1-800 Contacts Blasts AOA Attempt to Reform Federal Contact Lens Laws

"Legislation being pushed by the American Optometric Association (AOA) and introduced today in the U.S. Senate would rewrite current law to undermine competition in the contact lens marketplace to increase profits for optometrists at the expense of consumers. The legislation would reduce choice, increase costs and jeopardize eye health," according to a press release from 1-800 Contacts. "The misleadingly-named Contact Lens Consumer Health Protection Act (CLCHPA), introduced by Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., would gut the existing Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (FCLCA), which eliminated barriers to retail competition making contact lenses easier to replace and less expensive to purchase. Since the Act became law in 2003, competition among contact lens retailers has provided consumers with more choice, greater convenience and lower prices." Read more.

Shortage of Optometrists in Near Future? Maybe!

"A new business research report put optometry top among health-related fields facing labor shortages in the next decade—a claim the National Eye Care Workforce Study does not support," according to an AOA (American Optometric Assn.) post. 'The bottom line is that optometrists continue to be well-positioned to meet the growing needs of Americans for medical eye care.' Published on Sept. 2, the report from the Conference Board—a global business membership and research association—concluded 'among doctors, optometrists and podiatrists are the specialists most at risk of shortage, with the general physicians and surgeons category not far behind.' This is attributable to an overall increase in demand for health care providers due to an aging American population and an overall decrease in supply as practitioners retire, according to the study. The Conference Board labor report tracked 464 occupations in the United States between 2012 and 2022. Earlier this year, a poll concluded the 65-and-older population will surpass the 15-and-younger group by 2030, growing to more than a fifth of the U.S. population for the first time. It's a fact that prompted the update of the AOA's manual, Optometric Care of Nursing Home Residents." Read more.

AOA Issues Consumers Warning about Online Purchases

The consequences of making an incorrect or uninformed online purchases could cost patients more time and money in the long run, according to a new warning from the American Optometric Association (AOA).  An AOA study published in 2011 with the Optical Laboratories Association and The Vision Council reinforces the drawbacks of online orders. The study concluded:

• Of 200 glasses ordered online, only 154 pairs were received;
• 44.8 percent had incorrect prescriptions or safety issues;
• 29 percent had at least one lens fail to meet required prescription;
• 19 percent of adult lenses failed impact resistance testing; and,
• 25 percent of children's lenses failed impact resistance testing.

Read more.

AOA Survey Says Parents Don't Realize Importance of Infant Eye Exams

Only 19 percent of parents know that a child should have his/her first comprehensive eye exam between six and 12 months when visual development is most dramatic. This is one result from the American Optometric Association's (AOA) 2014 American Eye-Q survey. Optometry Cares – The AOA Foundation administers the InfantSEE program, which provides a no-cost one-time, assessment of infants' vision in their first year of life. These assessments complement routine well-care exams a baby receives from a pediatrician. Optometrists are trained to identify areas critical to vision development and have the tools needed to identify conditions not necessarily detected in a routine pediatric exams. Read more.

Digital Eye Strain on the Rise

"One day after Sarah Hinkley had been working on her computer for about five hours, she noticed her eyes started to burn and feel dry. 'My focus became blurry, like I was looking through a haze,' she says. As an optometrist, Hinkley knew exactly what was wrong. She was suffering from digital eye strain, also known as computer vision syndrome," reports USAToday. "It's becoming a widespread problem as more people spend hours each day looking at computers, cellphones, iPads, tablets and other electronic devices, says Hinkley, a spokeswoman for the American Optometric Association [AOA] and an associate professor at the Ferris State University Michigan College of Optometry. 'It is rampant, especially as we move toward smaller devices and the prominence of devices increase in our everyday lives.' In fact, almost 70% of U.S. adults say they have experienced some of the symptoms of digital eye strain, according to a survey conducted for the Vision Council, a trade group for vision care products and services. About 60% of respondents say they spend at least six hours looking at screens daily." Read more.

Call for Optometry Hall of Fame Nominations

Online nominations for the 2014 National Optometry Hall of Fame are now being accepted. The National Optometry Hall of Fame highlights the luminaries within the field of optometry—individuals who have made a significant and long-lasting impact on the profession. The 2014 online nomination forms can be accessed at www.aoa.org/HallofFame.

Medicare Pays Out More Than a Billion to ODs

Optometrists for the first time earned more than $1 billion in reimbursements under Medicare during 2012, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), according to the AOA (American Optometric Assn.). Complete 2012 data on the number of optometrists providing services under Medicare, the number of Medicare patients seen that year, or the total number of services provided by them is not yet available. However, the CMS estimates 32,404 optometrists saw Medicare patients during 2011, and more than 11 million services were performed by those optometrists under Medicare that year. Read more.

Cost Eye Care Costs Inched Up Last Year

Consumer costs related to eye care increased less than costs for any other health care service or related cost during 2012, reports the American Optometric Assn. (AOA). The Eyeglasses and Eye Care Services Index, compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), increased a mere 0.3 percent during 2012. That was well under last year’s overall inflation rate of 1.7 percent and a fraction of the 3.2 percent increase posted for health care costs overall during 2012, according to BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI) data. AOA notes that virtually every year since the government first began tracking them, increases in patient charges related to eye care have trailed both the overall inflation rate and increases in charges related to most other health care services. Prices for eyewear and professional fees for eye care increased 0.7 percent in 2011. The overall inflation rate was 3 percent that year. Read more.

Affordable Care Act on Target for Eye Care

The Obama administration announced July 2 it was delaying the deadline until 2015 for penalties targeting large employers who do not provide health insurance coverage to their workers. Although this decision represents a significant change to the president’s timetable and approach toward implementation, the AOA Advocacy Group reports there has been no change in the law’s full recognition of optometrists as providers of essential care or in how eye health care will be integrated into comprehensive health insurance coverage for children beginning in 2014. Read more.

New NEI Materials to Help Patients Cope with Low Vision

Eye care professionals can help patients deal with low-vision thanks to a 20-page large-print booklet and a series of videos released during Low Vision Awareness Month (Feb.) by the National Eye Institute (NEI), reports the American Optometric Assn. The booklet, “Living with Low Vision: What you should know,” urges people with low vision to seek help from a low vision specialist and provides tips to maximize remaining eyesight. Patients and ECPs can view and download the booklet and videos at www.nei.nih.gov/lowvision.

Midwest ODs Getting Paid Again by Medicare

A  Medicare administrative contractor (MAC) reversed course on Monday and announced that it would withdraw a restrictive, anti-optometry coverage directive that wrongly sought to limit the scope of practice of optometrists in nine states, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). Wisconsin Physician Services (WPS) — the MAC servicing Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin — had issued an “optometry services” coverage determination whereby the contractor created a list of services it determined optometrists are allowed to provide based on its own interpretation of state law. With backing from a Medicare regional office, WPS then utilized the directive to deny payment for services provided to Medicare beneficiaries. Read more.

Students Spending 4+ Hours in Front of Video Screens--For School

How many hours a day do children spend on computers or other electronic devices? New data from the AOA’s 2012 American Eye-Q consumer survey indicate 60 percent of parents estimate their children spend up to four hours per day at home or in school looking at a computer or digital device screen, according to an American Optometric Association press release. With smartboards, tablets and other digital tools being incorporated into daily school curricula, the technology has students spending much of their time learning and socializing in front of a screen. Read more.

CMS Updates PECOS

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said new technical upgrades will make the Internet-based Medicare Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System (PECOS) easier for health care practitioners to use, reports the American Optometric Association. Read more.

VisionWeb Pays Royalties to AOA Affiliates

Midwest Lens reports that "VisionWeb announced it will pay $60,882 in royalties to participating AOA state affiliates. The royalties are for eye care product orders placed by their members on VisionWeb over the last 12 months. This is the ninth year VisionWeb has paid royalties to the AOA for orders placed by its members to the VisionWeb supplier network of more than 400 suppliers in the United States. Since initiating the program in 2004, VisionWeb has paid a total of $319,667 in AOA royalties to participating state affiliates. Further detail on VisionWeb’s AOA Royalty Program are available at www.visionweb.com." Read more.

The Refraction Threats to ODs

"Are refracting opticians the only potential threat to the delivery of optometric refractive care? Probably not. New technology like the NETRA device may also become significant in how refractive care is delivered to our patients," according to an American Optometric Association press release. Read more.

AOA Launches Services Site for ODs

AOA has launched a new website, called AOAExcel, which features the following:

• The AOAExcel Success Manager, which offers direct access to a range of placement, financial and insurance services
• AOAExcel Reviews, featuring practitioner reviews of products and services for optometric practices
• The AOAExcel Learning Management System, which offers easy access to EyeLearn™, the AOA’s optometric continuing education portal, and
• The AOAExcel Toolkit, which will soon offer practitioners the opportunity to pick from a list of online practice management solutions that can be used to optimize practice operations, improve patient care and optimize third-party reimbursement payments

Other features include the AOAExcel Events Calendar, a listing of major meetings and other events of interest to optometrists. Read more.

Dry Eye Problems More Common Than Treated

"This study [on dry eye], sponsored by Allergan, Inc., exposed the fact that patients have a lot more to say about their dry eye than eye care practitioners may realize," according to an American Optometric Assn. (AOA) post. "Although, practitioners have known for years that the prevalence of dry eye symptoms is highest in females and increases with age, the study indicates that males are also susceptible. Moreover, some individuals, male and female, have been experiencing symptoms for more than 10 years. Sadly, this means that practitioners have been status-quo in their treatment regimen for a chronic medical condition that causes almost 42 percent of female patients to state that it blurs their vision and 43 percent to state that it made reading more challenging." Read more.

Parents Worried about Computer Damaging Kids' Eyes, Says Survery

New data from the American Optometric Association's (AOA) 2012 American Eye-Q consumer survey indicates 60 percent of parents estimate their children spend up to four hours per day at home or in school looking at a computer or digital device screen.  With smartboards, tablets and other digital tools being incorporated into daily school curriculums, the technology has students spending much of their time learning and socializing in front of a screen. According to the most recent AOA American Eye-Q survey, 79 percent of parents are concerned that their child may be damaging their eyes due to technology use. Read more.

ODs Call on Vision Plans to Stop Being "Anti-Optometry"

Joe Ellis, O.D., past president of the AOA (American Optometric Assn.) and Kentucky Optometric Assn. (KOA), recently 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.

Feds to Start Audit HIPPA Compliance

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) has announced details of a new audit program designed to check health care entities for compliance with federal rules on the privacy of patient information, the security of health information technology systems, and the notification of patients and regulators when the privacy of patient information is breached. That's the word from the American Optometric Assn. (AOA). Read more.