Eyeworld

could not afford cataract surgery. I was then able to prove that there were many patients who did not qualify for our hospital's financial assistance program who would bene- fit from Operation Sight. Identifying this gap was important in order to get the hospital's support. Also, don't be afraid to start small. Our first Operation Sight surgery was performed on a patient who had cataract surgery done years before and only needed his second eye done. The next year we were able to get the hospital to approve cataract surgeries for two patients who needed both eyes done. As we continue to participate in the program, our number of volunteer surgeries will continue to grow. Looking ahead Dr. Allen hopes that exposing her fellow residents to charitable work now will encourage them to stay committed to volunteerism as practicing ophthalmologists. Dr. Allen's commitment has resulted in measurable good in her community and has created the ground work for future residents to do the same. Join Dr. Allen and her colleagues by exploring the opportunity for bringing the ASCRS Foundation Operation Sight program to your res- idency or fellowship program For more information on Operation Sight, contact Evelyn Morales at emorales@ascrs.org or 703-788-5786. EW Contact information Allen: allenfkeri@gmail.com Donaldson: jdonaldson@ascrs.org Morales: emorales@ascrs.org the cataract surgery. After several months of persistence, they even- tually agreed to cover all costs from IOLs and OVDs to surgery center fees, as long as the surgeon and anesthesiologist agreed to donate their time. ASCRS Foundation: What advice would you give to a resident or fellow who is trying to get their medical program on board with the Operation Sight program? Dr. Allen: Start early by gathering the facts. I started with contacting the Operation Sight coordinator to find out about the need in our area. It turns out that the Carolinas were extremely underserved with a significant patient wait list. Next, I worked with our department to find out what programs were currently in place for underserved patients who ASCRS Foundation: What steps did you have to take to get the program started at Palmetto Health? Dr. Allen: The first and easiest step was getting our program director on board. She was immediately excit- ed about the opportunity and was willing to volunteer as one of the Operation Sight cataract surgeons, donating her time and surgical skills. ASCRS Foundation: What was your greatest challenge in getting the program started? Dr. Allen: The greatest challenge was getting the hospital/health system on board. Our hospital has a strict no industry policy for residen- cy programs. Therefore, we had to get the hospital administration to agree to donate the entire cost of Keri Allen, MD, brought the Operation Sight program to Palmetto Health Center I n honor of this month's Nation- al Sight Week (October 14–20), the ASCRS Foundation is high- lighting the amazing work of one of the National Sight Week and Operation Sight volunteers. Small steps can have the greatest im- pact. This is what Keri Allen, MD, an ophthalmology resident at Pal- metto Health Center, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, discovered when she spearheaded the launch of Operation Sight at her residency program in 2016. Earlier that year, Dr. Allen heard about the program at an ophthalmology meeting and immediately contact- ed the ASCRS Foundation for more information. After reaching out to the Foundation, Dr. Allen learned that Operation Sight is an initiative that aims to alleviate cataract blindness in the United States through a grow- ing volunteer network who perform cataract surgeries on needy patients in their own communities. She also discovered that there was a waiting list of eligible patients in her area, which spurred her to action. Interview with Dr. Allen ASCRS Foundation: What made you want to get involved in the program? Dr. Allen: My colleague and I both thought that it would be a great opportunity for some of our under- served resident clinic patients to obtain needed cataract surgery. EW ASCRS NEWS October 2018 by Evelyn Morales Operation Sight Program Manager and Julia Donaldson Foundation Development Coordinator Spotlight on a volunteer surgeon 15 Dr. Allen and Bethany Markowitz, MD, with an Operation Sight patient Source: Palmetto Health Insightful news from the ASCRS Foundation measures and lessen the complex- ity of reporting and scoring, Dr. Parekh said. There are currently four performance categories, each with distinct requirement and scoring methodologies. "Allowing clinicians to get credit across multiple MIPS categories by engaging in a single set of actions would make the program less confusing," he said. For example, Dr. Parekh said he thinks that tracking outcomes through a clinical data registry and using such data to improve patient care should count for multiple categories of MIPS. He added that the American Academy of Ophthal- mology's IRIS Registry serves as a key tool in reporting MIPS data and tracking outcomes in the ophthal- mology specialty. Measure implementation is another ongoing challenge. "Our member societies continue to devel- op new specialty-focused measures, but CMS threatens to eliminate them when they do not immedi- ately produce enough data to set reliable performance benchmarks," Dr. Parekh said. He added that CMS designates some established mea- sures as "topped out" and removes them from the program, even when they continue to improve care and continue to be meaningful for spe- cialty physicians. Other witnesses at the hearing included David Barbe, MD, Amer- ican Medical Association, Frank Opelka, MD, American College of Surgeons, Ashok Rai, MD, Ameri- can Medical Group Association, and Kurt Ransohoff, MD, America's Physician Groups. More from the hearing can be found at energycom- merce.house.gov/hearings/macra- and-mips-an-update-on-the-merit- based-incentive-payment-system. EW Contact information Parekh: parag2020@gmail.com ASCRS continued from page 14

• Cover