| Top AOA awards honor consummate service
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| June 2009 |
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The 2009 Optometry's Meeting® Opening General Session will highlight the accomplishments of the four recipients of the AOA annual awards.
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| House of Delegates takes up discussion on board certification
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| June 2009 |
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After five months of discussion, argument and assertions by optometrists in hundreds of channels, the AOA's deliberative body, the House of Delegates, will finally make its position known this month.
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| Maine expands oral Rx, glaucoma treatment authority
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| June 2009 |
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In a move to provide better access to eye care in one of the nation's most heavily rural states, Maine has repealed cumbersome restrictions on both the treatment of glaucoma and the prescribing of oral pharmaceuticals by optometrists, according to Maine Optometric Association (MOA) President Linda Cameron, O.D.
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| Optometry student provides powerful testimony to NHSC advisory council
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| May 31, 2009 |
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Robert Foster, a Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) at Salus University class of 2009 leader, made the most of an opportunity secured by the AOA Washington office to provide testimony before the National Advisory Council of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) during its May 7 meeting in Philadelphia.
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| AOA proactive as health care reform gains momentum in DC
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| May 31, 2009 |
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President Obama and leaders in Congress remain committed to national health care reform this year. And as these efforts gain momentum, the AOA has stepped up its proactive work in Washington, D.C., to ensure that optometry retains its rightful seat "at the table" and continues to influence the direction of the debate as Congress begins to consider the most far-reaching overhaul of health care in America.
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| Waxman, Lawenda address health reform
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| May 31, 2009 |
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Ken Lawenda, O.D., of Los Angeles, Calif., left, is greeted by his congressman, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chair of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, prior to a timely discussion of health care reform proposals under consideration in Congress and the AOA's legislative agenda.
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| Board certification model revised to better reflect member concerns
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| May 18, 2009 |
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More than 250 state and affiliated optometric association leaders participated on a webinar May 5 in which David Cockrell, O.D., AOA trustee, announced the second round of changes since the initial presentation of a proposed model for board certification in late January.
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| One more month until Optometry's Meeting®
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| May 18, 2009 |
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The World War II Memorial honors the 16 million who served during the war and those who supported the effort from home.
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| AOA-backed bill to end exclusion of ODs from NHSC introduced in U.S. House
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| April 27, 2009 |
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In an effort to help expand access to eye and vision care in communities where it is most needed, Reps. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) and Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) introduced the AOA-backed National Health Service Corps Improvement Act of 2009 (H.R. 1884).
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| Optometry's Meeting® to convene in DC
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| April 27, 2009 |
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The renowned Washington, D.C., cherry blossoms frame the view of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.
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| ODs must follow ‘Red Flags’ rule
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| April 27, 2009 |
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Congress passed the Fair Trade and Credit Act in 2003 to help stop identity theft, which might affect as many as 9 million Americans each year. The AOA contends that this law was never intended to apply to doctor's offices, but federal agencies maintained otherwise as of press time for this publication.
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| InfantSEE® CDC project making headway
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| April 13, 2009 |
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A pilot marketing program is providing InfantSEE® with valuable insight into organizing doctors and raising the public's awareness of the program.
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| TBI, aviation vision lead Sunday CE
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| April 13, 2009 |
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Optometry's Meeting® Sunday education covers a broad range of topics from aviation vision, to neuro-optometry, to anterior segment challenges.
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| Flawed database unduly reduced provider payments
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| March 23, 2009 |
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The insurance industry is overhauling the system it uses to establish "usual, customary, and reasonable" (UCR) fees for health care services in the wake of allegations that health plans have been systematically underpaying providers, increasing beneficiary copayments, and improperly denying claims for out-of-network services.
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| Idaho OD provides eye-opening experience at Special Olympics
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| March 23, 2009 |
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Idaho optometrist Jack Zarybnisky, O.D., played a key role in bringing the Special Olympics World Winter Games to the state last month.
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| AOA, vision community partners set to develop eye care EHR certification
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| March 23, 2009 |
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The AOA has partnered with the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) to convince the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) to develop certification of eye care electronic health records (EHRs).
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| Optometry can weather recession, report says
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| March 9, 2009 |
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Optometric practices like many businesses will probably experience at least a short-term downturn in revenues as a result of the nation's current recession, according to a report by the Los Angeles-based industry research firm IBISWorld.
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| AOA wins full inclusion for ODs in stimulus health care initiatives
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| March 9, 2009 |
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As Congress worked in January and February to complete action on the economic stimulus legislation (H.R. 1, the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009), the AOA was mobilizing concerned doctor and student advocates from states and congressional districts across the country and dispatching the Washington office team to meet with key congressional leaders.
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| Healthy Eyes Healthy People® grants reach $1 million
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| February 23, 2009 |
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The AOA announced the Healthy Eyes Healthy People® (HEHP) grant program reached the $1 million milestone.
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| Optometrists gain vote in quality measure development
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| February 23, 2009 |
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The AOA has been formally invited to become a voting member of the American Medical Association (AMA)-convened Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement® (PCPI) - an influential forum established to ensure health care practitioners have a voice in efforts to improve the quality of American health care through recognized standards for evidence-based care.
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| State leaders consider board certification model
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| February 2, 2009 |
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The Joint Board Certification Project Team (JBCPT), formed by six optometric organizations in 2007, released a model framework for a board certification process for optometry and began presenting it to leaders within the profession.
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| Foxworthy to headline at Optometry’s Meeting®
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| February 2, 2009 |
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Comedian Jeff Foxworthy will produce monumental laughs as the entertainment slated for the Optometry's Meeting® Presidential Celebration, Saturday, June 27 near Washington, D.C.
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| Veteran war journalist Woodruff to keynote Optometry’s Meeting®
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| January 2009 |
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Bob Woodruff, the former co-anchor of ABC's "World News Tonight," will be the keynote speaker at the Opening General Session for the 2009 Optometry's Meeting®.
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| AOA presses CMS as certification schemes advance
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| September 4, 2008 |
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The AOA Washington office is now pressing officials at the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to ease the burden of unnecessary certifications on optometrists.
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| AOA makes ‘House’ call for hundreds on Capitol Hill
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| September 4, 2008 |
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Aaron Tarbett, O.D., chief of Optometry at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, conducts one of more than 200 visual risk assessments for members of Congress and their aides during a special summertime health fair on Capitol Hill.
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| New course offers ‘how-to’ on practice sales, purchases
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| September 4, 2008 |
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Practice Transitions: Strategies for Making Them Happen - a first-of-its-kind comprehensive, day-long program on the successful transition of optometric practice ownership - is being launched this fall by the AOA Information & Member Services Group (AOA-I&MSG).
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| Medicare meltdown averted as physician payment bill passed
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| August 2008 |
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After a sustained campaign by the AOA and a national coalition of patient and provider groups, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (H.R. 6331) has become law following votes in Congress July 15 to override President Bush's veto.
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| AOA hires ‘prestigious’ national law firm to represent association
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| August 2008 |
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Citing the need for wide-ranging legal expertise, the AOA announced July 29 that it has hired national law firm Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP, as general counsel for the association.
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| AOA, VSP team up to raise awareness of need for eye exams
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| August 2008 |
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Covering 29 cities in just a few hours, Bill Nye the Science Guy and Leonard Press, O.D., appeared live on TV and radio stations as part of a satellite media tour July 31. The "tour" included multiple national outlets.
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