Reimbursement issues top AAO’s 2006 advocacy agenda

WASHINGTON — Medicare physician reimbursement issues and a new vision screening program for children have been designated as top advocacy issues for the American Academy of Ophthalmology in the coming year.

Medicare reimbursement issues include “what seems to be the inevitable development of a ‘value-based purchasing’ system,” according to a press release from the AAO.

The AAO has played a leading role in developing quality assessment measures with its Preferred Practice Patterns, the release said, but so far these have not been included in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ new Physician Voluntary Reporting Program. The AAO is working with the CMS to ensure that ophthalmology can participate if financial incentives are included in the program in 2007 or 2008.

The AAO also said it will continue to fight for a workable fix of the flawed sustainable growth rate calculations.

Another reimbursement challenge is the CMS policy on physician practice expenses (PE), the AAO said. The AAO is working to ensure that any new policy is “fair to ophthalmology and that any PE calculation proposals are based on appropriate survey data,” the release said.

The AAO has made children’s vision screening a priority as well, in response to an “aggressive campaign waged by optometry and the eyeglass frame manufacturers to discredit screening of pre-kindergarten and school age children in favor of complete eye exams for all,” the release said.

“We are partnering with pediatric ophthalmology, pediatricians and family physicians in this effort to bring about regular screening intervals and referrals for children identified in 18 states with no children’s vision requirements,” the AAO said.

The AAO will also focus on the quality of patient care in federal health care facilities, as veterans tend to have a disproportionate number of serious eye injuries and vision impairments.