Eyeworld

EW NEWS & OPINION March 2017 21 ative services provided in 10-minute intervals for all 10- and 90-day glob- al surgical bundles. Instead, only physicians in practices of 10 or more in certain states will have to report CPT Code 99024 for follow-up visits for high volume procedures with 10- and 90-codes. To achieve this change, ASCRS and the medical community advocated for signatures to a bipartisan House letter to CMS led by Reps. Larry Bucshon, MD (R- IN), and Ami Bera, MD (D-CA), and co-signed by 110 members of the House, urging the original proposal be revised to instead collect data from a sample, as required under the MACRA statute. Preserving access to care In late 2016, ASCRS-supported legis- lation, the 21st Century Cures Act, was enacted to continue to improve medical innovation and accelerate approval of new drugs and devices. In 2017, we look forward to again supporting legislation to implement a viable Medicare private contract- ing option and repeal the Indepen- dent Payment Advisory Board. What can you do? ASCRS encourages our members to "Get in the Game" through eye- PAC and the eyeContact Grassroots Program, to help achieve our policy goals. ASCRS and ASOA members are encouraged to travel to Washing- ton, D.C., to lobby Congress for our priority issues directly during the annual Alliance of Specialty Medi- cine Fly-In. This year, we partnered with the Young Eye Surgeons Com- mittee to increase younger member involvement in advocacy programs by introducing a new scholarship program to bring five residents or fellows to the Fly-In. Many of the achievements listed above are a direct result of the advocacy during the Fly-In by the scholarship win- ners and their fellow ASCRS•ASOA members. Through both eyePAC and the eyeContact program, ASCRS urges its members to step off the sidelines and get into the game to ensure their voices are heard. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact ASCRS Government Relations at 703-591- 2220. EW Contact information Madson: amadson@ascrs.org the Quality category and maintained several ACI measures that are out of the control of the physician. ASCRS will continue to work with our col- leagues in the medical community to advocate for additional changes. ASCRS has also submitted comments on other provisions of MACRA, including patient relationship codes and episode-based resource use measures. ASCRS members are also participating in CMS technical expert panels to provide feedback on episode-based measures. To prepare ASCRS•ASOA mem- bers to comply with this new pro- gram, we have developed in-depth training materials and launched a new members-only MACRA Center webpage ascrs.org/macracenter. We are hosting an intensive in-person training session as part of ASOA on Tour and plan additional oppor- tunities for members to learn how they can best succeed under the new program. Preserving payment rates for glaucoma and retina codes ASCRS and the ophthalmic com- munity also achieved a key victory when CMS agreed to reverse its cuts to several retina and glaucoma pro- cedure codes to the original recom- mendations from the RUC (Relative Value Scale Update Committee of the American Medical Association). In the 2017 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule, CMS finalized revising the values to the original RUC recommended values. In an effort to fight the steep cuts made for 2016—for some codes as much as 30%—ASCRS and ophthalmic community advocacy prompted a bipartisan House of Representa- tives letter signed by more than 80 members and two bipartisan Senate letters addressing the specific cuts to ophthalmic codes, and a House Doc- tors Caucus letter cautioning CMS against using a flawed methodology that solely takes time into account and does not include intensity, as required by current law. Reduced burden for global data collection Also as a result of ASCRS and surgi- cal community advocacy, the 2017 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule included major changes to CMS' onerous proposal to require that all physicians code all postoper- The Original Connor* Wands Multi-Use Manipulators 3360 Scherer Drive, Suite B, St. Petersburg, FL 33716 800-637-4346 • Tel: 727-209-2244 • Fax: 727-341-8123 Email: Info@RheinMedical.com • Website: www.RheinMedical.com * Developed In Coordination With Christopher S. 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