OEPF Conference Call Summary

A special and profound thanks to Dr. Marc Taub for facilitating and hosting a successful conference call on behalf of OEPF. The goal was to keep everyone talking and to share as many ideas as possible as the VT community continues to endure this crisis, together. Great ideas were shared by many participants!

Here’s a synopsis:

• Getting Patients Equipment – consider mailing care packages with up to four weeks of supplies enclosed, or leaving equipment outside the office for patients to pick up. Another consideration is for staff members who would otherwise out of work, to deliver the equipment in a “no contact” fashion’ possibly leaving the packages n the porch. Some offices have or are considering, sending more complex equipment (vectograms and tranalglyphs) to patients on a limited basis, mostly to be used during virtual visits.

• Varying Levels of Complexity – there seems to be a general consensus that in the early stages of this crisis, most offices have tried to utilize telehealth for the simpler patients, leaving the more complex cases on hold for the time being. As plans develop, or the crisis comes to an end, the more complex patients (such as those with a TBI) will be addressed. When treating complex patients, it seems that many offices are working on positive and organized methods for moving forward. More to come here.

• Online Programs – many of these were shared in a previous post, but it’s worth going through them again. There were programs I neglected to mention last time (sincerest apologies!) which were mentioned today. Check out: Binovi, Vivid Vision, VisionBuilder, HTS, Anteo, and CAVT. Anteo is offering significant discounts on yearly subscriptions in an effort to assist with managing patients during this crisis.

• EMR – to aide in this crisis, Nu Squared is offering free new accounts for Vision Therapy EMR so offices can have remote access to their patient charts. Their website has more information: www.nusquared.com

• Reminders for HIPPA –  compliance was discussed. Most platforms are acceptable for now given the relaxation of the rules by HHS; however, be careful long term. Doxy.me seems to be popular.

• Screen Sharing – The suggestion was made to better utilize screen-sharing to complete more complex activities. As an example, some biocular programs (CAVT or VTS) could be run on the therapists’ computer while the screen is shared, essentially providing the patient the opportunity to complete the activity.

• Quality of Care – Everyone is concerned about the quality of care remaining at a high level, versus just getting the activities done.  Everyone is asked to think outside the box and share what works or doesn’t work.

• Maintain Normalcy – During this unprecedented and unusual time, kids will feel the stress, too. It’s important to be as consistent as we can, even if to help them feel some normalcy. Some suggestions were made to increase the number of sessions per week, if possible, considering most schools are on a break.

• Using YouTube – to assist with demonstrating activities, consider creating a private and “by invitation only” YouTube Channel for your office. This may help to demonstrate activities to patients.

• Meet with Parents – For VT with toddlers or patients who may not do well sitting still in front of a computer, schedule coaching sessions with the parents and make suggestions for positive and appropriate delivery of care.

• Non-Screen Time – Considering the increased screen time inherent with telehealth the remote learning most schools have moved to, it’s important to emphasize “non-screen” activities for our patients. Perhaps board games for families, or things of that nature.

• Prizes – Some ideas for prizes were floated. These include “saving” prizes in specific bags for later distribution or even mailing prizes seems to be popular

• Progress Checks – Progress Checks by the OD are a challenge. For now, work to judge progress by the level of VT activities and the pace of advancement

• Third-Party Billing – Insurance billing is murky for VT via telemedicine, as it seems not all insurance companies are allowing for VT via telemedicine. (Codes being explored are the GT modifier as well as 99241, 99242, and 99243. All are time-based codes) CMS also offers some information

Thanks again to Dr. Marc Taub for allowing me to listen in and share as much as I could via this medium.  Dr. Taub announced a plan to continue hosting weekly conference calls to facilitate community sharing and conversation with respect to positive telemedicine deliveries of Vision Therapy. The next scheduled call will be Friday, March 27th. I will share the invitation here once it is created.

I hope you all are staying well!

Here is a link to the recorded call!