Despite the recent exhortation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) to “build  practice efficiency with highly-trained medical assistants” (written communication, March 15, 2012), the ideal solution for ophthalmology to the manpower crisis facing our specialty requires the physician extender to have a provider number so he/she could bill Medicare, Medicaid and other entities – while under the ophthalmologists supervision; the latter is interpreted in the statues to allow responsible supervision and control, and this requires, “except in cases of emergency, the easy availability or

From the American Academy of Ophthalmology

From the American Academy of Ophthalmology

From the American Academy of Ophthalmology

As expected, a 27 percent reduction in payments is included in the proposed 2013 Medicare physician fee schedule released today by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The cut is due to continuation of the flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. Ongoing, SGR-driven uncertainty will continue into the upcoming elections. If the SGR cut is halted as in past years, ophthalmology payments in general would increase by 1 percent in 2013, according to CMS.