Regulatory/Legislative News

VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies has announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will reimburse the company’s implantable miniature telescope under a revised Ambulatory Payment Classification designation, according to VisionCare press release.

In my last post a few weeks ago I used the term “pre-AMD.” I love this term. I have been using it since Vision Expo West, when I first heard it from Jeff Gerson, OD, during a lecture he gave.

Optometry is one of the health professions most at risk for a workforce deficit in the future, according to a study recently released by the Conference Board.

One of the great features of Healio.com is the ability to access so much contemporary information across so many medical disciplines. Among the topics I “link” with is that of infectious disease. My interest – and fascination – lies in the similarities between eye care and systemic infectious disease. We both encounter an evolving cast of characters (microbes) that present diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.

Most scientific experts concur that existing testing methods for contact lenses and solutions should be reviewed. In September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Devices and Radiological Health along with organized optometry and ophthalmology hosted a workshop involving scientists, clinicians and industry experts with the goal of formulating a consensus for new standards and guidelines for improving microbiological test methods as well as patient education.

As optometrists continue to evolve as essential primary health care providers in their expanded role in health care reform, a number of us are striving to meet the challenge. There is increasing evidence that a primary health care wellness encounter could be a separate and distinct service from the comprehensive eye examination.

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.

CHICAGO — The free market, not government, should drive the pricing and delivery of health care, Sen. Rand Paul, said at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting here.

CHICAGO – Recent federal drug safety legislation may affect patient access to bevacizumab, an expert said at a press briefing here.

CHICAGO — U.S. Food and Drug Administration studies have shown good post-LASIK visual outcomes and low complication rates, a speaker told colleagues here.