Issue link: https://optometricmanagementsupplements.epubxp.com/i/635658
T h e r e a r e m a ny g o o d r e a s o n s t o d e v e l o p a s t r o n g d r y e y e component within your optometric practice: your patients' well-being, their perception of you and your practice, the prevention of cont ac t lens drop out, and t he referrals that come from treating this chronic, progressive disease. Don't forget, too, that it can help with the fnancial health of your practice, which is under attack from many angles, including online dispensaries and decreasing vision plan reimbursement. You really only have two choices for protecting your revenue stream. You can either see more patients or you can do more for the patients you already have. Dry eye is a great opportunity to do more — to provide much-needed ser vices for your existing patients. Millions of people sufer from dry eye, including millions of baby boomers, a large percentage of whom are post- menopausal females, who are now joining Medicare, and the majority of e y e e x a m s a re p e r f or m e d by optometrists. All of this points to the fact that dry eye patients are already in your practice. In our practice, we've created several dry eye-related revenue streams to help us treat our patients, and you can do the same. Testing and Documentation Te availability of point-of-care testing for dry eye is a positive development. Two notable testing options have been making their way into an increasing number of practices: the TearL ab Osmolarity System and InfammaDry (RPS). Technicians can perform either of these tests efciently as part of the patient workup, and both companies help with training, practice logistics, marketing, and ever y other aspect of adoption. For Me dic are p at ients, test ing with InfammaDry (CPT code 83516) and the TearLab Osmolarity System (CPT code 83861), both considered in vitro laboratory devices, is billed under the Clinical Laborator y Fee S ch e du l e, n ot t h e Phy s i c i an Fe e Schedule. Terefore, Medicare patient co-payments or deductibles don't apply; the service is 100% reimbursed. (Coding requirements for commercial c ar r iers may var y.) O ptomet r ists should embrace point-of-care testing as a means to achieve more accurate diagnoses. Not doing so might mean exclusion from insurance panels. Both InfammaDry and the osmolarity test require a practice to have a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) waiver, which isn't difcult to obtain in the vast majority of states. I n a d d i t i o n t o p o i n t - o f - c a r e te st s , st and ard me ib o g r aphy and anterior segment imaging, including new features on some topographers and tomographers, can be used to help detect and document the signs and causes of dry eye. The LipiView interferometer (TearScience) takes meibography to a new level with its abilities to measure lipid layer thickness, evaluate blink rate, and allow visualization of the structure o f t h e m e i b o m i a n g l a n d s . T h e clarity the LipiView provides was recently enhanced with the addition of D y nam i c Me ib om i an Imag i ng (Figure 1). Used in conjunction with the LipiView, the Korb Meibomian The Medical Economics of Dry Eye Create new revenue streams by doing more for your patients ■ By Doug Devries, OD Figure 1. Dynamic Meibomian Imaging from TearScience is based on two novel imaging technologies: dynamic illumination and adaptive transillumination. T p a i l l y o u a n d y u r p r a c t i o f c o n t a c t l e n d r e f e r r a l s t h a t c h r o n i c , p r o g r e s f o r g e t , t o o , t h a t i t f n a n c i a l h e a l t h o f y o u r p r a c t i c e , n d e r a t t a c k f r o m m a n y a n l u d i n o n n e d i s p e n s a r i e s a v i i o n e i m b u r s e m e n t . Y l o n l y w o c h i c e s p i n y o r r e n u e m u h m o r e p a t y o u o r e h p i s y o u e a s a p o t o d i e n t s . r y e y e , o m e r s , r e p o s t - a r e n o w e m a j o r i t y o r m e d b y p o i n t s t o t h e s a r e a l r e a d y i n w e ' v e c r e a t e d s d r e v e n u e s t r e a m o u r p a t i e n t s t h e s a m e . T g a n d T e a v a i l f o r d w o m a n ( R P S ) . T o f t h e s p a t i e n h e l p m a r o f T h l E c o n o m E y e g m o r e f o r y B y D o u g D e v r i 12 | FEBRUARY 2016