- How to launch a successful career in optometry
- A voice for independent doctors
- Are you prepared?
- How to fill your staffing needs
- The latest on AI and optometry
- More courses, more uses, more impact: Why more AOA member doctors, staff are turning to AOA EyeLearn
- Master paraoptometric certification exam prep with AOA’s study resources
- 5 things every office needs to practice full-scope optometry
- Why thriving practices are prioritizing retirement plans
- What happened to the FTC’s noncompete ban?
- Keeping your practice (and finances) safe
- Is your exam chair ADA compliant?
- 2.9% Medicare cut, broadly panned, looms over 2025 as advocates press Congress
- How to navigate political conversations in your practice
- Making the grade
- Does your malpractice insurance provider measure up?
- The power of delegation
- New technologies shaping optometry’s future
- How AOAExcel makes your life easier
- Next-gen optometry’s focus on independent practice
- Inferiority complexity?
- Is your staff connected? How peer connections benefit practices
- Protecting patient privacy when a clinical observer visits
- Does your practice do in-house billing? Here’s something to know
- Where to start? The tools and resources to leave a positive impact on your patients and community
- AOA boosts support for optometrists rocked by Change Healthcare cyberattack
- Be aware of new classification of employee vs. independent contractor from labor department
- Why optometrists love the AOA Business Card
- Paraoptometric Month
- Patient intake coding for medical diagnoses
- Set your practice up for success
- New federal Corporate Transparency Act
- How to compete with online sellers
- CMS finalizes 2024 physician fee schedule: AOA’s 8 takeaways for optometry
- How do you measure success in your practice?
- 4 tips to elevate the profession and educate the public
- Now we’re talking: Communicating with the public
- Level up your optometric surgical team: AOA launches surgical assistant coursework
- 4 essential personal financial tools for optometrists
- Coding for orthoptic training
- New remote testing option for paraoptometric certification saves time, distance
- Testing 1, 2, 3 … paraoptometric exam handbook, resources for certification testing
- 6 things every hiring practice owner should include in a career center listing
- Now we’re talking: Patient communication
- AOA, leading schools organize to safeguard and expand optometry’s independence
- Co-managed care rife with success stories for patients, doctors
- 3 ways to grow careers and practices at Optometry’s Meeting® 2023
- Why disability insurance is crucial
- Now we’re talking: Interprofessional communication
- Build your practice and protect the planet
- You’ve been served—now what? Where ethical intersects legal
- DEA’s new opioid training mandate: What you need to know
- How to handle bad reviews and ratings
- How the updated position statement can help guide telemedicine in optometry
- 3 questions to ask your malpractice insurance agent
- Optometry’s ‘medical’ eye care opportunity a boon for patients, coordinated care
- AOA Antitrust Compliance Policy
- How the AOA Business Card can benefit your practice
- Combatting inflation
- How to earn an MBA while practicing
- AOA’s new Center for Independent Practice to amplify members-only resources for practice success
- Window Tinting
- The most important thing to know about retirement savings planning
- bolster your cybersecurity
- Identity Theft
- How the HIPAA Privacy Rule applies in a public health emergency
- Partners in care
- 4 tips for handling payer clawbacks: What the experts say
- When patients defect: A case study in emotional intelligence
- A career choice
- Be proactive: Identifying improper sales programs, financial incentives
- Scope of practice and malpractice insurance
- website ADA compliance
- Which retirement plan is right for you
- AOA practice success initiative can help with payer issues
- The most important questions to ask about disability insurance
- audio-only telehealth
- A case study in professionalism
- How to eliminate bias in the exam
- Keeping the practice’s mental health top of mind
- Managing expectations Telemedicines next step
- Optometrys Meeting Surgical Saturday
- 5 ways AOA membership can bring your practice success
- 6 ways to make a job posting pop
- The impact of paraoptometric certification
- AOA EyeLearn revamp improves accessibility of CE resource
- Good faith estimate requirement takes effect
- Optimize your student loan repayment strategy
- How to speak the universal language of care
- How to Obtain Hospital Privileges
- 4 common misconceptions about life insurance
- The privileges of providing care
- How team learning improves doctor-staff coordination
- Pandemic savings strategies
- doctor-patient-communication
- AOA 2021 Virtual Learning Livecast opens for registration
- Virtual interview tips for employers and applicants
- Paraoptometric Exam Materials & Certification
- Keeping the medicine in telemedicine
- Know your options
- Business transition tips for buying or selling
- The wrong patient communication plan could be costly
- New must have resource by AOA for MIPS providers
- AOA faults Ophthalmology journal MIPS study
- AOA MORE takes yearlong pause
- New rules ahead for patient access to electronic health records
- 7 things to know to protect your future
- PPP Loan Tax Implications
- AOA offers CE-eligible webinar-paraoptometric certification
- 8 lessons the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us
- talking politics keep peace in the practice
- Selling your practice to a private equity firm
- paraoptometric certification
- Life Insurance Awareness Month
- Members support AOA during COVID-19
- VLL courses debut on AOA professional development hub
- Why back to school eye exams are crucial this year
- Protection check-in
- AOA 2020 Virtual Learning Livecast a success
- How to turn your patients into brand ambassadors
- Paraoptometrics have key role in scope expansion
- Communication key unlocking patients virus fear
- lessons from phase one reopening practices
- Report quality measures and MIPS data
- AOA offers guidance for post-COVID-19 reactivation
- How to reduce your carbon footprint
- federal loans ease pain of COVID-19 pandemic
- life insurance questions answered
- ethically providing telehealth services in your practice
- AOA surveys can benefit optometry
- Healthcare cybersecurity
- Doctor google web health-related inquiries can cloud care
- AOAExcel GPO Contact Lenses optical products
- How to get the most out of your AOA member benefits
- How AOA MORE can help you
- Co management 4 steps to success
- What doctors need to know about retirement savings
- Crafting a clickable job posting
- health information cyber attack
- Overtime pay labor law
- Service animals vs emotional support animals in the practice
- InfantSEE tips for children eye exams
- Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers and doctors of optometry
- Physician burnout EHR
- Flushing Hazardous Waste EPA
- Ethically incorporating telehealth-telemedicine services into your practice
- Transition Right
- Frequently asked questions about liability insurance
- How good doctors compete with bad companies
- National Life Insurance Day
- Team effort
- National Retirement Week
- How to become a bilingual practice
- Be a social whiz
- How to balance work and home life
- Physician burnout improving, still high comparatively
- What do patients think about the Open Payments program
- Paraoptometric certification can boost a career
- Doctor of optometry diabetes crusade
- How AOA membership helps protect your practice and the profession
- How to optimize diabetic care
- How to improve patient care and practice economics
- Pediatric Exams Kids Fears
- How to retire with confidence
- CMS ONC send message on faxs demise doctors put them on hold
- Data breaches cost insurers big but providers more frequently
- How to start a sports-vision practice
- 4 practice tips when disaster strikes
- Bad hires happen
- AOA MORE reports first patient data_helps MIPS providers attest
- Keeping up with Doctor Jones
- STEM academia no different Women face harassment
- The dos and donts of customer service
- Medicare repeals payment cap for therapy services
- Earned interest
- Optometrys bread and butter
- Disability Insurance
- Sustainable solutions-Focusing on a green future
- Ethics Disabilities
- Flu Epidemic
- CMS-Texting PHI among health care providers OK with caveats
- TaxTips
- AOA tools you need to succeed
- Keeping peace in the practice during the holidays
- Handle with care How to dismiss a patient
- Cybersecurity Awareness Month
- Dont let your nest egg lay an egg
- How to add a subspecialty to your practice
- Disaster Lessons
- 4 things to consider before volunteering
- Go green and save green
- server and protect
- AOA encourages members to protect themselves against cyberattacks
- Credit breach continues grip on doctors
- AOA cautions against email phishing scams
- AOA to CMS Significant changes needed to MIPS proposed structure
- Caution email phishing scam
- EBO Guidelines in Practice
- Aging Eyes
- Sunshine Act-Industry Reports
- the-best-defense-against-office-harassment
- Review practice policies on harassment
- Cybersecurity and Cyber Monday
- Medicare Part D drug costs
- tips to get more pediatric patients through your door
- Windows OS on Life Support
- 9 business solutions for doctors
- Tools of engagement enrolling staff as AOA associate members
- retinol ruses and root veggies-fantastic tale of carrots
- Practice changes can increase office efficiency
- On Employee Appreciation Day show your staff you care
- Data breach implications for tax season
- How to make the most of the media megaphone
- 6 types of photos to share on social media
- Holiday how to gifts goals and goodwill
- Credit freeze hinders PQRS feedback
- Considerations for a comanaged care strategy
- Whats your plan 4 tips for emergencies
- AOA US Postal Service raise awareness on eye health
- 3 solutions for noshow patients
- MACRA final rule offers flexibility
- In case of emergency
- 3 actions to help staff grow
- AOA tool helps solve social networking dilemmas
- AOA asks NBEO for assurances on data
- How to prevent theft
- How to fund a retirement program for your practice
- Not meeting attesting to MU Hardship exceptions available
- Malpractice insurance Ensure coverage even after retirement
- Does the white clinical coat matter to patients
- HIPAA Then and now
- Doctors of optometry can play a role in erasing health disparities
- Credit breach continues grip on doctors, students
- AOA member feedback impacts Medicare valuations for services
- How a strong doctor office manager relationship can grow your practice
- Share questions and comments in Ethics Forum
- Think About Your Eyes campaign continues to raise public awareness
- Be prepared for more patients requesting to access their health records
- Medicare Supplier Program Requires Fingerprint based Background Checks
- 4 ways to protect your patients and practice from cyberattacks
- When doctors become patients
- The benefits of a bilingual practice
- Harmed by contact lenses Report now
- Medicare Part D prescribing data offers insight
- AOA nets 2016 Medicare fee schedule wins
- 9 member benefits through AOAExcel
- Health centers to expand services with 500 million grants
- Doctors Are you covered
- Tax law change could impact doctors
- Why doctors of optometry should seek hospital privileges
- CMS issues EHR Incentive Programs final rule
- Cybersecurity Is your patient information practice protected
- Create a space for kids in your office
- Prepare for a shift in credit card fraud liability
- Significant policy change in post-op co-management
- How to go the distance
- Accommodate aging eyes in your practice
- CMS tests Medicare Advantage plan benefit designs
- Get your practice noticed online
- Protect your practice from copyright infringement
- New reports AOA members tally higher incomes
- Position your practice for aging eyes
- Survey Vision insurance sales increase
- 4 paths to practice protection
- Improving patient care with certified paraoptometric staff members
- How to successfully navigate Medicare Advantage plans
- AOA releases directory of accountable care organizations
PPP loan deadline extended, AOA pushes SBA for clarity on program eligibility
March 30, 2021
May 31 is the new application deadline for first- and second-draw PPP loans, with the AOA requesting clarity on whether HHS Provider Relief Funds should be included in gross receipts for assessing eligibility.
An eleventh-hour extension of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) deadline affords optometry practices two extra months to apply for loans while the AOA seeks formal clarification on how physician COVID-19 relief funds affect program eligibility.
On March 30, President Joe Biden signed into law the PPP Extension Act of 2021, effectively extending the original March 31 deadline for first- and second-draw PPP applications to May 31 and affording the Small Business Administration (SBA) an additional 30 days beyond that to process those applications. The last-minute approval helps ensure some 190,000 pending PPP applications didn’t expire with the impending deadline, especially after the administration made a dedicated push for small-business applications in the past several weeks. As of March 28, 8.7 million PPP loans had been approved, totaling $734 billion since 2020.
The deadline extension is good news for optometry practices with pending applications or those weighing whether to apply for first- or second-draw loans, and the AOA is taking immediate steps to ensure doctors of optometry have the best available information to take advantage of this extension.
In a March 31 letter addressed to SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman, the AOA reiterated its support for the Congressional action to extend the PPP application deadline and requested the administration use this time to clarify ambiguities in the current rules, especially making clear that Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Provider Relief Funds be excluded in calculations of gross receipts for the purposes of second-draw PPP loans.
For many doctors, HHS Provider Relief Funds received in April 2020 were used for personal protective equipment (PPE) and necessary office modifications for the health and safety of patients and staff. At that time, PPP regulations did not allow for use of funds for PPE given surging costs. However, while PPE has become much more readily available, there remain challenges in operating health care practices, as doctors continue to limit patient volume to reduce overcrowding and to allow for additional cleaning time between patients.
Such is the case, the AOA requested the SBA to explicitly state that HHS Provider Relief Funds should be excluded from calculations of gross receipts, especially as several optometry practices’ second-draw PPP eligibility hinges on the matter.
“We believe clarifying this exclusion would allow for additional health care practices to qualify for [second draw PPP loans] and provide those businesses with needed support to continue to thrive as we emerge from the pandemic and look forward to ongoing recovery,” the AOA letter reads.
The AOA’s advocacy has helped practices garner more than $1.69 billion in federal relief with AOA leaders continuing to advocate on behalf of doctors of optometry.
“The PPP program has been a lifeline for optometry practices throughout the country during the pandemic,” says Robert Theaker, O.D., chair of the AOA Federal Relations Committee. “Doctors of optometry were reporting a 20-40% reduction in patient visits from 2019 to 2020, and the PPP came through at a critical time for thousands of struggling practices.”
As of early March, over 16,000 optometry practices have received forgivable PPP loans. Doctors are finding success applying for PPP loans, though not without occasional trial and error. As they dig out from the economic challenges created by COVID-19, it matters where doctors apply and that they understand the requirements before applying for government-backed loans, AOA members say.
Benefit from already established relationships
Robert Mans, O.D., who practices in the small, rural community of Florence, Oregon, got the good news that he had received a second PPP loan in January.
A good relationship with his local community bank took the stress out of the application process, says Dr. Mans, who notes “they had a keen interest in helping the local businesses in the area.”
That tie and his relationship with the practice’s accountant also came in handy. His PPP loan took less than a week to get processed.
“I would recommend to any doctor to foster a relationship with a local bank when possible for moments like this,” Dr. Mans says. “The second round of PPP loans had different rules. So, having an accountant who understands your financial records is crucial for quick results.
“I had heard that some doctors who wanted to apply for the PPP (draw 2) were unable to show a 25% loss between comparable quarters from 2019 and 2020,” he says. “I also would recommend having doctors talk to their bank or accountant to ensure that earlier loans or grants are properly categorized so they do not alter income ratios. Keeping good records and being aware of monthly and quarterly income is crucial for PPP success. It also helps to talk to other docs who have gone through the process, that way you know what to expect and when it’s time to look for another bank if you are not getting the results in a timely manner.”
Seek a Small Business Administration (SBA) lender
David McBride, O.D., has practiced in Beaverton, Oregon, for 35 years. Like many small-business operators across the nation—his office consists of one doctor and three staff members—Dr. McBride could not have imagined a year like 2020 as the pandemic took hold.
His office was closed for seven weeks; his staff was laid off for six of those weeks last spring. Dr. McBride used a loan from the first draw PPP funds to meet the practice’s payroll and to catch up on rent.
“I will use my second-round PPP for payroll,” he says, noting that revenues were down about 25% between 2019 and 2020 in his practice. “I think the bank was the key to getting loans. I was lucky in that my bank was already an SBA lender and had experience with the process.”
Now, if the practice can only catch up on the number of patients it saw pre-COVID.
“My staff and I were vaccinated last week with our second shot,” Dr. McBride says. “My goal is for us to start increasing our patients to pre-COVID numbers in May. We are still trying to only have one patient in the office at a time. Instead of having 12 or 13 exam slots per day we have nine.”
Read the rules—closely
Shane Foster, O.D., president-elect of the Ohio Optometric Association who practices in Athens, Ohio, had to jump through a few more paperwork hoops on his second application for a second-draw PPP loan. But, after an initial denial due to a discrepancy in a date and his DUNS number, his application was resubmitted and the practice, consisting of three doctors of optometry and 11 staff members, was then notified that its loan was approved.
Despite the mix-up, Dr. Foster got his loan approval about a month from when he first submitted. He offers these tips:
- Look at the guidelines again and run new reports. “The rules may have changed or been clarified since you applied the first time,” Dr. Foster says. “I was able to include more expenses this time, as the rules were still a little undefined during my first draw application.”
- Utilize your accountant and/or your lender to help you pull all the information together. “If you don't have all your financial information right at your fingertips, your accountant, bank and lender are great resources and their help will be worth it, even if there is a small fee.”
- Strongly consider using local banks and lenders. “I used my local credit union for both PPP loans and have had a fairly easy and efficient process both times,” Dr. Foster says. “It helps that they also handle my accounting services. But, most of all, the local touch and personal relationships helped expedite the process, because to them I am a person, not a number. Some of the larger institutions were prioritizing larger loan amounts.”
Learn before you leap
Jeni Kohn, O.D., used a large bank to submit her PPP loan application. Unfortunately, Dr. Kohn says, the bank required some additional details not in the directions for the main application, and her practice’s application had to be resubmitted “several times” until they were able to gather the required information.
“They would not allow us to submit just the additional information but instead we had to redo the entire application from scratch each time,” she says. “While it wasn't overly complicated once we had the information, it was tedious. I would highly consider going through a local bank in the future if you have that option.
“Another tip is to watch the #AskAOA Webinar Series,” says Dr. Kohn, whose Indiana practice is still awaiting word on its draw 2 application. “It was incredibly helpful not only for PPP 1 draw and PPP 2, but also for Health and Human Services grants and how to keep all of the dates separate so there was no confusion or overlap.”
Helpful resources
Access SBA loan forms.
Listen to the #AskAOA webinar “New PPP Funding Opportunities, First and Second Draw PPP Options.”