Eyeworld

169 March 2015 EW MEETING REPORTER Meet the ManagementPlus ICD-10 Consultant. On your staff. This year. Keeps your claims cashflow coming in through the coding transition with accurate billing Converts ICD-9 codes or gives step-by-step guidance on coding your Dx Helps your staff transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 ManagementPlus is the fully certified EHR and practice management software suite made from the ground-up for and by ophthalmologists and eye techs since 1995. Learn more about how your practice can thrive with eyecare-specific EHR at managementplus.com, or call 1.800.695.6994. Learn more at managementplus.com/current-events ICD-9 ICD-10 Steady billing cashflow through ICD transition Accurate diagnosis codes Automatic or guided conversions Ophthalmology-specific EHR ICD-10 is coming. Would an ICD-10 consultant help reduce your practice's coding conversion errors & help maintain a steady cash flow this year? Or scan here! ultrasound, the stress on the zonules, and all the ultrasonic ener- gy we use … this is quality care." The topic switched to astigma- tism correction with Dr. Solomon presenting routine and challenging cases of toric IOL implantation. "When planning for astigma- tism correction, not any singular device is going to give you the right answer all the time," he said. "It's helpful to have a couple of different things to look at and make the best judgment." The tools he uses include the Al- con toric calculator, the Barrett toric calculator, the Verion Image Guided System (Alcon), the LENSTAR optical biometer, and the ORA intraopera- tive aberrometer (Alcon). By measuring sphere, cylinder, and axis multiple ways with all of these devices, Dr. Solomon has dramatically improved his toric lens outcomes—89% of his patients with toric lenses are now within a half diopter of emmetropia. Editors' note: Dr. Cionni has financial interests with Alcon and Glaukos. Dr. Donnenfeld has financial interests with Abbott Medical Optics, Alcon, and Bausch + Lomb. Dr. Lane has financial interests with Alcon, Bausch + Lomb, ClarVista, Kala Pharmaceuticals, Rapid Pathogen Screening, TearScience, and VisionCare. Dr. Solomon has financial interests with Alcon. Dr. Weinstock has financial interests with Alcon, Bausch + Lomb, and LENSAR. Legislative and regulatory update Saturday's ASOA practice manage- ment program began with a legis- lative and regulatory update from Nancey McCann, director of gov- ernment relations for ASCRS•ASOA, Fairfax, Va. Ms. McCann highlighted prior- ity issues for ophthalmology, which include enacting the repeal and re- place SGR legislation, rescinding the elimination of 10- and 90-day global periods, the 21st Century Cures Initiative, repealing the IPAB, private contracting/patient shared responsi- bility, the Drug Compounding Law, sterilization of ocular surgical instru- ments, Medicare Advantage Plans, the PQRS/EHR/Value-Based Payment Modifier, ASC quality reporting, and accountable care organizations. SGR was the first topic high- lighted. Over the years, the House and Senate have enacted short-term patches to fix Medicare's SGR, she said. With the last patch, a 24% cut was averted, but this was only for a 12-month period and will only extend through the end of March 2015. This means that without a fix by April 1, there's a possibility of facing a 21% reduction. Congress did not act during the lame duck session, Ms. McCann said, and as of January 2015, the cost of the repeal of SGR is now about $131 billion. The SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization Act, which will be reintroduced in Congress, would repeal the SGR immediately, and it includes 5 years of a 0.5% update to Medicare physi- cian payments. It also consolidates the 3 existing quality programs (and eliminates all the penalties associ- ated with them) into a new Mer- it-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) that rewards providers who meet performance thresholds and penalizes those who do not. continued on page 172

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