| Issue 28 | July 25, 2014 |
In This Edition
- Top Story
- Breaking News
- ICD-10 Coding Challenge
- Fresh Day™ and Fresh 30™ Success Stories
- Words from our Vendors
- Around Vision Source®
- Give Us Your Feedback
Issue 28
The Gazette
Archives
Contact Vision Source® at 888-558-2020 or [email protected]
Top Story
Vision Source® Doctors Reap from the ACO Seeds They've Sown
Vision Source® doctor members are coming to us with a variety of success stories regarding their involvement with accountable care organizations (ACOs) in recent months. That shows the results of the hard work that has gone into laying the groundwork and developing the material that Vision Source® administrators and doctors can use to introduce themselves and their services to the primary care providers and third-party payors in their areas.
Not only has Vision Source® announced formalized relationships with WellMed, Memorial Hermann, USMD, Baptist Health and Cox Health among others, there are also at least 60 arrangements in the pipeline. That's a win-win-win. ACOs and other health care entities benefit from their ability to refer their members who need eye care services to an established, quality network of providers. Vision Source® ODs win because their offices can attract and serve a new population of patients—as well as their friends and family members—for a fair reimbursement. And the 7 million patients represented by these arrangements win because they have access to a strong regional network of the best eye care practitioners I've met.
Look for the next issue of Vision Source® OD coming soon. In it, four Vision Source® administrators share their early experience with arrangements between ACOs and Vision Source® member doctors in their areas. And here's a video with Jonathan Cargo, OD, of Irving, Texas, in which he talks about the increased referrals he's seen since Vision Source® and USMD developed a contractual agreement. "I had working relationships with many of the doctors in the network before, but we weren’t getting too many of the referrals. The networks weren't that solid. Now we have systems in place where it's becoming automatic. To me, that adds great value to my membership with Vision Source®."
Be well,
Jim Greenwood
President and CEO
Vision Source®
Breaking News
Exciting Announcement Coming Soon
Please watch this video for great news about how Vision Source®, EyeMed and Essilor are bringing more value to patients and members. You'll read more about this in a special edition of The Gazette next week.
Click here to play video.
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Fresh Day™ for Astigmatism Expanded Parameters Available
Sauflon announces consumer rebates
The parameter range for Fresh Day™ for Astigatism now includes a power range from plano to -6.00D, (in 0.25DS steps) and -6.50 to -9.00D (in 0.50 DS steps). Cylinder options are 0.75D, -1.25D and -1.75D. Available axis are 10°, 20°, 60°, 70°, 80°, 90°, 100°, 110°, 120°, 160°, 170° and 180°. Sauflon has the full stock in the majority of these parameters. The remaining ones will be available in the next few weeks.
Consumer rebates are now available for Fresh Day™ and Fresh 30™ contact lenses. Patients can select to donate a portion or all of their rebate to Optometry Giving Sight. Find the rebates when you log in at visionsource.com.
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Trusted Colleague: Doctor Dares to Shake up the Status Quo
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This is the seventh installment in our Trusted Colleagues series—profiles of high-performing offices that exemplify the best practices of Vision Source® membership—networking with colleagues at local meetings and The Exchange, engaging with elite vendors and delivering the gold standard of patient care.
In the Vision Source® spirit of collegiality, these members have also agreed to answer any questions you may have about their experience and included their email addresses.
Our Trusted Colleague for this edition is Patricia Poma, OD, from Bloomfield Township, Mich., who shares that the practice doctors decided they needed to take action to stay competitive. Click here to read her story.
ICD-10 Coding Challenge
How Would You Code This Case?
Take advantage of these regular ICD-10 challenges to bolster your understanding of the new coding system to take effect in 2015. Your financial future depends on understanding how to use these new codes.
Case #11
50 YO WM
- CC: "bump" on eyelid
- HPI: left upper lid, has increased slowly, over a couple weeks, painless, hard, no crusting or discharge
- Medical Hx: unremarkable
- Ocular Hx: unremarkable
- External: hardened lump on left upper lid near center of lid, no pain on palpation
- Internal: unremarkable
How would you code this case using the ICD-10 Code Set? Email your answer to [email protected]. You will automatically receive an acknowledgement and the correcting coding for the case.
Fresh Day™ and Fresh 30™ Success Stories
Fresh Day™ Provides Excellent Optics
"I am very happy with the Fresh Day™ family of products. The material is comfortable, the multifocal optics are excellent and the toric stability is consistent. The price makes premium daily disposables affordable."
– Dr. Kimberly Tinge of Highland, Ill.
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Order Fresh Day™ and Fresh 30™ Lenses as Usual
For now, you can continue to order Sauflon products with absolute and continued confidence. The pending acquisition of Sauflon by CooperVision is not resulting in any immediate changes to the ordering process. These lenses are available through ABB OPTICAL GROUP and OOGP or directly through Sauflon, at the contract pricing that remains in place. Vision Source® members are finding that the Fresh Day™ and Fresh 30™ brand contacts are 'go-to' brands in many cases because they perform extremely well and are available at the best price point in the category. Fresh Day™ and Fresh 30™ remains the exclusive, private-label brands for Vision Source® offices. 
High praise for these lenses continues to flow. Many members are telling Vision Source® that these are some of the best contact lenses they have used. A large number of members have been stocking and selling the lenses over the past several months and selling year supplies very easily. If you haven't tried it you really should.
Words from our Vendors
In this section, you will find the latest offers and promotions from Vision Source® vendors. For more details, log in at visionsource.com and view the vendor book.
Aspex Offers a Free Frame Promotion
Visit the vendor book to learn the specifics of an exclusive offer for Vision Source® practices from frame vendor Aspex.
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Fatheadz Provides Unique Collections of Oversized Eyewear
Visit the vendor book to learn about the offerings from Fatheadz. These include John Raymond, the latest addition to the family, Preferred Stock, the Fatheadz premier line of XL eyewear for men, and Dea Preferred Stock, a collection of 16 styles for women.
Around Vision Source®
Practice Development
Regulatory Compliance Alert
By Walt West, OD, FAAO, Vice President, Practice Development
We continue to learn, after the fact, that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has many regulatory compliance requirements within it that have seemly gone undiscovered by, or at least not communicated from, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). One example is the requirement for you as a provider to demonstrate that you are making an effort to comply with federal and state fraud and abuse statutes. Now really, do you as an ethical private practitioner and small business owner not know that you should only charge for services provided? Do you know that you shouldn't upcharge on services? Do you know that you shouldn’t provide care that's not medically necessary? Of course you do. Check "yes" for all of the questions above. But did you know that you must now demonstrate that you as a provider are aware of these things and that it has to be documented? Probably not, please read on…
Here's how it began.
The ACA mandated that all physicians who render services to Medicare or Medicaid patients establish a Fraud and Abuse Compliance Program. Due to increasing evidence that some providers are performing increasing amounts of care that does not meet medically necessary requirements, as well as evidence that physician documentation of medical record is significantly lacking, federal and private payers are increasing audit activity.
In 2014, Congress declared that, "despite doing more audits than ever before, Medicare just isn't getting the job done when it comes to decreasing the amount of improper payments." Thus, Congress has instructed CMS to develop better systems to decrease fraud and abuse.
Optometric Business Solutions has created a very simple training video and Fraud and Abuse Compliance Manual for Vision Source® that will be available by Aug. 15. After you and your staff watch the compliance training video and adopt the policies in the manual provided with the program, your practice will be in compliance by having acknowledged the need for accurate reporting of physician services and ethical conduct in the business of health care. In addition, it demonstrates that your practice is making every effort to understand and remain in compliance with the federal and state fraud and abuse statutes that are, at best, nebulously defined at the present time.
What do you do now?
Sit tight for now; more information will follow in the next Gazette regarding where you can find the necessary compliance material and how to get it ordered.
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Last Chance to Sign up for Contact Lens SpringBoard Program
Nearly 300 Vision Source® members have signed up for the contact lens SpringBoard program, and less than 100 slots remain. If you’d like to increase your overall contact lens sales, convert your patients to daily disposable contact lenses, increase your sales of contact lens annual supplies and decrease the number of patients walking out with their prescription, sign up today. Members who have participated have improved their contact lens sales by an average of 31 percent.
Sign up to participate for free and on your own schedule. You'll receive a marketing kit with the materials you need to maximize contact lens sales success, a Training and Activity Guide with step-by-step instructions for becoming a contact lens center of excellence and a recorded webinar to share with your staff. Register here.
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Make Your Office A Practice of Distinction
The Vision Source® Practices of Distinction tour is coming to the Western U.S. in August and September. This six-hour program (luncheon included) features tips and tactics to help transform your office into a practice of distinction and includes 3 hours of COPE-approved CE. Here's a look at the featured presentations:
- Health Care Reform, "The Good News for Your Practice"
- Profit, Patients, and Free Time, "How You Can Get More"
- Proven Strategies to Increase Contact Lens and Optical Profit
Upcoming dates and locations for the Practices of Distinction tour are:
- Aug. 13 – San Diego
- Aug. 14 – Los Angeles
- Sept. 12 – Seattle
- Sept. 19 – Las Vegas (at Vision Expo West)
The Practices of Distinction program is winning raves from attendees. Here’s what a few had to say:
Dr. April Jasper is a fabulous speaker and an inspiration for those of us who struggle with the constant life/work balance and our attempt to excel doing it all! I would highly recommend spending time with her!
It's wonderful to have a colleague like Dr. Jasper who can get you to think about how you can still raise the bar—even when you think your office runs very well and you have nothing more to learn. I enjoyed the program today and would definitely recommend it.
I love to hear another doctor say "This is what we do in my practice, and this is what works." I loved Dr. Jasper's presentation.
For complete information on all cities, venues, agenda and to register, click here or go to practicesofdistinction.com.
Practices of Distinction Featured SpeakerApril Jasper, OD, FAAO, has been a member of Vision Source® since 2003 and an administrator since 2007. She graduated with the highest honors from Nova Southeastern University in 1995. She completed her residency in hospital-based optometry, ocular disease and contact lenses. Dr. Jasper currently lives and practices in West Palm Beach, Fla. |
Marketing
Don't Be Afraid of Converting Website
"The Avelient support team was easy to work with and even integrated our old patient forms into the new site. Our patients love the mobile site and find the website to be user-friendly. The information on the site was perfect and easy to find in the new contemporary design. The patients can easily find directions, meet the doctors and staff, download forms and learn about the products we carry."
– Dr. Sarah Harbove of Titusville, Fla.
Ready for Your Conversion?
The current turnaround time for the conversion is roughly one week. Click here and an Avelient team member will contact you within a few days to work with you on customizing your website. The basic conversion is a benefit of membership, and many members have chosen the Plus Plan for an additional $10 per month. The new sites are optimized for mobile and search engine optimization so that new patients will find you easily.
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Doctor Goes the Extra Mile to Help Elderly Patients
"We are located in rural area where everyone knows everybody. We try to do the little extras for our patients. One of our elderly ladies walks to her appointments, but we usually take her home. Another man left his car running while at his appointment and ran out of gas. Dr. Bynum took him home. We try to pamper our older patients. Some want us to call them the morning of appointments or even an hour before so they forget."
– Amy Carel and Frances Bynum, OD, (pictured) of Martin, Tenn.
How has The Gold Standard book helped you raise the bar? Email [email protected].
Vision Source® Member News
Recognitions
Horace Deal, OD, of Statesboro, Ga., is featured in this new clip demonstrating sports vision training with Georgia Southern's quarterback. This technique of sight drills to train peripheral vision will help with the player's balance, speed and reaction time on the football field. Click here to see the video.
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