CAOA Government Affairs Weekly
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Inside this issue
  Action Needed: FTC's new rule proposes onerous paperwork requirements for optometrists  
  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed a new rule that requires anyone who prescribes contact lenses to obtain a signed patient acknowledgement after releasing a contact lens prescription, and keep it on file for at least three years. COA and AOA strongly oppose this rule.

Doctors are encouraged to provide their comments directly to the FTC before the January 30, 2017, deadline by clicking here, and doctors can access a sample message to let FTC officials know where optometry stands.

Click here to submit private comments about the FTC proposal to the AOA, or report illegal sales practices by internet contact lens sellers. If you have any questions, please contact AOA's Associate Director of Coding & Regulatory Policy, Kara Webb, or COA's Governmental Affairs Director, Kristine Shultz.
 

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  COA legislative priorities in 2017  
  Scope of practice - COA is planning on reintroducing legislation to expand the optometric scope of practice in California. The bill is needed because the current practice act is very prescriptive and its limitations are becoming a problem for doctors and their patients. For example, the act limits the medications that doctors of optometry can use. If a new medication is developed, optometrists are forced to go back to the Legislature to add the new authority. The scope of practice should be allowed to grow as innovation changes the way eye care is provided. The bill language with the exact details of what is included will be available by February 17. The first committee hearing will be before April 28.

Children's vision - The State Board of Optometry has indicated it plans to reintroduce legislation to require children receive an eye exam before they enter school. This bill is important because school vision screenings have been shown to miss one out of three children with vision problems. COA will be strongly supporting this bill. If you have a personal story of diagnosing a child with an eye or vision problem who was missed in the school screening process, please contact Kara Corches.

Medi-Cal - COA will be advocating for an increase in reimbursement rates for doctors of optometry under the Medi-Cal system. Provider rates in California are among the lowest in the nation and need to be increased to ensure doctors can continue to accept Medi-Cal patients. COA will also be supporting efforts to expand optometric benefits under Medi-Cal.
 

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  2016 Meaningful Use attestation opens, ends February 28, 2017  
  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that attestation for the 2016 Meaningful Use (MU)/EHR Incentive program year began on January 3, 2017, and will end on February 28, 2017. Failure to attest by February 28, 2017, will result in reductions to your 2018 Medicare payments.

To prepare for attestation, CMS released an Attestation Worksheet, a step-by-step guide that helps determine whether your practice has met the 2016 MU requirements.

As a reminder, CMS recently reduced the 2016 MU reporting period for returning participants. Now, all members need only meet the 2016 MU requirements for a continuous 90-day period that falls between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2016.

Find more information regarding Meaningful Use requirements and attestation at AOA's Meaningful Use Webpage and CMS' Registration & Attestation Webpage.

Need more information? Contact Jensen Jose at AOA.


 

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  AOA webinar on HIPAA breaches, fines  
  Penalties resulting from HIPAA violations in 2016 were costly. As of November 30, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) levied more than $48M in fines. Learn more about significant HIPAA violations and fines in 2016 in an upcoming webinar:

What: Lessons from 2016's HIPAA Breaches and Fines webinar
When: 11 a.m. PST, Wednesday, January 25
Register here

Implementing a HIPAA solution that addresses the full extent of the law is the best way to protect your practice. Click here for more information on HIPAA compliance.
 

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  Changes to COA Legislative Day  
  This year, COA wanted to try something different with COA's annual Legislative Day. COA will not be doing its traditional Legislative Day in Sacramento - instead, COA will bring advocacy day to our members. We will provide several advocacy meetings throughout California, allowing more attendance per society. These regional events will also allow our members to spend some one-on-one informal time with their legislators, thereby building more significant relationships with them. In addition, we will be able to tailor the meetings to meet the needs of each society. We encourage doctors and students who have not been able to travel to Sacramento to come to one of these regional legislative events and find out how easy it is for you to make a difference for your profession.

COA will be scheduling these regional events based on political considerations. If you have any questions, please contact COA Grassroots Manager Julie Andrade. This change is not permanent.  We will return to our traditional COA Legislative Day in 2018.
 

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