Regulatory/Legislative News

From international law firm Arnold & Porter LLP comes a timely column that provides views on current regulatory and legislative topics that weigh on the minds of today’s physicians and health care executives.

The FTC released a notice of proposed rulemaking and request for public comment based on its 10-year review of the Contact Lens Rule.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc. plans to launch two products every year until 2020 as part of a new integrated portfolio approach, according to Peter Menziuso, president, JJVC North America, here at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Optometry.

Nearly 16 million Americans are living with vision impairment that is undiagnosed or untreated because eye and vision health lags in priority in the U.S., according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

As an early adapter to the world of electronic medical records, my practice is well versed in using the CPT II codes for performance measurement.

In October, the FDA approved, cleared, responded to and issued review status for products and devices in the ophthalmic space. Here are the articles:

The National Board of Examiners in Optometry will no longer use the full, nine-digit social security numbers of optometrists and optometry students in its database, the organization announced on its website Oct. 28.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued a final rule with comment period that updates payment rates and makes policy changes that affect the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center payment system for 2017.

The American Optometric Association spoke of the “deceptive, abusive and misleading sales tactics” by some online contact lens retailers at an Oct. 25 briefing on Capitol Hill.

The American Medical Association Current Procedural Terminology Editorial Panel approved two new Category III CPT codes for programming the Argus II retinal prosthesis system, Second Sight Medical Products announced in a press release.