How Physician Assistants Can Benefit Your Eye Care Practice

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How Physician Assistants Can Benefit Your Eye
Care Practice When you think of a physician
assistant, do you envision the person who
examines your child when the real pediatrician
isnt available? That may be true, but its not
the whole story. In reality, physician assistants
work in all types of medical fields and not just
when physicians are unavailable. Physician
assistants (PAs) are best viewed as physician
extenders who ease a physicians workload, allow
a practice to see more patients, improve patient
engagement, and more. And if you think
ophthalmology is too specialized of a field to
benefit from PAs, think again. Why You Should
Consider a Physician Assistant Ophthalmologists
and eye care practice administrators would be
well- advised to consider the many benefits of
hiring ophthalmic PAs, according to Mary Sue
Jacka, MBA, COE, FASOA, administrator at Haik
Humble Eye Center in West Monroe, Louisiana.
During her presentation at last years ASCRSASOA
Annual Symposium Congress, Jacka highlighted
several challenges facing the ophthalmology field
today. All of these factors will require
ophthalmologists to attract and retain more and
more patients to sustain profitable
practices The rise of value-based
reimbursement. As MACRA/MIPS gains traction,
private payers are sure to follow in the rules
value-based footsteps. Physicians who dont
transition into value- based payment models risk
losing revenue. Ever-growing compliance
regulations. The implementation of ICD-10,
MACRA, and other quality reporting programs like
ASCQR continue to place training and
administrative burdens on practices. The growing
population of senior citizens. As baby boomers
age through their 60s, age-related eye diseases
will take center stage. Experts expect the demand
for ophthalmology services to grow even as the
supply of new ophthalmologists remains flat.
Theres potential for a shortage of
ophthalmologists, as demand outstrips supply.
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• Physicians retiring in increasing numbers.
• As ophthalmologists age, there are fewer younger
  physicians to take their places. As of 2013, 47
  percent of practicing ophthalmologists were age
  55 and older, according to the Association of
  American Medical Colleges 2014 Physician
  Specialty Data Book. And 46.8 percent of
  physicians said they planned to accelerate their
  retirement due to changes in the healthcare
  market, according to the The Survey of Americas
• Physicians from The Physicians Foundation.
• Physician Assistants Who They Are, What They Do
• PAs can help eye care practices handle a large
  workload and give physicians time and energy to
  focus on complex cases. They can also help create
  more work-life balance, says Jacka.
  Ophthalmology practices that hire PAs can help
  afford a normal lifestyle for the physician and
  consequently the PA who works with the
  ophthalmologist, she explains.
• Need a refresher on exactly what a PA is and
  does? Heres a basic overview of how PAs differ
  from physicians, techs, and other clinical
  positions in your practice
• PAs receive a state license to practice medicine
  under the supervision of a physician they cannot
  practice medicine without the direction of a
  physician.
• Unlike techs, PAs can bill for any services that
  physicians can perform.
• PAs receive an exclusively medical and surgical
  education,
• unlike optometrists.
• And heres a snapshot of what ophthalmic PAs can
  do
• Perform preoperative HP surgical clearance.
  Arizona practice Barnet Dulaney Perkins employs
  four PAs to handle the case load of their 15,000
  lasers and ophthalmic surgery cases, says Jacka.

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• Manage patients with chronic conditions, like dry
  eye, AMD, glaucoma.
• Provide patient education