News from the AOA's Blog

Editor’s note: this column contains excerpts from the inaugural address given June 18 at the AOA House of Delegates.

It’s a beautiful day to be an optometrist! Much has been said of a woman finally ascending to the office of president of the AOA. While I have tried to not make much of this, I want to share THIS story. In James Gregg, O.D.’s book, “American Optometric Association – a History,” he wrote about a meeting of the American OPTICAL Association, which took place in August of 1911. He wrote: “Mild revolutions began at the 1911 convention at the Hotel Utah in Salt Lake City, and some precedents were broken. The ‘revolt’ came from the West; and as might be expected, California was in the center of the ruckus. Perhaps fortunately, it was a lady, Mrs. D. Elva Cooper, an AOA member from Bradford, Pa, who delicately presided over the stormy session.” Read the rest of this entry ?

So much has changed in the year since the passage of Health Care Reform in March of 2010. This past year, we have seen the biggest major access victories that the AOA has ever delivered for our patients in the form of the Harkin Amendment and also the classification of Children’s Vision as an Essential Benefit.

It has become evident that the AOA and the state associations have had a unified goal to help our members THRIVE and SUCCEED. Never before has optometry needed the state affiliates and the AOA more than today.

The AOA has incorporated the Health Care Reform implementation guidelines, and the entire AOA team (which includes the staff and volunteers) has developed working action plans from mid-2010 to 2018, with the majority of implementations for the Health Care Reform timeline between now and the year 2014. We have already seen that the regulatory avalanche is starting, which includes electronic health records (EHRs); e-prescribing (eRXing); “meaningful use” and the increased importance of Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS); and also the development of Health Information Exchanges (HIE), and continues at a frantic pace toward a value-based health care purchasing system in this country.  Read the rest of this entry ?

If you don’t know who you are, you can’t possible get to where you’re going. 

For the health and well-being of our patients and future success of our practices, it’s critical that we define, once and for all, who we are and where we are at on the roadmap when it comes to Medicaid.

H.R. 1219, the Optometric Equity in Medicaid Act, will allow us to do just that.

Introduced by AOA supporters Rep. Ralph Hall (R-Texas) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), H.R. 1219 seeks to avert a potential crisis in access to primary eye care for Medicaid patients by amending the federal Medicaid statute to fully recognize optometrists to provide “medical and other health services to the extent those services may be performed under state law.” Read the rest of this entry ?

I would like to take a moment to encourage all of our members to attend our annual Optometry’s Meeting® June 15-19 in Salt Lake City, Utah, but not for the normal reasons that you might think. In today’s constantly changing environment of health care reform, never before have we needed to come together as a group to stay abreast of news and information that will have a direct impact on not only how we practice, but whether or not we can practice at all.

Gone are the days when you could just open up a practice or join an existing practice, treat patients and go home. We live in a society that is changing at such a rapid pace that keeping track of it all is daunting at times. We have new technologies developing and new treatment modalities that we must constantly keep abreast of. To stay successful over the long term, we must display quality and better outcomes as we move to evidence-based practice. The AOA Advocacy Center is working 24/7 to make sure that we have access to our patients.

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There has been a lot of talk recently about the possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Just earlier this month, news media reported on an attempt to repeal the law. There is also a multi-state lawsuit against the legislation. Despite the current debates on whether or not a federal insurance mandate is legal, the reality is that many states’ governments are already implementing health care reform.

Across the country, state employees are working right now to define new rules that health insurance companies will have to follow. Although the insurance mandate does not take effect until 2014, many new regulations are already operating, such as requirements that insurers cover children with pre-existing health conditions and eliminate lifetime caps on benefits. States are also preparing for a major expansion of Medicaid eligibility and the introduction of health insurance exchanges in 2014. In addition, states are also applying for a wide variety of federal grants offered under the law. Many implementation deadlines take place over the next three years and will continue until 2018. Read the rest of this entry ?

Bar none, 2010 was one of the most significant years for patient-access victories that the AOA has ever delivered for members and the patients we serve. It brings me great pride and gives me immense hope for the future when I think about what we have accomplished over this past year and how far we’ve come as a profession.

In 2010, through the hard work and determination of AOA volunteers, affiliate leaders and staff, we accomplished one of the greatest patient-access wins that the profession has ever witnessed – the passage of the Harkin Amendment.

This legislation establishes the first-ever federal standard of provider non-discrimination by outlawing discrimination against optometrists and other providers by health plans, including self-insured ERISA plans. Harkin provisions, which take effect in 2014, will serve as the basis of a new and more balanced relationship between optometry health insurance plans. Read the rest of this entry ?

I typically fly out of Nashville most of the time to take trips on behalf of the AOA. Because it’s closest to my home in Benton, Ky., I’m there quite frequently. When traveling, I always go by the military base in Fort Campbell, Ky., home of the 101st Airborne. I see a lot of soldiers deploying to Afghanistan, Iraq and places all over the country and world.

On the way back from one such trip, as I was coming off the jet bridge to enter into the terminal, I heard a lot of clapping and cheering. My first thought was that there must be a country-western singer in town because typically you see a lot of country-western entertainers come through the Nashville airport. As I entered the terminal, to my surprise and pleasure, I witnessed a great sight. About 15 soldiers had returned from deployment and were walking down the middle of the terminal. As they walked, people stood up and clapped for them and shouted “USA!” and “God Bless America!” People clapped for them for about 10 minutes or more as they proceeded out of the terminal. Read the rest of this entry ?

With the varying forms of discrimination and challenges that we face as optometrists, each and every day, there’s one form that we need not become a victim of and that’s “e-discrimination.”

That’s right. E-discrimination.

Okay, I know some of you may be saying, “Dr Ellis, just what are you talking about?” My mantra remains the same: Access, Access, Access, and immediate Access for members of the AOA.

You’ve heard me say this before, but I can’t say it enough. The game has changed remarkably for health care professionals, especially amid all the rapid changes within health care reform. One of the game changers in this environment is technology in general, and electronic health records (EHRs) and the creation of a Healthcare Information Exchange (HIE), in particular. We need to get on board the electronic information superhighway or we’ll get left behind. Read the rest of this entry ?

Right now, we face a defining moment: how best to meet the increasing health care needs of a growing public?

Our country will soon face a health care “perfect storm”: a shortage of doctors, nurses, dentists and pharmacists who can meet the public’s primary health care needs, just at a time when more Americans will have the ability to obtain health insurance coverage.

Some areas, such as nursing, pharmacy and public health, are already experiencing a moderate shortage, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. Read the rest of this entry ?

September marked six months since President Obama signed the Health Care Reform bill into law.

Not surprisingly, forces who are against certain aspects of the new legislation have been organizing efforts to dismantle it.

Because of this legislation’s importance to our practice and our profession, AOA President-elect Dori Carlson, O.D., and I held two town hall meetings last month on health care reform. 

With about 150 ODs on the calls, we discussed how the AOA worked to get key provisions included (the Harkin Amendment and children’s vision issues) and that we need to continue to be engaged with a seat at the table as states form their health insurance exchanges. Read the rest of this entry ?