December WVAOP Newsline. 18 California Avenue Charleston, WV PH: (304) FX: (304) President s Message

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1 December 2014 WVAOP Newsline 18 California Avenue Charleston, WV PH: (304) FX: (304) Save the Date! Session Begins Wednesday, January 14, 2015 Optometry Day Monday January 19, 2015 SECO March 4-8, 2015 George World Congress Center Atlanta, GA Mid-Year 2015 May 28-31, 2015 Greenbrier Resort White Sulphur Springs, WV Optometry s Meeting June 24-28, 2015 Washington State Convention Center Seattle, WV Pages 3) Annual Congress 4-5) 2014 Annual Congress Awards 6) AOA Update & Mid-Year ) WVOP PAC 8) Under the Capitol Dome Update 9) Third Party Update 11) Announcements & Classified Ads President s Message An All-Star Group and Hall of Fame Year As we bring 2014 to a close, I thought it would be nice to look back on the year of optometry in WV: Great Meetings for 2014! Our spring meeting and fall meeting for 2014 drew excellent reviews from our membership. We held our highest ever attended spring meeting at the Greenbrier in May. Also, I received numerous compliments from our membership regarding the quality of education at our Annual Congress. A special thank you to Dr. BJ Nibert and Chad Robinson for their efforts on the spring meeting, as well as to Dr. Jennifer Stevens for her work on securing an excellent group of speakers for our Annual Congress. Outstanding Effort! I want to thank Dr. Mark Cinalli for his willingness and passion in assuming the role of our AOA-PAC chairman. Our state has ranked near the bottom in percentage of doctors contributing to the PAC. With his efforts in the past few months, we will no longer see our state near the bottom; Mark has increased the number of doctors contributing to AOA-PAC from 18 to over 60. Great job Mark! Also, I have to thank Dr. Nathan Stevens for his willingness to step up and assume the role of Legislative Chair. Nathan has embraced this position, and I know he will be a great point man for our legislative efforts in the future. All-Stars! A congratulations goes to Dr. Travis Taylor for winning the OD of the Year Award for 2014! His many years of hard work spent on our Executive Board are greatly appreciated. He has truly been an All- Star performer for your association. Also, I want to congratulate Dr. Nathan Stevens for winning our Young OD of the Year Award...truly an All-Star in the making! I would be remiss if I did not recognize Dr. BJ Nibert for his All-Star performance during his Presidency this past year. Dr. Nibert often describes himself as the old guy on our board, but it s his wisdom and experience that have proven invaluable to our board and association. Hall of Fame Award! This award goes to Dr. John Casto for his many years of service to optometry in WV. It is quite possible that Dr. John Casto's efforts in 1976 single handily changed the face of optometry, not only in West Virginia, but across the country. His efforts are certainly worthy of Hall of Fame recognition, which is why your Executive Board has nominated him for induction into the Optometry Hall of Fame. Also, I want to congratulate Dr. Casto for winning the AOA's inaugural Presidential Award. Looking ahead to 2015! Optometry Day at the Capitol is slated for January 19 th from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. I want to see all of you at the Capitol; having an optometric presence at the Capitol is vital to any future legislative agendas. We need all of you there meeting with your legislators, especially introducing yourself to many of the new faces at the Capitol. So, I strongly urge you to join me on January 19 th and celebrate optometry at our state Capitol. I hope all of you have a very prosperous New Year! Dr. Rob Christen President, WVAOP

2 WVAOP Board of Directors President Area 1 Director Dr. Rob Christen Dr. Pete Dormas PH: (304) PH: (304) robnat1@suddenlink.net pdormas@hotmail.com President-Elect Area 2 Director Dr. Marty Carpenter Dr. PH: (304) PH: (304) martycarpenter@hotmail.com drmbgresak@comcast.net Vice President Area 3 Director Dr. Rebecca St. Jean Dr. Rich Rebuck PH: (304) PH: (304) advanced-eyecare@suddenlinkmail.com rrebuck@hotmail.com Secretary/Treasurer Area 4 Director Dr. Melissa Leoni Dr. Mitch Koerber PH: (304) PH: (304) mlleoni@yahoo.com mitchkoerber@yahoo.com Past President Area 5 Director Dr. BJ Nibert Dr. Craig Liebig PH: (304) PH: (304) drbjn49@hotmail.com soptical@aol.com Trustee Area 6 Director Dr. TW Moore Dr. Justin Travis PH: (304) PH: (304) dr.moore@dunbareye.com drtravis@hermaneye.com Trustee Area 7 Director Dr. Steve Wilson Dr. Krista Adams PH: (304) PH: (304) dok2c@frontier.com krista1218@gmail.com Trustee Third Party Chair Dr. Mark Cinalli Dr. TW Moore PH: (304) PH: (304) mjcod@juno.com tmoore1@gmail.com Trustee Legislative Chair Dr. Brad Lane Dr. Nathan Stevens PH: (304) PH: (304) bmlaneod@gmail.com nathan.s.stevens@gmail.com Executive Director Mr. Chad Robinson PH: (304) chad@wvcsi.com

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4 Annual Congress 2014 If you didn t attend this year s Annual Congress, you missed out on a great conference! Annual Congress provided OD s and their Paraoptometric staff with educational classes, updates to the WVAOP membership, third party updates, Christi s Charity, Exhibitor Extravaganza, and more! The WVAOP would like to say Thank You to everyone who attended Annual Congress. Thank you to those who devoted their time and effort to the meetings and the CE s offered, and to those who helped make the 2014 Annual Congress a great conference to remember! Paraoptometric of the Year Annual WVAOP Awards The WV Association of Optometric Physicians is proud to announce the WVAOP 2014 Paraoptometric of the Year as Mrs. Jessica Benedum of Princeton, WV. The Paraoptometric of the Year award recognizes the deserving individual Paraoptometric for performance of outstanding services on behalf of the profession and to the visual welfare of the public. Mrs. Jessica Benedum is a graduate of Wyoming East High School. After graduation, she entered the nursing program at Bluefield State College. Realizing she did not enjoy the nursing field, she entered the world of eye care. Jessica is with Dr. Brad Lane and Dr. Chris Hansen office. Jessica is involved in the fitting of contact lenses since receiving her NCLE certification. She also serves as the practice s contact person for Lasik consultations through TLC Tri-Cities. While she typically does not work in the optical part, Jessica plans to eventually get her ABO certification solely to have a more complete understanding of optics and all phases of her job. Congratulations Jessica! 4

5 Young Optometric Physician of the Year The WV Association of Optometric Physicians is proud to announce the WVAOP 2014 Young Optometric Physician as Dr. Nathan Stevens of Charleston, WV. The Young Optometrist of the Year award is presented to an optometrist who has been in practice less than ten years and has shown leadership in the areas of service to Optometry, service to the visual welfare of the public, and who has demonstrated a commitment to public service. Dr. Nathan Stevens is a 2006 graduate from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University with a BS in Biochemistry. Dr. Stevens graduated Optometry school in 2010 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry. Dr. Stevens completed his residency in low vision and ocular disease at the Huntington, WV VA Medical Center in Dr. Stevens currently works in a full scope practice in St. Albans, WV with Dr. Tom Griffith. Dr. Stevens is a consultant for the WV Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. Dr. Stevens currently serves as the Legislative Chairman for the WVAOP and has previously served as the Area 6 Chairman for the WVAOP. Dr. Stevens has lectured for the Allied Ophthalmic Professional Continuing Education Program at SECO in 2014 and also the Paraoptometric Program at Annual Congress 2014 for the WVAOP. Dr. Stevens is an avid outdoorsman, a bible study leader at River Ridge Church in Charleston, WV, and is a pro-staff member of a local outdoors ministry Grunt, Gobble, and Gills Outdoors. Dr. Stevens lives in Charleston with his wife, Jennifer, and their two sons, Jacob and William. Congratulations Dr. Stevens! Optometric Physician of the Year The WV Association of Optometric Physicians is proud to announce the WVAOP 2014 Optometric Physician as Dr. Travis Taylor of South Charleston, WV. The Optometric Physicians of the Year award recognizes the deserving individual doctor of Optometry for performance of outstanding services on behalf of the profession and to the visual welfare of the public. Dr. Travis Taylor is a 1996 graduate from the Southern College of Optometry. He currently has two successful practices in South Charleston, WV and Nitro, WV with his wife, Dr. Sarah Taylor. Dr. Taylor is a past WVAOP Trustee and also a Past President of the WVAOP from Dr. Taylor lives in South Charleston with his wife, Sarah, and their two daughters. Congratulations Dr. Taylor! 5

6 AOA Scores Important Wins in 2015 Medicare Fee Schedule Medicare's 2015 physician fee schedule includes critical changes the AOA has fought for provisions that will have a long-lasting impact on optometry and the delivery of medical eye care to Medicare patients. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issues the fee schedule rule each year. The schedule sets payments for physicians under the Medicare program. The 2015 rulemaking appeared in the Nov. 13 Federal Register. Provisions in the 2015 rule will affect eye care for Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes, sponsors of continuing medical education (CME) for ODs, and measures of quality and value. "These are significant wins for the AOA, our members, and patients," says Roger Jordan, O.D., chair of the AOA Federal Relations Committee. Anticipating that Congress will prevent any cuts to Medicare's sustainable growth rate formula in 2015, CMS expects to pay ODs approximately $1.16 billion in 2015, nearly $50 million more than in Rule contains AOA-backed changes A number of AOA-backed changes appear in the final rule. For example, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)participating in CMS' Medicare Shared Savings Program must now make sure that Medicare patients with diabetes receive eye exams, something the AOA has worked for over the past four years. The AOA had previously ensured that ACOs could include ODs. The new provision incentivizes ACOs to include or at least coordinate care with ODs. Dr. Jordan advises that every OD "should seize on this opportunity to reach out to ACOs to help them meet this newly required measure." In addition, many claims-based measures that ODs report under the Physician Quality Reporting System will continue in CMS had originally proposed eliminating this reporting option for most measures in favor of registry reporting. AOA plans to introduce a registry in 2015 that would eventually enable reporting for ODs. CMS also added the diabetic eye exam measure in PQRS to the Group Practice Reporting Option (GPRO). CMS estimates that 200 large group practices (representing 135,000 eligible professionals) use the GPRO web interface. According to the AOA, this represents an opportunity for ODs to reach out to large group practices to help them meet this measure by ensuring Medicare patients with diabetes see an OD for an annual eye exam. ODs need to report PQRS measures in 2015 to avoid a penalty in The AOA also worked hard on a change to the federal Open Payments Program, or "Sunshine Act," convincing CMS that the program gave an unfair advantage to certain CME programs for medical doctors because their manufacturer sponsors were exempt from reporting payments to speakers. As a result, CMS eliminated the exemption that applied only to some CME programs. A detailed advocacy update on the final rule is available to AOA members. Copyright AOA News November 14, 2014 Mid-Year 2015 Mark Your Calendars! May 28-31, 2015 The Greenbrier Resort White Sulphur Springs, WV *Please note: CE topics and schedule will be announced at a later date. 6

7 Optometry Day 2015 Monday, January 19, 2015 Please clear your schedule and plan to attend this important day during the 2015 Legislative Session! Please plan to attend and bring your staff on Monday, January 19, 2015 from 10am-1pm at the State Capitol. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Hannah at (304) or WV Optometric Physicians PAC Become a Capitol Club Member! If you donate just $67.00 each month for 15 months, you will be donating $1,000 for the next election cycle! Optometry, as you know, is a profession Legislated by elected individual s casting votes which can determine how you practice and what services you can provide to your patients. Isn't it important you know Who s for you and Who s against you when they decide how you can practice? It is NOW time to Re-Energize the WV Optometric Political Action Committee. The clubs for the WVOP PAC include: Capitol Club - $1,000; Gold Club - $750-$999; Silver Club - $550-$749; Bronze Club - $250-$549; Volunteer Club - $1-$249. The WVOP PAC actively supports pro-optometry candidates for elected offices. These candidates have expressed or shown their support on issues critical to your profession and to your patients. We know these individuals are With Us in protecting your profession! We strongly encourage you to Re-Energize your PAC and DONATE TODAY to protect your rights as Optometric Physicians in West Virginia. Re-Energize your PAC so it can support PRO-Optometry candidates. Donate $67.00 per month to reach the Capitol Club today! If you are interested in donating to the WVOP PAC, please contact Hannah at (304) or office@wvcsi.com. Or you may go to our website, and click WVOP PAC at the top, scroll to the bottom, and click donate. 7

8 Under the Capitol Dome A West Virginia Legislative Update from the Office of Nelson and Chad Robinson 2014 Election Outcome WOW! What an election night full of surprises! The voters of WV made their decisions, (well only 37% of them). It was the lowest voter turnout for a General Election in WV dating back to the 1950 Election. But those who did get out and vote showed their displeasure for the President of the United States by sweeping Republicans in offices across WV and the throughout the Nation. Republicans swept the Congressional races and US Senate seat in West Virginia. The Republican wave flipped the state House of Delegates in their favor, first time in 83 years. Republicans now hold a majority. All leadership positions will be changed in the upcoming months. New House of Delegates Speaker will be Delegate Tim Armstead from Kanawha County. The WV State Senate also flipped to Republican Majority after Senator Daniel Hall changed his party affiliation to Republican. Senate now has 18 Republicans and 17 Democrats. New Senate President will be Senator Bill Cole from Mercer County. We will update you with the entire leadership decision along with committee chairman and committee assignments as they are finalized. We can tell you that the following have been decided. Senate Majority Leader Senator Mitch Carmichael Senate Judiciary Senator Charles Trump Senate Finance Senator Mike Hall Senate Health Senator Ryan Ferns Senate Gov. Organization Senator Craig Blair House Majority Leader Delegate Daryl Cowles House Judiciary Delegate John Shott House Finance Delegate Eric Nelson In your areas, if you have new Legislators elected, please immediately reach out and introduce yourselves! Personal contact with a Legislator is key to success at the State Capitol during the Legislative Session. Please let us know if you have personal contacts with any new Legislator that you can speak to on various issues Legislative Session Begins Wednesday January 14, Legislative Session Ends Saturday March 14,

9 Third Party Update By: Dr. TW Moore Here are a few of the highlights that we discussed at the Third Party Discussion during the Annual Congress in Charleston in November. Members of the WV Offices of the Insurance Commissioner discussed the role their offices can play to ensure West Virginia citizens receive proper health care benefits with the changing insurance landscape. There was also lengthy discussion about the Health Insurance Marketplace in West Virginia. The Consumer Service Division can be reached at TRY-WVIC and can help with insurance complaints. The WV Offices of the Insurance Commissioner can be reached at x1264. A copy of the WV Offices of the Insurance Commissioner Consumer Complaint Form can be found on the Office s website at Members of the Department of Health & Human Resources Bureau for Medical Services discussed the WV Medicaid services. The Vision Services Division can be reached at There was also a discussion about the role the AOA Third Party Committee plays to protect optometry in the changing healthcare landscape including: Advocacy work to include Optometry in provider network adequacy rules proposed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, addressing instances of documented OD discrimination by large self-insured employers and health plans under the Harkin Law, and assisting the VA and Health Net Federal Services when contracting with civilian providers to provide services to veterans when VA providers are at full capacity. Addressing AOA member concerns with the National Association of Vision Care Plans (NAVCP) such as: The best practices for credentialing ODs with health and vision plan provider panels The best practices for collecting and reporting patient data consistent with HEDIS reporting Facilitating ODs participation in value-based care models like ACOs and PCMH networks. Finally there was a review of services available to educate providers about changes the health insurance. Ask The Coding Experts is available to all AOA members to provide answers to specific coding questions. Submissions can be made at The ten-part webinar series on ICD-10 is available on the AOA website. rethink Eyecare is an informational website that focuses on the benefits of including and integrating eye health and vision care as a core essential benefit in all health plans. This is a great resource for the general public who has questions about what optometry can offer available at New Website Coming Soon!! With the new website, members are able to see upcoming events, register for CE hours and conferences, pay their dues online, post classified ads, and stay up-to-date on all things Optometry! The WVAOP will be sending out a welcome once the new site goes live. 9

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11 Practice for Sale Announcements & Classified Ads Full scope, medically oriented practice in Spencer, WV. The practice has two lanes, a finishing lab, retinal camera, perimeter, etc. Great net to gross ratio. The practice will easily support a full time Optometrist, but could also be an excellent satellite location. The owner is retiring and will assist with the transition. Priced for immediate sale. If interested, please contact Dr. Harry Anderson at (304) , (304) , or jdc571@hotmail.com. Optometrists/Associates Needed Part time or full Optometrist needed. I have a practice in Point Pleasant and in Barboursville. I could use someone in one or both. Will pay $500 a day, plus 60% of everything over that. I am also considering selling the Point Pleasant practice for a steal. If interested, please contact Dr. John Knight at (304) or at jknightfamily@msn.com. We are excited to announce a great opportunity for any Optometrist that is looking for great hours, an experienced and motivated staff, a growing and vibrant practice, and the chance to work in a private and professional setting in the Charleston area. My wife & I are looking for a full-time associate to help in our Nitro and South Charleston locations. We offer competitive pay and a private practice setting. If you are the kind that likes to build relationships with patients, then we want to talk to you. We have been blessed to have worked and raised our family in the Charleston area for nearly 15 years. We hope that you will consider joining us. Please send your CV and salary requirements to our management consultant at romohundro@provisiongroup.com. For more information about the practice, please visit our website at Dr. Travis & Sarah Taylor Taylor Eye Associates, PLLC Do you have an announcement or classified ad for the WVAOP Newsline? If so, please contact Hannah at (304) or office@wvcsi.com. *Please note: Ads must be received a month prior to Newsline date.* 11

12 WV Association of Optometric Physicians 18 California Avenue Charleston, WV PH: (304) PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID CHAS, WV PERMIT NO The West Virginia Association of Optometric Physicians wishes you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 12