OPTOMETRY SERVICE

CONFERENCE CALL

MINUTES

January 20, 2012

1.  Announcements:

a.  Open VA Optometry Staff Positions – please see links below for available open positions.

http://www.va.gov/OPTOMETRY/open_VA_Optometrist_Positions.asp or http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/

http://www.navao.org/documents/01_20_2012/OPEN_OPTOMETRY_POSITIONS.docx

b.  VA Core Values and Characteristics (I CARE)

http://vaww.va.gov/default.asp

c.  Under Secretary for Health (USH) VHA Mission & Vision Statements

http://vaww.ush.va.gov/Excellence

d.  IL 10-2011-010, Two Year Veteran’s Childcare Pilot Program

  1. This Information Letter provides information regarding the 2-year Veteran’s childcare pilot program for children of qualified Veterans.
  2. Dr. Horn comment. Three VISNs are piloting a program to provide childcare for Veterans while they are receiving care.
  3. http://www.navao.org/documents/01_20_2012/IL_10-2011-010_2-Year_Veterans_Childcare_Pilot_Program.pdf

e.  VHA Directive 2011-040, Referral to Inpatient Blind Rehabilitation Centers and Calculation of the Waiting Time Prior to Admission

  1. This Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Directive defines policy for referring blind and visually impaired Veterans and Service members to a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Blind Rehabilitation Center (BRC), for inpatient training programs, and for calculating the waiting times for admission.
  2. http://www.navao.org/documents/01_20_2012/VHA_Directive_2011-040,_Referral_to_Inpatient_BRCs_and_Calculation_of_the_Waiting_Time_Prior_to_Admission.pdf

f.  VHA Directive 2011-044, CPR Basic and ACLS Training for Staff

  1. This Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Directive issues policy to optimize patient safety within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) system by training appropriate staff on Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS).
  2. http://www.navao.org/documents/01_20_2012/VHA_Directive_2011-044,_CPR_Basic_and_Advanced_Cardiac_Life_Support_Training_for_Staff.pdf

g.  VHA Directive 2011-045, Appropriate and Effective Use of Mandatory Training

  1. This Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Directive establishes the Learning Organization as an explicit goal of VHA and outlines effective means for improving organization performance while minimizing the use of mandatory and required training for large groups of employees.
  2. Dr. Horn comment. There are committees at all levels looking to see if mandatory training can be minimized. She points out that, interestingly, it looks at part time employees, fee basis contracts, trainees and volunteers to try to cut down their training as well. This may make it easier for affiliations to not have to go through the entire week of VA training.
  3. http://www.navao.org/documents/01_20_2012/VHA_Directive_2011-045,_Appropriate_and_Effective_Use_of_Mandatory_Training.pdf

2.  Optometry Service Field Advisory Committee - Dr. Selvin – unavailable for comment.

3.  Optometric Education Programs - Drs. Messer/Slagle

a.  Dr. Slagle comment. He wants to remind everyone to make sure that if there is a residency program at your facility that they have implemented the new VISTA resident person class code. This allows the facility to collect revenue on services that the resident does (ex. Copays for medications) and to help track productivity appropriately.

b.  Regarding the ACOE residency committee and their proposed revised standards to 2.44, 3.5, and 5.3, he encourages everyone to look over these and address any concerns or comments to the ACOE office at . The deadline for responding is tomorrow, January 21, 2012.

c.  Dr. Horn comment. In regards to the person class codes, the link/ attachment is located below. This will be important to look at productivity of optometrists and in that, if the resident has the correct person class code, their workload will count towards the staff optometrist.

d.  http://www.navao.org/documents/01_20_2012/Optometry-Podiatry_Resident_classifications_sept_2011.doc

e.  http://www.navao.org/documents/01_20_2012/XU_8_586_Patch_Desc.txt

4.  Electronic Medical Records/Information Technology Issues - Dr. Ballinger – unavailable for comment.

5.  Infection Control/Reusable Medical Equipment Reprocessing - Drs. Horn/White/O’Connor – unavailable for comment.

6.  Teleretinal Imaging Screening Program - Drs. Cavallerano/Selvin – unavailable for comment.

7.  DoD/VA Vision Center of Excellence & Eye Injury Registry - Dr. Barker – unavailable for comment.

8.  TBI Vision Rehabilitation - Dr. Eldred – unavailable for comment.

9.  Low Vision Rehabilitation - Drs. Chan-O’Connell/Mancil – unavailable for comment.

10.  Optometry Quality Improvement - Dr. Norden – unavailable for comment.

11.  VA Systems Redesign/Wait Times - Drs. Boyer/Horn – unavailable for comment.

12.  VA Optometric Research & Development - Dr. Mancil – unavailable for comment.

http://vaww1.va.gov/OPTOMETRY/research.asp

13.  VHA Optometry Service Websites - Drs. Hamilton/G. Singh

a.  One additional webmaster was added – Dr. Dax Gay and they are in the process of looking for one more.

14.  VA Optometry Service Directory - Drs. Egusa/Lim/Pewitt

a.  Dr. Pewitt comment. She believes everything is up to date. They are updating requests within the day or within 2-3 days or the request. If there is a request that has not been addressed, please contact the committee.

b.  To find the service directory, log onto www.va.gov/optometry and on the left hand side the link to the service directory is available. You can search alphabetically or by state.

15.  VA Residency Trained Optometrist Directory - Dr. Wang

a.  Dr. Wang comment. She states she has about 60% of current residents in the directory. She says she is collaborating with NAVAO this year in sending residents their certificates, enclosing a brochure about fellowships and careers in the VA, ABCMO and ACMO and coordinating the various opportunities that are available through the VA. If there are any residents that would like to be included in the directory, please contact her.

16.  AFOS Report - Drs. Hunter/Wasik

a.  Dr. Wasik comment. She wanted to remind everyone of the upcoming meeting in Atlanta before SECO, January 28-29th. This is the federal service meeting which will provide 8 hours of continuing education. You can make hotel reservations on the website.

b.  Just an update, an executive director was hired about 2-3 weeks ago but was declined recently so the current interim director, Mike Pattison, has agreed to fill the role until another official executive director is hired. If you are expecting an email from the previously hired director, Dr. Adams, you may not be hearing back from him about any issues involving AFOS at this time.

17.  NAVAO Report - Drs. Kawasaki/Storer

a.  January is our annual membership drive month. Current or former members can simply login to the members area of the NAVAO websiteand follow the instructions to renew at the top of the page. New members can join by signing up under the “Join Us” section of the website. The deadline to renew is January 31, 2012, after which a late fee will apply. We are also pleased to announce that once again this year,one individual who joins or renews before the January 31 deadline will be randomly selected for free membership the following year in 2013. So please join or renew right away to be eligible for a free year of membership in 2013! We’d also ask that you please encourage other optometrists at your facility to join NAVAO as well. Thank you!

b.  NAVAO strongly encourages all eligible candidates to register for the next Advanced Competence in Medical Optometry (ACMO) exam on Friday, June 1, 2012. Please visit the NBEO website at www.optometry.org for details and read our ACMO FAQ sheet in the members area of the NAVAO website. The exam fee is $780; however, please note that there is a special reduced fee of $480 for current residents who sit for the test during the year in which they complete their residency (Residency Coordinators: Please encourage your current residents to consider taking the ACMO exam). We recommend that you register early to have a better chance of reserving a spot at your desired testing site. The deadline to register for the ACMO exam is May 7, 2012.

Dr. Joe Molinari comment. On January 18, 2012 a letter from the president of the AOA to all the state executive directors was released indicating that the AOA will be discontinuing the AOA journal as of June 2012. He encourages correspondence to the AOA involving this issue and the importance of maintaining the journal.