Eyeworld

SPRING 2025 | EYEWORLD | 19 Contact Hewitt: suehewitt111@gmail.com Parekh: parag2020@gmail.com ophthalmology. Dr. Hewitt noted that congres- sional members with backgrounds in medicine can often be allies, as they understand a lot of the background and how physician payment works. "Sometimes they don't always agree with us on all of the issues, but they're often helpful advocates," she said. Getting members involved and bolstering support for eyePAC is also important. "We want to make sure everyone knows where their mon- ey is going and how their donations to eyePAC impact their practices directly," Dr. Hewitt said. "We want to get members in the mindset of being involved, especially when we need more voices out there fighting for our patients." themselves [to their legislators] so we can have more of those personal relationships," she said, adding that, "it's crucial to form these relation- ships not just with legislators in large cities but in suburban and rural areas as well." Dr. Hewitt also highlighted the importance of working with other medical and ophthal- mological societies. "I think under Dr. Parekh's leadership, our collaboration with other societ- ies in ophthalmology and other medical soci- eties has really taken shape," she said, adding that committee members interface with various organizations, and it's helpful to be able to divide and conquer different roles to make sure everything is covered. "We always want to have a representative at the table," she said. Additionally, Dr. Hewitt noted the re- cent addition of liaisons from ASCRS Clinical Committees sitting in on Government Relations Committee meetings to ensure there is commu- nication throughout the ASCRS committees. While government relations topics might not be things that people want to deal with on a daily basis, she stressed that these issues "affect all of us so much." Particularly for smaller prac- tices, even small reimbursement changes can have a big impact. Dr. Hewitt is excited to join the ASCRS Executive Committee and said she thinks it's im- portant to have a representative for government relations in the leadership of the society. "I think it's important because the government relations issues generally overlap with the concerns of the different committees and the Executive Commit- tee members. Sometimes it might be a cataract issue, sometimes it might be glaucoma. I think it's important that we have that seat on the Ex- ecutive Committee so we can keep those issues at the forefront," she said. Dr. Hewitt said it's great for all ASCRS members to be involved, but it's especially important for leadership because their opinions and presence carry a lot of weight. Looking ahead to her new role, Dr. Hewitt said that one of her goals is to fight for the fix of physician payments and stabilize the Medicare fee schedule to help avoid the constant 2–3% cuts every year. There has been some movement on this, and some legislators are becoming more aware of these issues. With many new legisla- tors in Congress, it's imperative to continue to educate them on issues important to ASCRS and Government Relations and eyePAC at the ASCRS Annual Meeting The ASCRS Government Relations sympo- sium at the ASCRS Annual Meeting will take place on the Main Stage on Sunday, April 27 from 10:30–11:30 a.m. and will feature William Flanary, MD, an ophthalmol- ogist also known as "Dr. Glaucomflecken." In his own unique style, Dr. Glaucomflecken will talk about the challenges facing the American healthcare system, the impor- tance of advocacy, and how physicians can advocate for themselves and their patients. This session will be followed by a VIP luncheon for eyePAC supporters with Dr. Glaucomflecken as the special guest. Attendees who donate $500 or more to eyePAC in 2025 are invited to attend this lunch, ask questions, and take pictures with Dr. Glaucomflecken. Contributions will be accepted at the door. *Contributions to eyePAC are not tax deduct- ible. Contributions to eyePAC can only be made by U.S. citizens or legal residents of the U.S.

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