CMS and Ophthalmology Partner on Specialty Web Page

WASHINGTON – The American Academy of Ophthalmology (Academy) is pleased to announce today’s launch of the new Ophthalmology Web page on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Web site.

The Academy worked with the following sub-specialty associations to develop the new Web page:

• American Association of Ophthalmic Pathologists (AAPO)
• American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS)
• American Glaucoma Society
• American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS)
• American Society of Ocular Trauma (ASOT)
• American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS)
• American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS)
• American Uveitis Society (AUS)
• The Cornea Society
• North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society (NANOS)
• The Retina Society 

CMS has offered to host specialty-specific pages on its Web site to encourage collaboration between providers and the agency. Ophthalmology will be only the second medical specialty to produce a page for the CMS site. The shared goal of the page is to present all Medicare reimbursement information relevant to ophthalmology in one central location for easy access by ophthalmologists and their staffs.

The ophthalmology Web page includes Medicare physician fee schedules, CMS program transmittals, ophthalmology specific CMS rulings (e.g., Presbyopia correcting IOL payment issues.), Coverage Decisions, Federal Register announcements, and other Medicare reimbursement information of importance to all aspects of ophthalmology.  Other examples of helpful material include information on the low vision rehabilitation demonstration, ophthalmology specific physician fee schedule codes, and the new Competitive Acquisition Program (CAP) for drugs administered in a physician’s office. 

“The Academy is pleased to be partnering with CMS, as well as with so many ophthalmic societies, on the ophthalmology Web page. We expect it to become a valuable tool for ophthalmologists wishing to stay abreast of critical Medicare matters,” said Michael Repka, MD, the Academy’s secretary for Federal Affairs. “We hope this is the first of many collaborations between CMS and ophthalmology to serve Medicare beneficiaries well by keeping Medicare providers informed.”