Eyeworld

lows at the Michael E. DeBakey Vet- erans Affairs Medical Center and Ben Taub General Hospital, Houston. Dr. Khandelwal received her medical degree from the University of Texas at Houston. She completed her residency at Emory University, Atlanta, and completed a clinical fellowship at Minnesota Eye Consul- tants, Minneapolis. Dr. Khandelwal has published numerous articles, and her clinical interests include cornea transplanta- tion, cataract surgery, and refractive surgery. Interested in becoming a vol- unteer with ASCRS? Visit ascrs.org/ volunteer. Not a member? Joining is easy. Visit ascrs.org/join for full information. EW Contact information Monasterio: dmonasterio@ascrs.org for the YES membership of ASCRS. She is also a member of the ASCRS Challenging and Complicated Cata- ract Surgery Subcommittee. Dr. Khandelwal was an award recipient of the 2016 ASCRS/ European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) Young Physician Exchange Program. This joint program is aimed at furthering relations between the international and domestic societies, exposing the physicians to each other's meetings, and observing clinical practices in other countries. During the 2016 ESCRS Annual Meeting, Dr. Khandel- wal had the opportunity to observe Rudy Nuijts, MD, and Thomas Kohen, MD, in their clinic for a few days. Dr. Khandelwal is an assistant professor of ophthalmology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston. She also trains residents and cornea fel- thalmic Symposium, Dr. Khandelwal served as a co-chair of both the Oph- thalmologist Program and the Young Eye Surgeons (YES) Program. Dr. Khandelwal has served as a faculty member and co-chair for the ASCRS Combined Ophthalmic Symposium since 2014. In addition, Dr. Khandelwal has participated as a co-instructor in the ASCRS Skills Transfer wet lab at the ASCRS•ASOA Annual Meeting since 2014. She has assisted in both the Advanced Phaco and YES Resident/ Fellow Refractive Cataract and Ante- rior Segment Surgery sessions. Dr. Khandelwal is highly active in ASCRS. In 2018, she was nomi- nated and confirmed as a member of the YES Clinical Committee. In this esteemed position, she works with the other committee members to develop programs, special reports, webinars articles, and other services A SCRS is a member-led organization. Much of the education, informa- tion, and other offerings are developed by anteri- or segment specialists for anterior segment specialists. The success of the organization is highly impacted by the continued dedication and volunteerism of the individuals who serve as educators. Every month, we feature one of these member volunteers. We introduce you to individuals who have contributed to the society's outstanding education, helping members strengthen their skills, sharpen their expertise, and provide better care to patients. This month's spotlight member is Sumitra Khandelwal, MD. In August at the 2018 Combined Oph- UPDATE 14 by Denise Monasterio ASCRS Marketing and Communications Manager ASCRS member spotlight: Sumitra Khandelwal, MD I n late July, a hearing on "MA- CRA and MIPS: An Update on the Merit-based Incentive Payment System" took place in the House Energy and Com- merce Health Subcommittee. At the hearing, Parag Parekh, MD, State ASCRS Government Relations Committee chair testifies at congressional hearing supporting MIPS and maintaining viable fee-for-service option College, Pennsylvania, chair of the ASCRS Government Relations Committee, testified on behalf of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine, which represents more than 100,000 physicians and surgeons. Dr. Parekh highlighted the two value-based reimbursement tracks under Medicare enacted by MACRA: MIPS or advanced alternative pay- ment models (APM). But he noted that for many specialists, including ophthalmologists, MIPS is the only meaningful and viable pathway. "Many specialists have no oppor- tunity to participate in advanced APMs because they're designed for a primary care focus," he added. Dr. Parekh spoke in favor of the MIPS program. "Listening to physicians' concerns, Congress created MIPS, which streamlined the existing quality reporting programs and allows physicians to focus on measures and activities that most closely align to our practices," he said. For ophthalmology, those mea- sures include outcomes measures, including for cataract surgery. In addition, it is critically important that Congress maintain a viable fee-for-service option in Medicare Part B, along with the MIPS program, to be sure that specialists can continue to meaning- fully engage in quality improvement initiatives and deliver high quality care, Dr. Parekh said. For many spe- cialists—such as ophthalmologists who have made tremendous strides in cataract surgery by reducing com- plications and cost variations—there are no available alternative payment models and limited opportunities to develop them. Fee-for-service remains the best reimbursement model for specialists. Dr. Parekh thanked Congress for the recently enacted MIPS technical corrections, which further ensure specialists will be able to continue to participate in MIPS. He said the MIPS technical corrections give CMS additional flexibility to determine appropriate weight of the MIPS cost category, allow CMS to gradually increase the performance threshold before reaching mean or median standard, and exclude Medicare Part B drugs from MIPS payment adjust- ments and eligibility determination. Congress should encourage CMS to make additional modifica- tions to support more meaningful Dr. Parekh testifies on behalf of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine Source: House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee continued on page 15

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