Earn CME credit for courses on ethics, clinical issues, as well as practice management
Where on the Internet can you enhance your training and education-as well as that of your administrative staff with high-quality materials, a minimum investment of time, and no expense? The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO)'s Web site.
The academy's award-winning Online Education Center has grown significantly since it was launched. In response to your suggestions, the center now boasts CME credit-bearing courses on ethics, which are now required for re-certification.
From the Web site, www.aao.org/ aaoweb1/OEC/371.cfm, you can access three ethics courses free of charge:
* Informed Consent, Doctor-Patient Relationship, and Delegated Services.
* Research, New Technology, and Collegiality.
* Commercial Relationships, Compensation, and Advertising.
While there are other online education Web sites, the academy's online education program is specific to ophthalmology, offering clinical as well as practice management courses. Clinical courses include:
* Diabetic Retinopathy: learn how to decrease the risk of visual loss by 90%.
* Ocular Disease: important recent developments.
* Nerve Disorders: including congenital optic nerve anomalies and other abnormalities.
* Athletic Eye Injury: learn the nature of sports eye injuries and types of protection available to guard against them.
* Retinopathy and Edema: new treatment paradigms (this course is sponsored by Eli Lilly and Co.).
Whether you have a new hire, or your current staff could use a refresher, the academy has a new online training program for office staff that will save you time and money.
The academy developed the online training program with the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (JCAHPO) and has made it available free during an introductory period.
Called "You and the Telephone." the course teaches staff how to communicate with patients, doctors, and other staff. They will also learn basic ophthalmic terms, anatomy, and physiology.
Also from the Online Education Center, you can:
* View and print your CME transcript.
* Increase your effectiveness as a clinician through self-assessment programs.
* Find links to articles, abstracts, journals, and reviews.
* Find links to peer-reviewed sites offering a wide range of ophthalmic resources.
Every couple of months, new links and courses are added, and all activities on the site are offered free during the site's developmental period. The center is sponsored in part by an educational grant from Allergan.
Effort to block Medicare cuts
Outraged over the Medicare payment crisis, the academy is investing in a grassroots action campaign that is aimed at engaging every ophthalmologist, as well as their staff and patients. Without congressional intervention, future fee cuts could amount to nearly 20% by 2005, starting with the 5.4% cut that began in January.
Please use the tools in the action kit you received in the mail, or go to the academy's Web site to access a virtual action kit to contact your member of Congress and demand: a halt to the 5.4% cut in payments that took effect Jan. 1, a fair update for 2003, and replacement of the current system with a physician payment formula based on the impact of inflation on the cost of practicing medicine, rather than one based on the country's gross domestic product.
In addition, the academy and the American Medical Association are working to document the impact of the initial 5.4% cut (10% if you are a cataract surgeon) on patient care. Log on to the AMA's Web site to complete a survey at www ama-assn.orgphysinfo/survey/forms/public/rgopen01.htm.
We can't win this fight alone. We need your help. Patients are already facing physicians who no longer accept Medicare patients, as well as challenges to accessing new medical technologies. Some physicians are forced to consider laying off staff and are considering early retirement.OT
[Author Affiliation]
author into
[Author Affiliation]
Susanne Medeiros
is Editor, Communications Division, American Academy of Ophthalmology, San Francisco.
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