Richard Christoph, O.D.
POA President-Elect
During Optometry’s Meeting this year, my duty as POA’s president-elect was to attend AOA’s annual business meeting, the House of Delegates, as a POA representative along with POA president Dr. Marianne Boltz. Just as it is for POA, the House of Delegates sets policy for AOA. It is made up of representatives from each affiliated organization of AOA, which includes the 50 state associations, plus Washington D.C., the American Optometric Student Association and the Armed Forces Optometric Society.
As is protocol, the House of Delegates opened with a flag ceremony, the Pledge of Allegiance, an invocation and the Optometric Oath. During the meeting, there were reports and introductions from the member volunteers in the Sergeant At Arms, Credentials, Resolutions and Nominating Committees. There were also votes to approve the handbook and procedures, adopt the agenda and approve the actions of the Board since the last House meeting.
This year, three resolutions were brought forward for vote. One was related to optometric care of brain injury, including concussions. It recommends an optometric evaluation following brain injury to diagnose and treat ocular disorders or vision changes. The Vision Rehabilitation Section of AOA was involved in crafting this resolution. They have assembled an excellent resource, the Brain Injury Electronic Resource Manual, available online at aoa.uberflip.com/i/225867. The other two resolutions were modifications of existing resolutions regarding paraoptometrics. Because the paraoptometric section was dissolved and reformed as the paraoptometric resource center last year, some changes in wording were necessary to reflect the current status of paraoptometrics within AOA.
AOA’s secretary-treasurer, Dr. Andrea Thau, informed the House that AOA’s financial standing was strong. The new dues accounting procedures and restructuring of membership classes has resulted in more consistent cash flow for the organization, without a significant loss of membership. In fact, both total membership and dues revenues have increased.
The AOA-PAC chair, Dr. Ron Benner, reported on the status of AOA-PAC. Donations were down in every measurable way: total dollars, number of donors, average donation and percentage of donors all decreased for 2013 compared to the last few years. AOA has been relying heavily on a small number of larger donors who are approaching the end of their careers. If you are not already an AOA-PAC donor, please make it a priority to donate this year. In addition, please also donate to POPAC. Optometry has to be active at both the state and national levels to ensure our inclusion in healthcare reform.
Next, there was a presentation regarding the Think About Your Eyes Campaign. AOA members who participate in this campaign may receive discounts. The purpose of its media campaign is to increase the number of eye exams performed. For more information, please see www.thinkaboutyoureyes.com.
Dr. Teri Geist reported on AOA’s public relations efforts as of mid-June, stating that AOA had over 1 billion positive media impressions so far in 2014.
The advocacy team also reported on their activities for the past year. Between state government relations, third party, federal relations and the clinical resource group, the activities are far too numerous to list here. Some of the newer legislative initiatives are as follows: to advance scope at the state level; to address issues with insurance and vision plans, such as discount on non-covered services, credentialing and restrictive material ordering; telemedicine issues like online exam and kiosks; and Medicaid issues, specifically inclusion and reimbursement.
The Clinical Resources Group is involved with the creation of an optometric registry, an important tool for optometrists to fully participate with PQRS, meaningful use and other incentive programs. The statistics gathered through this registry will provide individual doctors with valuable information about their own practice, and benchmark data to compare themselves with others. It will also provide state associations and AOA with aggregate data that can be used in negotiations with government entities and insurance plans. Most importantly, it will enable optometrists to improve the quality of care provided to patients. AOA expects this to roll out in early 2015. Doctors will need to be using electronic records to participate.
And lastly, elections were held for 2015 and the following slate of officers was elected: Dr. Steven Loomis (president-elect), Dr. Andrea Thau (vice president), Dr. Christopher Quinn (secretary-treasurer), Drs. Barbara Horn and Samuel Pierce (trustees; three-year term), and Dr. James DeVleming (trustee; one-year term). Dr. David Cockrell assumes the office of president and Dr. Mitch Munson assumes the office of past-president. Drs. Greg Caldwell, Robert Layman, and William Reynolds continue their three-year terms as trustees.
