| Viewpoint from the Editor |

Crisis, danger and opportunity

Jane Shuman, COT, COE, OCS, Co-Editor

I have been told that the Chinese ideogram for crisis is a combination of those for danger and opportunity. In short, that might sum up 2015. As the weather in the United States was unusually stormy in the east and fiery in the west, health care weathered some storms of its own.

We have worked through PQRS and MU incentives, some practices choosing to opt out and take the penalty instead of meeting the financial burden associated with Stage 2 of MU. In order to make up the shortfall of declining reimbursements, some practices have asked staff to do more with less, and others have initiated self-pay services for the first time. We have seen practices merge and others acquired by hospital groups and, most recently, we have survived the transition to ICD-10 coding. It’s no wonder 2015 passed in the blink of an eye (pun intended).

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We have also experienced an increase in the need for prior authorization for non-formulary medications and pharmacies switching brand name prescriptions for generic drugs. These impact patient care as well as the workflow. On page 14, we report the reasons for this growing problem.

Technology has become more commonplace this year, also. Kiosks and iPads are used for patient registration and education, forms and consents are signed electronically, and some practices have actually accomplished a paperless environment. In this issue, our cover feature on Key-Whitman Eye Center (see page 8) explores a number of areas, including how the practice has gone a step further to use technology that tracks patients as they make their way through the office.

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Many practices looked at the potential crisis of 2015 as an opportunity to become more efficient by embracing technology, thereby avoiding the dangerous year it could have been and wonder what 2016 has in store. It’s now time to take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the holiday season with those people that are most important to you and to remember those that are less fortunate.

On behalf of Bruce Maller and the staff of Ophthalmic Professional, I wish you a peaceful holiday season and a healthy 2016. OP

Ms. Shuman, president of Eyetechs, is a nationally recognized authority on clinical flow, scheduling, and technician education. Prior to founding Eyetechs, she worked for over 15 years as an ophthalmic technician and clinical manager.