Listservs Overview

Go to the manage subscription page (member login is required):

• Subscribe: Under the 'New Users' heading click 'Subscribe to the list' and follow the prompts.
• Unsubscribe: Under the 'Existing Users' header, select 'Manage your list options'. Under the 'Unsubscribe' heading enter your email address.
• Stop mail delivery temporarily: Under the 'Existing Users' header, select 'Manage your list options'. Under the 'Change Delivery' heading, click the 'stop mail' radio button.To receive mail again, return to the 'Change Delivery' section and click the 'standard' or 'mime digest' button to re-start your mail delivery.
• Change your email address: Under the 'Existing Users' header, select 'Manage your list options'. Under the 'Change Your EMail Address' heading, enter your old email address and click the 'change email' button. You will need to change your email for each list you subscribe to.

NOTE: Changing your email address will not change the address at which you receive your regular AAOE communication. To change the address at which you receive your regular AAOE e-newsletters and additional member communications, go to “Update member profile” from the login box on any Academy/AAOE webpage.

• Make sure your email program's spam filter is not putting list emails into your "bulk” or “junk mail" folder. Some email programs allow you to change your filter preferences to redirect messages from specific lists into your inbox.
• When you click on the Search archived messages, View current messages, or Send a new message links, you may be asked for your email address to log in.

After you subscribe, you will receive a confirmation email. You must reply to this email or you will not be subscribed to the list. After confirming subscription, you have several options to send messages to the list:

• Send an e-mail to the specific list:
  a. E-Talk: etalk@lists.aao.org
  b. E-Retina: eretina@lists.aao.org
  c. E-Code: ecode@lists.aao.org 
• Go to the subscription page for the specific list. Under the 'Existing Users' header, click the 'Send a new message' link.
• Respond to an email from the group using your inbox 'reply' button.

Message Attachments

Add attachments as you normally would to your email and send it to the list via the direct address.

Go to the manage subscription page for the specific list and select 'Search Archived Messages.'

• Click on the tabs along the top gray border to begin a search, view current messages or post a new message.

In order to participate in the listserv, you must agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the Listserv Disclaimer, below.

Why can't we discuss salaries, fees or collective action on the listservs?

AAOE members participating in the listserv are doing so as members of an organization of competitors in the eyes of federal and state enforcers of antitrust laws. While one ophthalmologist can ask a colleague what she or he pays staff or charges to perform Lasik, these issues cannot be discussed in a forum sponsored by a professional society. The government views such pricing and other economic discussions as a way that competitors can fix prices, supply costs, salaries, and other economic measures in a noncompetitive manor that violates state and federal antitrust laws.

Participants can discuss Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement and codes, as these are the same for everyone. Discussions about concerted action towards private payers, insurance contract clauses and private payer reimbursement cannot be discussed. These rules protect AAOE, its members and the Academy from costly legal actions and potential fines by the Federal Trade Commission or the Department of Justice. For this reason, a poster who violates the rules will be barred from participating in the AAOE listservs and may, at the sole discretion of the AAOE Board of Directors, lose his or her membership in AAOE.

Netiquette

AAOE listservs are intended to discuss business issues. Members should refrain from posting forwarded emails, contests and other emails that are not relevant to the business aspects of ophthalmology practice.

• Be forthcoming in your messages about any potential financial conflict of interest.
• If you repost something from another source, it is only ethical and helpful to give credit to the original poster along with the full citation. If you forward something from one of the other listservs, make sure you give credit to the original poster and/or source.
• DO NOT post any copyrighted material to any of the lists unless you have acquired permission to do so from the holder(s) of the copyright.
• Keep your messages short to conserve bandwidth and encourage others to read your messages.
• Remember, no emphasis or emotional tone gets transmitted through email. Jokes and sarcastic comments may be insensitive to others. Any criticism, personal attacks, and use of profanity are unwanted and will result in your removal from the listservs. You are responsible for what you post.
• Use a descriptive subject line. Avoid subject lines such as “question” or “coding question.” Many people decide whether they want to read a message based on the content of the subject line and vague subject lines make it difficult to search the archive.

The listservs allows you to send attachments via email. Every attachment sent to the list is screened by anti-virus software before you receive it. However, this does not mean you cannot get a virus from someone subscribed to the list. If a subscriber is infected with a virus and responds directly back to you with an attachment instead of to the list, you may be infected. While we take every precaution to prevent viruses from spreading by way of the list, viruses will continue to find ways to adapt and attempt to outsmart screening software. We will make every effort to continuously upgrade our virus protection software.

Always follow these rules when dealing with email

• Do not open attachments or click on links to websites embedded in the body of mail from people you do not know.
• Do not open attachments with the following file extensions: .exe, .visa, .vba, .pff or any other unfamiliar extensions. You can respond to an individual who sends you an unexpected attachment to verify that it is safe to open.
• If you run into difficulties, contact the administrator.

Also, note our virus protection software may at times incorrectly identify a harmless attachment as a virus and strip it from the email before it is sent to the list. If you send an attachment to the list and this occurs, notify the administrator.