Administration Unveils Free Preventive Services Under Healthcare Law.

Preventive Services Recommended By Task Force Would Be Covered Fully Under Healthcare Law. Kaiser Health News (7/15, Weaver) reports, "Under the new healthcare overhaul law, insurers will be required to pay fully for services that get an 'A' or 'B' recommendation from the US Preventive Services Task Force, a volunteer group made up of primary care and public health experts." This is "good news for patients, who will no longer face cost-sharing for these services, but it puts the group in the crosshairs of lobbyists and disease advocates eager to see their top priorities -- including routine screening for Alzheimer's disease, domestic violence, diabetes, or HIV -- become covered services."

The above will apply to some vision services as outlined in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Guide to Preventive Services

FDA Leaves Avandia on the Market. What you should tell your patients.

Statement Warns Against Stopping Avandia Use.

The Los Angeles Times (7/15, Maugh) reported, "Diabetics taking Avandia [rosiglitazone] who are concerned about the drug following Wednesday's decision by a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee to allow it to remain on the market should continue taking the drug until they can make arrangements with their physician to receive alternatives, three groups of physicians who treat diabetes said Thursday." Notably, "the Endocrine Society, the American Diabetes Assn. and the American Assn. of Clinical Endocrinologists issued a joint statement saying that the risk of stopping the drug abruptly is greater than any potential risk of cardiovascular disease that might be caused by the drug."

According to HealthDay (7/15, Gardner), "'Patients should continue taking all currently prescribed medications unless instructed otherwise by their health care provider,' Dr. Robert A. Vigersky, immediate past president of the Endocrine Society, said in the statement." The statement also pointed out that "reports regarding the cardiovascular safety of rosiglitazone...have not been definitive."

Reuters (7/16, Fox) also quotes Dr. Vigersky, who stated, "Stopping diabetes medications can cause significant harm and result in higher levels of blood glucose that may cause severe short term health problems and could increase the risk of diabetes-related complications in the long term."

CNN (7/15, Rice) provided an "explanation of the pros and cons of other treatments to lower blood sugar for people with type 2 diabetes," including metformin, metformin with sulfonylureas, metformin with insulin, Actos [pioglitazone], DPP-4 inhibitors, and diet and exercise.

New Healthcare.gov Site

New HHS Website Helps Consumers Determine Health Coverage Options.

The Christian Science Monitor (7/2, Grier) reports, "Healthcare.gov is up and running -- and that should be good news for the many US citizens who are trying to understand the brave new world of US healthcare following this year's passage of sweeping reform legislation." Notably, the site "is mandated by the new law, as is its July 1 start date. It is intended to be both a one-stop-shopping site for individuals looking to see what their insurance options are, and a central repository for news and information about the health bill's rollout." According to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, "Healthcare.gov will take some of the mystery out of shopping for health insurance."

CBS News (7/2, Hunter) says on its website, "The most interesting part of the site may be the search tool," which "allows people to click on their state, then choose responses to questions about their family and medical status. A program processes the data and then spits out the best insurance options available."

Ezra Klein said in his Washington Post (7/1) blog that this is "a slick, easy-to-use site, which may be the best thing out there for seeing both the public and private health-coverage options for people in your situation in your area." The Wall Street Journal (7/1, Adamy) "Washington Wire" blog and Kaiser Health News (7/1, Galewitz) also covered the story.

The POWER of Optical

From an e-mail from Gil Catino in Wilmington:

Peter,

We crossed a daily sales threshold at the Porters Neck office yesterday that could not have been done without a stellar optical day. For the past 8 years since I graduated I have concentrated on the professional side of practice and have given very little thought into the optical side. After seeing first hand sales what a practice can do with a great optical, it has made me realize how important our job is to provide our patients with good quality eye wear along with their professional exam. I have made a commitment to myself, my patients, and the Bottom Line to improve and provide the best optical service I can in each office I practice. I am glad the organization is committed to providing training to each a every staff member to continue to improve our optical as a group. I am off to Washington on Tuesday ready to come back with some ideas to make our big optical days more of an occurrence. I really do see how a little of time spent in the lane giving recommendations gives huge paybacks to a practice's daily sales. I have really been missing the boat for all these years, believe me that will change.

Gil

Not Wearing Varifocal Glasses During Outdoor Activities May Lower Seniors' Fall Risk.

Not Wearing Varifocal Glasses During Outdoor Activities May Lower Seniors' Fall Risk.

BBC News (5/26) reports that, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal, "many falls could be prevented if older people do not wear varifocal glasses while out and about." In a study of "600 people aged either over 80 or over 65 with a history of falls," half of whom "were given single lens glasses for going out" and half of whom were not, Australian researchers found that those who went outdoors regularly while wearing single focal lenses experienced 40% fewer falls. Therefore, the study authors advised seniors to wear single focal glasses while performing outdoor activities in spite of the inconvenience of having to change glasses.

Great Customer Service.......

From Neil Gailmard, OD good advice:

I made the point just two weeks ago in tip # 431, but I'll repeat it here. Great customer service is very hard to deliver when the fee schedule is value oriented.

Raise your fees in general and you'll find it is much easier to let patients win these scenarios. If vision plans are very dominant in your practice, raise the fees anyway.

What are business cards for?

Speaking with Chris Padgett, OD at the Doctors meeting he shared with me what he uses his business cars for.  He gives one to each of his patients ("I go through a lot of business cards!") and asks them to refer their friends and family.  They might do that anyhow but asking may make this more successful.

I've been an advocate of giving each patient a business card at the conclusion of an examination saying something like this:

"I am personally responsible for everything that happens (or does not happen!) in this office.  And we try hard to make certain that we meet or exceed your expectations.  If for some reason we ever fail to do that I'd like you to contact me personally so that I can correct whatever it is that has occurred."

My business card has both my DVC E-mail address as well as my cell phone number.  I want any patient with an issue to be able to contact me directly.  If a patient is unhappy with anything in my office I am confident that I can correct the problem about 99% of the time.  I am not going to worry about the 1% that I can't help -- but I WILL try.

Who is the captain of your ship, the CEO of your office?