May 2024

OPHTHALMOLOGY

NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE OPHTHALMOLOGY TAKES WASHINGTON D.C.

A group of Northwestern Medicine ophthalmologists visited Washington D.C. for an advocacy campaign on Capitol Hill. The group, including David J. Palmer, MD, Roya Zandi, MD, and David A. Ramirez, MD, met with five legislator offices to discuss a range of important issues, including:
  • Long-term Medicare payment reform: They proposed a correlation between reimbursement and the Medicare Economic Index to account for inflation. This reform would help ensure budget neutrality and provide more flexibility in increasing reimbursement for post-op visits.
  • Reduced practice burdens: They highlighted the need to address pre-authorization abuses in the Medicare Advantage program.
  • Simplifying the step therapy process: This would help physicians make treatment decisions in the best interests of their patients.
  • Concerns about the scope of practice for optometrists in the VA system: They emphasized the importance of preventing them from performing lasers and incisional procedures on veterans.
  • Proposed loan repayments for pediatric ophthalmologists who practice in underserved areas to improve access to care.
  • Nationalizing vision screening, starting at the age of 3 to 4, to ensure early detection of vision issues.
  • The need to increase funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DOD) for ophthalmic research. This funding would drive significant advances in the field.
  • The issue of drug shortages: They proposed updating the Essential Medicines List to include ophthalmic drugs, creating a database to help predict shortages in pharmaceutical supply chains and modifying Section 340B to encourage the use of multidose topical medications.

Dr. Palmer also attended a lunch session focused on sustainability, where he had the opportunity to sit with Jane Edmond, MD, ophthalmologist at University of Texas at Austin, and Flora Lum, MD, vice president, quality and data science, at American academy of Ophthalmology.

Listen to Dr. Palmer speak on sustainability in ophthalmology >
 David J. Palmer, MD Clinical Associate Professor, Ophthalmology
​David A. Ramirez, MD ​Assistant Professor, Ophthalmology (Pediatric Ophthalmology)

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