New HCFA Ruling

[PAkev]

My Doc showed me a hot off the press fax which has been circulating through the Opthalmology community.

It all has to do with the new HCFA Ruling which dismisses Opthalmologists from the Stark II self referral law. Under this final regulation, post op eyewear and contact lenses are exempt from the list of designated health care services previously subject to the Stark self referral law.

The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and the American Academy of Opthalmology have been the efforts behind executing this ruling.

What does this mean to us? The Stark II laws were so confusing very few people understood them in the first place let alone being able to interpret and enforce them. With the recent clarification and exemption, it will be interesting to see what happens with the relationship between the optical community and the opthalmology community.

Addl. info can be found at
http://www.hcfa.gov/regs/physicianreferral/default.htm

[Jeff Trail]

Kevin,

Just being curious, are you guys up in PA. having an optical war? :) I know in my area the OD's and MD's and private opticals (opticians) have all drwn lines in the sand and are popping off missles at each other.
I think I must live in the middle of "optical heaven" here with all the OD', MD's and shops here and in the last two or three years a lot of the MD's starting putting shops inhouse.. I don't mind since it usually means more work for me but boy are they and there staff (MD's) lousy when it comes to refractions and dispensing I have one MD whose Dr. redo rate is around 2 out of 5 that's really pathetic. The staff couldn't neutrilze a pair of plano spheres and get it right let alone check in a PAL.
Are you guys in that kind of a battle up your way? Between the three major third party H.C. in my area and the M.D's now trying to get a bigger chunk of the pie everyone is going crazy down here in FL. atleast in the county I live in.
So are you guys going through the same thing?

Jeff

[PAkev]

Jeff,

Since we are an unlicensed state, things always have been quite competitive here. You have some very good veteran opticians and you have folks managing opticals chains that don't even know what a lens clock is. That is probably where the optical wars are fought here. They run the gamut of the popular LC's , PV's and Wally's World, to chain budget opticals that sell 2 pair of FT's, a frame, and an exam for $89. I would much rather have 10 independant competitors than one of these chain competitors but without licensing I doubt this will ever happen. I guess the biggest problem with the whole thing is that national and state organizations fail to educate the consumers about the type of services and products which should be expected when purchasing eyewear. Folks naturally have a tendancy to spend less money. However, in this business it can mean sacrificing quality and ultimately eyewear performance.

For the most part doc's who wish to maintain a positive reputation provide the higher quality and therefore higher priced eyewear. This clientelle is much more loyal than the folks just looking for the "best deal" every time their in the market for new eyewear. I have found the MD's quite laid back lately since they are caught up on their LASIK thing and dumping their effort into being competitive in that marketplace.

I guess what I mean to say in all those words is that we are all certainly very different with the type of products and services we provide and therefore you have to be at your best to stay on top of the competition without playing the same game, in the same cow pasture as some of the other folks.