March 14, 2018 -- Volume 7, Number 11
Ask Your House Member to Sign Onto FY2019 NEI Dear Colleague Funding Letter Today  
 
The National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR), is asking the vision community to contact their members of the House of Representatives today to request they sign onto a bipartisan “Dear Colleague” letter supporting robust National Eye Institute (NEI) funding in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Labor-HHS appropriations bill. Co-authored by Cong. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Cong. Scott Peters (D-CA), the letter acknowledges the 50 th anniversary of the creation of NEI by Congress and the need for robust funding to tackle the nation’s vision challenges.

Timing is tight, as House deadlines for FY2019 requests are looming. Use the brief email letter at this link to contact your House member (form requests your home address to identify the Member).  
Open Payments Review Will Start April 1
Beginning April 1, physicians and teaching hospitals will have 45 days to review and dispute records attributed to them. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will publish Open Payments Program Year 2017 data and updates to previous program years in June 2018.

Click here to register for access to the Open Payments system and to review the accuracy of the data submitted.

Click here to sign up for Open Payments updates.
Final Days to Submit Your 3D Video for the Annual Meeting

Last chance to submit a 3D videos to be showcased at the upcoming Annual Meeting in Vancouver.


Note: A maximum of  two  2D films and/or 3D videos may be submitted by an ASRS member as the first author (presenting author).
Highlights From the 2018 Business of Retina Meeting

If you missed the 20th Business of Retina Meeting last weekend in Dallas, click here to view video reports covering timely topics, including:
  • Washington Update
  • What's New in Coding
  • Managing a Drug Float
  • Private Equity
  • Deferred Compensation: Tax Cuts and the Jobs Act, What you Need to Know
March 22 PAT Survey Deadline Fast Approaching
Get instant benchmarking data: Complete the PAT Survey now

How do your medical and surgical treatment choices compare with those of your ASRS colleagues? Find out now: Take the 20th Annual ASRS PAT Survey.

When you’ve finished the survey, you can instantly see real-time results comparing your answer to each question with those of your ASRS colleagues who have responded to date.

Please act now : The survey deadline is Thursday, March 22.

With your help, we can reach our target of 1000 responses. Remember, the more responses, the more robust the data.

Earn Full Credit for MIPS Improvement Activities by Participating in Study


The consulting firm, Abt Associates, is studying the burdens clinicians experience with reporting MIPS quality measures in year 2 of the program. The goal of the study is to:

  • Study clinical workflows and data collection methods using different submission systems;
  • Understand the challenges associated with collecting and reporting quality data; and,
  • Recommend changes to try to lower your burden, improve quality data collection and reporting, and enhance clinical care.

If you or your group are eligible for MIPS and you participate successfully in the study, you will earn full credit for the 2018 MIPS Improvement Activities performance category.

Applications for the study are accepted through March 23, 2018 . You will be notified by email in spring 2018 if you are selected. Read about the study here and for more information email MIPS_Study@abtassoc.com .
Important MIPS Deadlines
For the 2017 MIPS Performance Period, there are a number of upcoming deadlines. MIPS- eligible clinicians can earn payment adjustments of +/-4% in 2019.
 
  • March 16, 2018: Deadline for 2017 data submission for groups reporting via the CMS web interface.

  • March 31, 2018: Deadline for 2017 data submission for all other MIPS reporting.

  • April – December 2018: CMS provides feedback to MIPS eligible clinicians.

  • January 1, 2019: CMS begins to apply payment adjustments to each Medicare claim.
Section Events at ARVO
Join the ASRS FIT Section for a luncheon and discussion panel at the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting on Monday, April 30 at the Hawaii Convention Center at 1:30 PM. The luncheon will provide fellows an opportunity to learn more about the ASRS FIT Section, as well as how to navigate post-graduation employment opportunities.

If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to Sam Zerang by March 29.
The ASRS Women in Retina Section invites you to a reception on Sunday, April 29, from 6:30-8:30 PM at the ARVO 2018 Annual Meeting. The reception will feature fellow WinR members presenting their ARVO research papers and posters and will provide an opportunity to learn more about the WinR mentoring program.

If you are interested in presenting your paper or poster, please let us know by April 6. We will accept requests to present on a first-come, first-served basis.  

If you are not interested in presenting, you are still welcome to join us for the reception. The event is complimentary and open to all WinR members. Please RSVP by March 29 to Sam Zerang .
Accepting Nominations for the Image of the Year
Submit Nominations for the Retina Image Bank Image of the Year Award.

There are two ways to nominate an image:

For complete details on the eligibility and nomination process visit the  ASRS website . The winner will be recognized at the 36th Annual Meeting in Vancouver this July.

Don't miss the chance to have your images considered for the top prize.  Upload your best images  by April 30 for the chance to be considered. 
Image of the Week
Congratulations to Jefferson R. Sousa, from Institute Suel Abujamra in São Paulo, Brazil , w hose image Coloboma has been selected as the Image of the Week. 
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