in rocky economic times
May 25, 2012
AOA Vice President Mitch Munson, O.D., addresses the audience at the Corporate Optometry Reports conference.
Congress rescinding a planned 24 percent Medicare reimbursement cut will bring the average practicing optometrist $9,000 this year – demonstrating that, in uncertain economic times, effective AOA advocacy efforts have become critical to both the short-run stability and long-range growth of the primary eye care market in America, AOA Vice President Mitch Munson, O.D., told last month’s Corporate Optometry Reports (COR) conference at Vision Expo East in New York.
Exemption of contact lenses from a new 2.3 percent federal medical excise tax will help to stabilize the eyewear market in 2013 and later years, Dr. Munson said.
Beginning in 2014, provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act, notably the AOA-backed Harkin provider nondiscrimination amendment, could help open access to optometry for “nearly 100 million people, or one-third of the country,” Dr. Munson said. Read the rest of this entry ?
AOA, ASCO launch Workforce Study Survey
May 23, 2012This month the AOA and the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) will be distributing a survey to more than 4,000 optometrists across the nation to capture optometric workforce trends. Read the rest of this entry ?
AOA leaders among U.S. representatives at international meeting on standards
May 22, 2012
U.S. delegates at the ISO meeting included, first row from left, Neil Roche, Charlie Campbell, M.D., Jeff Endres, and Allen Krisiloff; second row from left, Bill Brown, O.D., Ph.D., Dick Whitney, Ken Frederick, and Karl Citek, O.D., Ph.D.
AOA Commission on Ophthalmic Standards (CmOS) representatives Karl Citek, O.D., Ph.D., and William Brown, O.D., Ph.D., joined delegates from around in the world this spring at a week-long meeting of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee 172 (TC172) Subcommittee 7 (SC7) on Ophthalmic Optics and Instruments.
The ISO network develops and publishes international standards and includes 163 countries. Drs. Citek and Brown represented the United States.
“Standards serve two primary purposes,” said Dr. Citek, who chairs the CmOS. “First, standards define requirements and set tolerances for manufacturing of products. This ensures that patients receive quality products that will perform as intended. Second, standards act as guidelines for practice. This ensures that doctors perform techniques and procedures that are consistent with the current level of care necessary to treat patients with particular conditions.” Read the rest of this entry ?
Layman announces candidacy for trustee
May 22, 2012
Robert Layman, O.D., of Toledo, Ohio, and 2006 AOA Optometrist of the Year, announced his candidacy for the AOA Board of Trustees.
Dr. Layman is a member of the AOA Membership Development Committee. He served as moderator of the AOA Presidents’ Countil form 2001 to 2011. Read the rest of this entry ?
Loomis files for re-election
May 22, 2012
Steven A. Loomis, O.D., has filed for election as AOA secretary-treasurer. He currently serves as a trustee and is a past chair of the AOA State Government Relations Center (SGRC), Oversight Board, AOA Health Care Legislative Committee (HCLC) and the Resolutions and the Legal Defense Fund Oversight committees. Read the rest of this entry ?
National spotlight focused on optometry as record number of AOA advocates visit Capitol Hill
May 20, 2012
From left, HHS Deputy Administrator Steve Larsen, J.D., Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, O.D., AOA President Dori Carlson, O.D., and James Devleming, O.D., of Optometric Physicians of Washington.
The national spotlight was focused squarely on optometry as a record number of AOA doctors and students gathered in the nation’s capital April 1-3 to learn more about the most pressing issues facing the profession and to urge policymakers to protect and expand access to comprehensive vision and eye health care for America’s families, including veterans, working men and women, children and seniors.
A joint effort of the 2012 AOA Congressional Advocacy Conference and State Legislative and Third Party National Conference, nearly 700 doctors of optometry and optometry students, including representatives from the National Optometric Association and the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry, spread across Capitol Hill to help raise new awareness of the profession and to advance the AOA’s pro-access and pro-patient agenda, including:
- Access to Eye and Vision Care – Securing full recognition for doctors of optometry in Medicaid (H.R. 1219), and full optometric inclusion in the National Health Service Corps (S. 2192, H.R. 1195), and other federal health programs.
