EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/511377
EW NEWS & OPINION May 2015 27 geons, with involvement from the Asia-Pacific Association of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons, the Brazilian Association of Cataract & Refractive Surgery, and the European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons. Con- tinuing this type of collaboration will help to strengthen our learning experiences. [Third], in addition to ex- panding our education through collaboration, our society and its members realize the importance of serving those in need. The ASCRS Foundation is providing humani- tarian eyecare to the world's under- served—both internationally and domestically. Recently, our practice at the Eye Institute of Utah, in collaboration with the University of Utah's John Moran Eye Center and the ASCRS Foundation, were able to provide cataract surgery to 27 patients in the mountain west, who otherwise may have never had the chance to see again. The first year of this project was meant to "dip our toes in the water," and based on the early success, we expect a growing swell of humanitarian work through this worthwhile endeavor. Industry participation will be a big part of the ASCRS Foundation's efforts to fund charitable cataract surgeries across the country, but we also need surgeon volunteers and financial donations from our members to provide this service. Go to ASCRSFoundation.org to see how for society's future our organization began in 1974, our leaders were the outliers in eyecare. But they were seeking better ways to care for their patients—ways that looked further outside the box than their colleagues were looking. Today, we are able to witness the entrepre- neurship and innovation that make this symposium one of the most cut- ting-edge in the world. It is import- ant that we continue to foster that "outside-the-box" type of thinking by encouraging thoughtful discus- sion, strategic partnerships, net- working, and interaction with our younger members. Another leader in entrepreneurship and innovation is Tesla Motors. Founded in 2003, a group of outlier engineers wanted to prove that electric cars could be bet- ter than gas-powered cars. Inspired by inventor Nikolas Tesla, they first designed a powertrain for a sports car built around an AC induction motor patented by him in 1888. As you can tell, I'm excited about this, for a variety of reasons. We want you to check out this tech- nology and be inspired to create and innovate. It is my honor to welcome you to come to Exhibit Hall D where we will have a beautiful red 2015 Tesla Model S on display from 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. each day. But the best part about this is you can win this Tesla! You can enter in 2 ways: 1) Visit the exhibitors in the exhibit hall and ask questions—they will have tickets to distribute. 2) Make you can contribute or participate. [Fourth, and] equally important to our organization and our individ- ual practices is our alignment with ASOA. Our ophthalmic administra- tors and staff help our practices to survive and to succeed through the administrative mazes that we all must navigate today. Let's acknowl- edge and thank Sondra Hoffman and the entire ASOA Board for all that they have done and continue to do to keep our practices up and running, despite all of the challeng- es. Our members continue to be challenged by regulatory burdens. Most recently, CMS issued a memo requiring all intraocular instruments to be terminally sterilized and stored for later use. This would have meant that each and every surgery center would be required to have enough instrument sets to complete a day's schedule … a tremendous and needless cost burden for those of you who own ASCs. ASCRS•ASOA leadership, in collaboration with Nick Mamalis, MD, the AAO, and the Outpatient Ophthalmic Surgery Society, was able to educate CMS, through intense efforts, on the special needs of intraocular instru- mentation, averting this costly and unneeded burden. Thanks to all of you who were involved in this effort. [Fifth], the backbones of our field are the concepts of entrepr - neurship and innovation. When a donation to the ASCRS Founda- tion at the ASCRS•ASOA Gateway. The grand prize winner will be announced at the ASCRS•ASOA Gateway on Monday, April 20 at 2:45 p.m. We're asking you to discover new technologies and help end treatable blindness—and for that we'll give you a chance to win a 2015 Tesla Model S. Sounds like a win-win to me! Now [for the sixth and last part], I want to discuss supporting advo- cacy and increasing our involve- ment. Just last week, SGR repeal and replacement legislation passed the Senate and the President signed the bill into law. This was all thanks to the efforts, calls, and emails of more than 2,000 of our members! This is why it is so important to continue to support and increase our advoca- cy efforts. You need to "Get in the Game!" and "Stay in the game." We all want to take good care of our patients, but so often the government seems to get in the way. Most of us do not enjoy taking time out of our practices, or out of our lives, to get involved in politics. However, we know that if and when we get involved, we are a powerful society that is heard. Tying in with my desire to collaborate with like organizations, I think there are many opportunities to align with other societies when our interests are similar. An example of this is our participation with the Alliance of Specialty Medicine for the legislative fly-in each summe . Last year, our members traveled to Washington, D.C. to speak with their members of Congress directly on issues that affected them. Although ophthal- mologist represented the highest percentage of specialists, we need more of you to get involved in ASCRS' government relations efforts. Look around you. Your col- leagues are experiencing the same problems and are impacted by the same legislative and regulatory issues that you are. And we can work through those issues, but only if we are strong and united. Any time you receive something advocacy-related from ASCRS, I want you to remem- ber that the issues we are facing can only be handled together. We CAN be heard! EW Contact information Cionni: rcionni@theeyeinstitute.com Outgoing president Richard Lewis, MD, congratulates Dr. Cionni. Source: ASCRS