Eyeworld

3 EW NEWS & OPINION Bonnie An Henderson, MD, becomes ASCRS president at annual meeting May 2017 portant during this transition time with a new administration. Together with other organizations, such as the Alliance of Specialty Medicine, Dr. Henderson plans a focus on collaboration, healthcare changes B onnie An Henderson, MD, clinical professor, Tufts University School of Medi- cine, and in private practice, Boston, will become the new ASCRS president during the ASCRS Opening General Session of the 2017 ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Congress in Los Angeles. Dr. Henderson spoke with EyeWorld in April about the value of ASCRS and her plans as president in the coming year. EyeWorld: How and when did you first become involved in ASCRS? Dr. Henderson: I first attended an ASCRS annual meeting as a senior resident. I was completely blown away by the quality of the educa- tional content that was available. Contrary to other meetings, one can go to any course or session for free during the ASCRS meeting, allowing a participant to attend many differ- ent courses without worrying about choosing the wrong course. This type of format is especially helpful for a young physician who doesn't know exactly which topic and ses- sion to attend. Since that first meeting, I believe I have attended the ASCRS meeting every year. I was fortunate enough to have met David Chang, MD, when he came to lecture at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirma- ry. I was the junior attending who was responsible for hosting the guest speaker. He is a role model both pro- fessionally and personally for any young cataract surgeon, and I was lucky to have spent some time with him during his visiting professor- ship. He invited me to present an educational software program that I had been developing to the ASCRS executive board. The pro- gram was eventually licensed by ASCRS but more importantly, this interaction introduced me to the exceptional leadership of this orga- nization. I have been fortunate to have served on several committees and have developed a deep respect for the organization's mission to enhance the professional lives of ophthalmologists. EyeWorld: What are some of the most important recent initiatives from ASCRS? Dr. Henderson: One of the initia- tives that I am most excited about is a prospective study of intracameral antibiotics. A task force led by Doug Rhee, MD, is planning a large mul- ticenter trial to investigate the effec- tiveness of intracameral antibiotics to prevent endophthalmitis. This is being done with input from Wiley Chambers, MD, deputy director, of the U.S. Food and Drug Administra- tion's Division of Transplant & Oph- thalmology Products in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. If the study corroborates the finding of previous studies that intracameral antibiotics do significantly decrease the incidence of endophthalmitis after cataract surgery, then we hope this study will help expedite the development of a commercially available, FDA-approved intracamer- al antibiotic. This would benefit all patients undergoing cataract surgery in the U.S. EyeWorld: What do you see as some of the biggest challenges facing ophthalmology in the coming years? What can ophthalmologists and ASCRS do to help better face these challenges? Dr. Henderson: The demands on physicians and expenses to provide care increase every year while the reimbursements fall or, at best, stay the same. Ophthalmologists need to stay updated on the constantly changing regulations regarding med- ical record documentation, coding, billing, and measurement of patient outcomes. The benefit of belonging to an organization such as ASCRS is the ability to band together to make our voices heard at the top levels of government. This is especially im- continued on page 8 ORA ™ SYSTEM IMPORTANT PRODUCT INFORMATION CAUTION: Federal (USA) law restricts this device to sale by, or on the order of, a physician. INTENDED USE: The ORA ™ System uses wavefront aberrometry data in the measurement and analysis of the refractive power of the eye (i.e. sphere, cylinder, and axis measurements) to support cataract surgical procedures. CONTRAINDICATIONS: The ORA ™ System is contraindicated for patients: who have progressive retinal pathology such as diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, or any other pathology that the physician deems would interfere with patient fixation; who have corneal pathology such as Fuchs', EBMD, keratoconus, advanced pterygium impairing the cornea, or any other pathology that the physician deems would interfere with the measurement process; whose preoperative regimen includes residual viscous substances left on the corneal surface such as lidocaine gel or viscoelastics; with visually significant media opacity (such as prominent floaters or asteroid hyalosis) what will either limit or prohibit the measurement process; or who have received retro or peribulbar block or any other treatment that impairs their ability to visualize the fixation light. In addition, utilization of iris hooks during an ORA ™ System image capture is contraindicated, because the use of iris hooks will yield inaccurate measurements. WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS: Significant central corneal irregularities resulting in higher order aberrations might yield inaccurate refractive measurements. Post refractive keratectomy eyes might yield inaccurate refractive measurement. The safety and effectiveness of using the data from the ORA ™ System have not been established for determining treatments involving higher order aberrations of the eye such as coma and spherical aberrations. The ORA ™ System is intended for use by qualified health personnel only. Improper use of this device may result in exposure to dangerous voltage or hazardous laser-like radiation exposure. Do not operate the ORA ™ System in the presence of flammable anesthetics or volatile solvents such as alcohol or benzene, or in locations that present an explosion hazard. ATTENTION: Refer to the ORA ™ System Operator's Manual for a complete description of proper use and maintenance of the ORA ™ System, as well as a complete list of contraindications, warnings and precautions. Advancing CATARACT SURGERY LenSx ® LASER ® © 2015 Novartis 12/15 US-ORA-15-E-0947 96292_US-ORA-15-E-0947_PI.indd 1 12/8/16 9:29 AM by Vanessa Caceres EyeWorld Contributing Writer

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