Eyeworld

70 | EYEWORLD | APRIL 2022 ATARACT C Contact Maloney: rm@maloneyvision.com Raviv: TalRaviv@EyeCenterofNY.com friction. It was also hard for the optometric practices to keep track of which patient had what procedure, when, and how much they owed. To try to address some of these issues, Dr. Raviv noted the utility of CoFi. "In seeking to follow all of the best practice guidelines, and with the steady influx of new IOLs with different prices, different refractive packages, and differ- ent postoperative options, our pricing paper- work kept getting updated and unmanageable," he said. "Also, payment separation was creating confusion instead of simplicity and affecting the patient experience." Dr. Raviv co-founded CoFi, which is a cloud- based payment and reporting technology for elective medical procedures (ophthalmology is the initial focus) that allows for simple, compli- ant, multi-party payments. With CoFi, there is an initial setup, where all the providers are onboarded—the sur- geon(s), the ODs, the facilities, and even anesthesiology (for RLE or self-pay). Then the practice's refractive packages are set up. "During surgical booking, it's as simple as a few clicks to present a patient with a complete, detailed, multi-party invoice of their upcoming proce- dure," he said. "With one credit card 'swipe,' the patient is able to make direct payments to each of the providers." The digital invoice can also be emailed to the patient, who can then make a secure payment on their smartphone or comput- er on their own time. "My practice has been using CoFi for more than a year with great feedback," Dr. Raviv said. "The optometrists love the reporting dash- board to track their patients' booking, chosen refractive package, payments made, and dates of upcoming surgery. Facilities are also able to remove the pain point of same-day elective IOL/femto payments, which requires continued training of front desk staff and can still lead to patient confusion, dissatisfaction, and even case cancellation." CoFi is now being utilized by many prac- tices of all types and sizes around the country, he added. "For collaborative care to continue in ophthalmology and optometry, we must all strive to do so with the utmost transparency, compliance, fairness, and clarity," Dr. Raviv said. Dr. Maloney noted that comanagement is popular, and he sees it as the way of the future because "the way to run a healthcare system is to have everyone working to the highest level of their ability." In general, he said this means that you want surgeons doing surgery and people who are experts at eye exams doing postop care. Traditionally, the surgeon has been respon- sible for preop, surgery, and postop care. "The surgeon doesn't have the time to do enough surgery to be an outstanding surgeon," Dr. Maloney said. He sees more and more centers around the country where surgery is performed and postop care is delegated to other providers, within the practice or in the community. Dr. Maloney likened this shifting mindset to the shift away from ophthalmologists prescrib- ing glasses and contacts, with this being done more by optometrists or other personnel in the practice. "The last 4 decades have seen a gradual shift toward ophthalmologists focusing on dis- eases and surgery and optometrists focusing on primary eyecare," he said. Dr. Maloney noted the importance of a conversation early on. "The key for patient acceptance is to explain the process of postop care ahead of time. You have to educate the patients before surgery so they understand the roles and that they have a choice about where their postop care is done," he said, adding that it's important that patients sign transfer of care forms if they are choosing to see a different physician for postop care. continued from page 69 "You have to educate the patients before surgery so they understand the roles and that they have a choice about where their postop care is done." —Robert Maloney, MD

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