How These Changes Affect Optometry
THE ISSUE
Change is coming rapidly in America’s health care system. Bi-partisan reforms moving forward in the U.S. Congress represent a dramatic shift to a value-based payment system for health care services according to quality measures such as Maintenance of Certification. Private third-party payers, consumers, and other health care professions are moving rapidly along these lines. Optometry is already behind the medical profession in terms of having a system to clearly demonstrate continued competency to payers and consumers, but the creation of an American Board of Optometry would provide a unified national platform to establish and demonstrate competency and value and position our profession solidly for the future. The vote on this issue by the AOA House of Delegates at its June, 2009 meeting is crucial to protect optometry’s future.
MESSAGES
- Demonstrating continued competency through board certification will be an essential criterion – the price of admission – for participation in Government and private insurance coverage.
- Optometry is the only prescribing doctoral-level health care profession that doesn’t have a process to measure continued competency beyond entry level. Board certification is crucial to maintain equal status with other health care professions in eye of the public and policymakers.
- Optometry must always look forward to anticipate change and grow as a profession.