Making vision plans work for you
Katie Gilbert Spear, OD, MPH, and April Jasper, OD, FAAO, have found a way to succed in the face of managed vision care challenges and shared some tips at a presentation during SECO.
Atlanta-Katie Gilbert Spear, OD, MPH, and April Jasper, OD, FAAO, have found a way to succed in the face of managed vision care challenges and shared some tips at a presentation during SECO.
Vision care contracts
The first step to success with vision care plans is understanding the plans.
They estimate that more than 80 percent of the doctors who have attended their lectures across the country have admitted that they didn’t read their vision plan contracts.
Related:
“We can’t improve and we can’t do better if we don’t even know what the details of these contracts are,” says Dr. Jasper.
When you read the contracts:
• Look for rules and regulations that vary from plan to plan
• Find plan polices on contact lens follow-up visits
• Understand when prior authorization is required
It’s not unusual for a company to update these contracts, so it’s smart to refresh yourself. This information can be found on the insurance company’s website.
Understanding this information can help protect you and your practice.
“Print your contracts for all of your plans,” says Dr. Jasper. “The reason you need to have those-not just to benefit from knowing what’s in them-but if you go through an audit for a vision plan or medical plan five years from now auditing you for the patients you’re seeing today, and you don’t have a contract and your legal agreement with the company for that period of time that you’re being audited, then you have nothing with which to defend yourself. You’ll be working according to current contract, which may have changes.”
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