Practice Management

You, as co-employer, retain full hiring/firing authority, day-to-day management of your employees, and the normal operation of your practice.

Padua, Italy-Safilo Group has strengthened its presence in Asia by opening a new subsidiary in Korea. Safilo Korea Ltd., with offices in Seoul and controlled 100% by Safilo Group, will start business Jan. 1.

Ophthalmologists should familiarize themselves with the differences between evaluation and management (E/M) codes and eye codes, so that whichever set of codes is used is appropriately documented to ensure proper reimbursement, according to L. Neal Freeman, MD, MBA, FACS, a certified specialist in physician coding.

When it comes to the financial side of your practice, you are running a small business.

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands-When four leading practice management specialists met as a panel recently, the pearls of wisdom they shared encouraged ophthalmologists to be aware of vital aspects of their business, including finances, human resources, and legal issues. The session, titled "Business, Operation, and Legal Pearls," provided physicians and administrators with suggestions on how ophthalmologists can increase efficiency, maximize profit, and avoid pitfalls leading to liability.

San Bernardino, CA-Fixing common billing and documentation errors could mean improvements of up to 35% to your bottom line, according to Donna McCune, CCS-P, COE.

Ophthalmologists know that a very large number of patients in general practice, and in many subspecialty practices, present with eye symptoms that are too dry or too wet. These common situations trigger coding issues that must be understood in order to ensure proper compensation for care of this sizable patient group.

Base Curve, licensee for the Carolina Herrera Eyewear and John Varvatos Eyewear collections, now has a home online at www.basecurveeyewear.com. The site was designed as a resource for eye-care practitioners and consumers, and includes current, comprehensive information on both brands.

Madison, CT-Common errors related to billing for glaucoma patients may have detrimental effects on the financial success of an ophthalmology practice, said Donna M. McCune CCS-P, COE.

The use of botulinum toxin by ophthalmologists to treat a variety of disorders has exploded over the past several years. It has highlighted many issues of interest, including off-label use, supply charges, and cosmetic indications. All of these have important implications for coding, billing, and reimbursement.

Some of the most common questions in coding arise when an office visit and a procedure are performed almost simultaneously. For our purposes, "almost simultaneously" will refer to same-day office services for small ("minor") procedures and to previous-day or same-day office services for large ("major") procedures.

If a practice is going to make a change to include an incentive program, it must be done as a package by creating a new set of work standards.

Medicare rules regarding multiple procedures have been well-outlined and can be thought of as the standard. Most payers closely follow Medicare guidelines in this area. It is still necessary, though, to check with each individual payer for specific instructions. This is especially true regarding the use of the modifiers as discussed below.

Dorado, Puerto Rico-Make sure that your billing department is aware of common myths associated with ophthalmic surgery billing, so that surgery claims being filed are correct, advised Donna M. McCune, CCS-P, COE, who spoke during Current Concepts in Ophthalmology.

Atlanta-Robertson Optical Laboratories of Columbia, SC, Atlanta (Loganville), GA, and Greenville, SC, is offering its third annual Atlanta Braves promotion, which is being sponsored by Robertson, Carl Zeiss Vision, and Transitions Optical Inc.

San Francisco-Attention to safety, speed, staffing, standardization, simplicity, and suppleness is the key to efficiency and effectiveness in the operating room (OR), explained Bradford J. Shingleton, MD, at glaucoma subspecialty day during the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

Falls Church, VA-Ophthalmologists can justifiably feel as if they are on an endless treadmill, because forces such as personnel shortages and reimbursement cuts are forcing them to become "more gerbil-like every year," according to William L. Rich III, MD, FACS, secretary for federal affairs, American Academy of Ophthalmology, Falls Church, VA. The way out of this bind involves several strategies, from advocating changes in federal reimbursement policy to improving practice productivity, he said.

Washington, DC-The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) supporting reimbursement for intravitreal injections of bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech) in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) whose disease has not responded to other therapies.

Sacramento, CA-Obtaining reimbursement and resources forvision screening seems to be a thankless task with little return.However, there are strategies that can be used to give pediatricvision screening a fair share of the available health-care funds,according to James Bradford Ruben, MD.

Baltimore-A new class of compounds has been making headlineslately as a potential treatment of choroidal neovascularization(CNV) secondary to age-related macular degeneration. Genetictherapies can block messenger RNA (mRNA) coding for vascularendothelial growth factor (VEGF) and prevent VEGF synthesis.

Consultative services form an important part of most ophthalmology practices. A somewhat detailed understanding of consultation codes is needed to report these visits appropriately. The necessary knowledge base includes familiarity with the perspectives of payers (especially Medicare).

Ophthalmologists in private practice face unprecedented challenges to the financial success of their practices. In the current state of medicine and reimbursement, practices may struggle to make ends meet--let alone turn a profit. In the next few years practices will have to make substantial changes in and be open to new business opportunities to stay profitable.

Wilmette, IL?Pre-procedure processing of patients, appropriate staffing and purchasing practices, scheduling, and billing and collection methods contribute to the efficiency of ambulatory health-care centers, according to a non-clinical study of cataract surgery in such centers.

Fashion Optical Displays presents its latest Master Catalog featuring new dispensary designs and furnishing collections. The 132-page catalog showcases the company's newest product lines, including the Oasis, Aspire, and Paramount collections of contemporary and traditional dispensary displays and furnishings.

Physician advocates argue that a problematic formula (SGR) is being used to calculate the Medicare budget, and the AAO is . . . calling for its repeal.

Padua, Italy?Two of Europe's fashion trendsetters, Safilo Group, a leader in high-end eyewear, and Hugo Boss, Metzingen, Germany, one of the leading international groups in the high-fashion market, have signed a license agreement in force through Dec. 31, 2013 for the design, production, and worldwide distribution of Boss and Hugo eyewear collections.

Multiple educational resources are available on the site.

Baltimore?The Medicare reimbursement system may seem like a bowl of alphabet soup, but physicians can't afford to ignore what lies behind the acronyms because of the enormous impact on their practice bottom lines, said Michael X. Repka, MD, secretary for federal affairs for the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).

Physician advocates argue that a problematic formula (SGR) is being used to calculate the Medicare budget, and the AAO is . . . calling for its repeal.

Chicago—The question of whether electronic medical records (EMRs) are cost effective in single or multiple offices is answered with a resounding "yes" by J. Gregory Rosenthal, MD, who outlined various reasons.