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WHAT’S HAPPENING
New: Ophthalmology Journal Podcast
Launched in February, the Academy’s new Ophthalmology Journal podcast dives deep into research articles, editorials, and more from the Academy’s journal family: Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology Retina, Ophthalmology Glaucoma, and Ophthalmology Science. Tune in every other Tuesday as Ophthalmology’s social media editors interview authors and editors about their groundbreaking work.
Subscribe now at aao.org/podcasts or find the show wherever you prefer to access your podcasts.
Don’t Miss Eyecelerator 2022
On April 21, join Eyecelerator Program Director Gil Kliman, MD, and hundreds of clinicians, entrepreneurs, investors, executives, and others, for an up-close look at disruptive treatments and technologies in ophthalmology. The full-day program in Washington, D.C. (a day before the ASCRS annual meeting) features insightful panels, numerous networking opportunities, and dozens of company showcases from the leading innovators in eye care. Seats are limited.
Learn more and register today at www.eyecelerator.com.
Academy Hosts Joint LDP and SOE EuLDP Meeting
Participants in the Academy’s current Leadership Development Program (LDP) and the European Society of Ophthalmology’s (SOE) EuLDP came together for a joint meeting Jan. 13-15 in San Francisco.
Academy LDP Director Chris Albanis, MD, and SOE EuLDP Director Anthony Khawaja, MD, PhD, led the two-and-a-half-day meeting, which covered a number of leadership development topics, including how to improve negotiation skills, conduct effective meetings, adhere to ethics and professional standards, speak to the media, perfect presentation skills, and more.
LDP and EuLDP participants enjoyed an evening reception in the Truhlsen-Marmor Museum of the Eye and visited the Academy offices to meet with the outgoing and incoming CEOs, David W. Parke II, MD, and Stephen D. McLeod, MD. Academy President Robert E. Wiggins, MD, MPH, and SOE President Wagih Aclimandos, MBBCh, gave motivational talks via video call.
Participants also chose between an early morning group walk and a group bike ride over the Golden Gate Bridge. Plus, they all took part in an impromptu Greek dance lesson led by Dr. Albanis.
TAKE NOTICE
Support Academy Programs
A donor advised fund, which is like a charitable savings account, gives you the flexibility to recommend the amount and frequency of your donations to qualified charities. Consider adding the Academy Foundation to your donor advised fund to make an immediate impact on the success of an Academy program, such as the Minority Ophthalmology Mentoring program.
Learn more at aao.org/daf.
EyeWiki Contest: Read the Winning Articles
EyeWiki is the Academy’s collaborative online encyclopedia, where physicians, patients, and the public can view content written by ophthalmologists that covers the spectrum of eye disease, diagnosis, and treatment. Each year EyeWiki hosts three writing contests. One is for U.S. residents and fellows, one is for ophthalmologists outside the United States, and the third is for any ophthalmologist who significantly updates an existing article.
Winners of the 2021 U.S. Residents & Fellows Contest were recently announced:
- William I. Evans, MD: Optic Nerve Sheath Decompression
- Cris Martin P. Jacoba, MD: Diabetic Macular Ischemia
- Subahari Raviskanthan, MBBS: Neuro-Ophthalmic Complications of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors
- Anthony Wong, MD, MS: Asian Blepharoplasty (Double Eyelid Procedure)
Read the winning articles at aao.org/eyewiki.
Next contest deadlines. Submit an article at aao.org/eyewiki for the International Ophthalmologists Contest by June 1, the U.S. Residents & Fellows Contest by Dec. 1, or the Best Article Revision Contest by March 1, 2023.
Volunteer: Write EyeSmart Articles for the Public
Are you passionate about educating the public about eye health? EyeSmart is a physician-reviewed resource for information about eye diseases, treatments, eye health news, and tips for a lifetime of good eyesight. The Academy needs your help to bring this valuable content to the public.
Volunteer to author EyeSmart articles for the public. You’ll work with Academy staff to choose a topic and write an article for the public to be published in the EyeSmart section of the Academy’s website. Authors are credited on the article, with a link to their Academy biography.
Learn more by visiting aao.org/volunteering and choosing “Write.” (This is just one of many Academy volunteer opportunities.)
OMIC Tip: At What Point Does a Physician-Patient Relationship Begin?
Plaintiffs who sue for medical malpractice must show that there was a physician-patient relationship that created a legal duty. So physicians often ask: At what point does that relationship begin? Does a scheduled appointment for a new patient create a legal duty? What about a curbside consult? As with many medicolegal issues, it depends. OMIC has created resources to answer such questions.
You can find these resources on OMIC’s website at www.omic.com/when-is-a-physician-patient-relationship-established.
OMIC offers professional liability insurance exclusively to Academy members, their employees, and their practices.
ACADEMY RESOURCES
Visit the AAOE Practice Forms Library
Having the right type of form at the right time is critical to successful practice administration. For your convenience, the American Academy of Ophthalmic Executives (AAOE) provides an extensive collection of ophthalmic medical practice forms through the Practice Forms Library at aao.org/aaoe-resources. This growing community resource has been developed by AAOE members and consultants willing to share their practice forms. All deidentified forms are free to AAOE members and can be modified to suit the practice’s needs.
Not an AAOE member? Learn about the many benefits of AAOE membership at aao.org/membership/benefits/aaoe.
MEMBERS AT LARGE
Watch the Latest From Dr. Osher’s Video Journal
The Video Journal of Cataract, Refractive, and Glaucoma Surgery (VJCRGS), created by ophthalmic surgeon and educator Robert H. Osher, MD, has been releasing educational cataract, refractive, and glaucoma videos since 1985. The surgical videos are submitted from ophthalmologists around the world and are hand-picked by the VJCRGS editorial board. The final issue of 2021 featured 12 videos that review the history of ophthalmic surgery.
Watch now at www.vjcrgs.com.
Former Mentoring Program Participants Present at AUPO
Former Minority Ophthalmology Mentoring program participants Tannia Rodriguez, MS, MSE (Class of 2016), and Matthew R. Martin, MD (Class of 2018), gave presentations on their work at Michigan State and the Kresge Eye Institute, respectively, during the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO) annual meeting in January.
Notably, Ms. Rodriguez was a cowinner for the Best Paper for the Medical Student Educators’ Paper Session.
The Minority Ophthalmology Mentoring program is a partnership between the Academy and AUPO aimed at increasing diversity in ophthalmology by helping underrepresented in medicine (URiM) students become competitive ophthalmology residency applicants. Students receive one-on-one mentorship, valuable guidance in medical career planning, networking opportunities, and access to a variety of educational resources.
Learn more at aao.org/minority-mentoring.
D.C. REPORT
Fact Versus Fiction in Optometric Surgery Expansion
This year, optometrists in as many as 20 states are seeking to expand their scope of practice.
To counteract this push, all ophthalmologists need to educate patients, legislators, and the media about protecting surgery by surgeons to safeguard patients. To help you do this, the Academy has compiled the top four optometry claims, along with the facts.
Claim 1: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) allows optometric laser surgery. False. The VHA moved the prohibition on optometric laser surgery into a different policy document, but the prohibition remains in effect. Even the American Optometric Association noted that the change didn’t affect optometrists’ scope of practice.
Claim 2: Overly restrictive scope of practice laws keep states from attracting new optometrists, limiting patient access to care. False. New Hampshire has some of the strictest optometric laws in the country, but Medicare Physician Compare data show that the number of young optometrists grew by 23% from 2014 to 2019. Meanwhile, West Virginia, a state with less restrictive optometric laws, saw its share of young optometrists grow only 6.9% in that period.
Claim 3: Expanding optometrists’ scope saves patients money. False. CMS—whose payment codes affect rates set by commercial payers—pays per procedure, not by who is allowed to perform it. Notably, a JAMA Ophthalmology study showed that laser surgeries performed by optometrists in Oklahoma were twice as likely to be repeated as those performed by ophthalmologists.1 A patient has a strong risk of paying extra for corrective surgery when the initial procedure is done by an optometrist.
Claim 4: Seeing ophthalmologists is too hard for many patients because visits involve a long drive. False. In Washington and Colorado, for example, more than 90% of Medicare patients are within a 30-minute drive of an ophthalmologist, according to an Academy analysis of Medicare and U.S. Census data. In Colorado, 96% of the population is as close or closer to an ophthalmologist’s office as they are to a Walmart.
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1 Stein J et al. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2016;134(10):1095-1101.