Regulatory and Coding
When a law is passed related to the practice of optometry, it’s up to the regulatory process to define the details. Everything from how much Medicare pays for an eye exam to what, exactly, constitutes a prescription verification is determined by the regulatory agencies of the federal government.
As a legislated profession, optometry is defined by the laws governing its practice. However, legislation rarely determines the finer points of the law. Staff and volunteers in the AOA Advocacy Group work with regulatory agencies every day to define the details that determine the impact of legislation on doctors of optometry and their patients. This happens in the form of official comment letters, meetings with federal officials, collaboration with others in the health care community, consultation with doctors regarding the precise details that go into a single Medicare code, the development of an optometric registry and much more.
Personal protective equipment during the global pandemic
On Sept. 8, 2020, a new CPT code has been developed for PPE supplies and will be implemented immediately. This new code, CPT 99072 describes, “Additional supplies, materials, and clinical staff time over and above those usually included in an office visit or other non-facility service(s), when performed during a Public Health Emergency as defined by law, due to respiratory-transmitted infectious disease.”
Compliancy Group provides AOA members with the total solution to the challenges of HIPAA compliance.
AOA MORE is a secure, private database provided to AOA members that aggregates anonymous patient data from EHR vendors to help improve patient clinical outcomes, procedures and best practices.
Infomation for financial assistance, new telehealth guidelines, reopoening practices and more.
AOA MORE, optometry’s data registry, takes yearlong pause
The AOA will use the time to evaluate its collection efforts and create a registry for the future that is most useful to improving eye health and vision care. The AOA launched the registry in 2015.
Who are you? AOA is letting America know
AOA’s public health observance calls out the bait-and-switch of online vision tests with a campaign emphasizing why there is no substitute for in-person eye health care with a doctor of optometry.
Developing a new generation of optometric leaders
In a virtual kick-off, the AOA launches Leadership Institute with 130 doctors of optometry from across the country. A project of the AOA Leadership Development Committee, the Institute is a yearlong program designed to grow and support the next generation of leaders in the profession.