Placeholder
 
  Practice Support Newsletter
  May 2025

May Is Healthy Vision Month

Healthy Vision Month is celebrated every year in May to stress the importance of the health of our eyes. This month was established by the National Eye Institute in 2003 and aims to spread awareness and educate people about the risks of ignoring the health of their eyes.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology has a list of popular tips and prevention topics to share with patients on eye health. South Piedmont AHEC encourages all practices to celebrate Healthy Vision Month by adding a banner on their website, offering tips for eye health and encouraging eye exams for their patients who are high risk.
 
Measure of the Month: Diabetic Eye Exams
Diabetic retinopathy is progressive damage to the small blood vessels in the retina that may result in loss of vision. It is the leading cause of blindness in adults between 20-74 years of age. Approximately 4.1 million adults are affected by diabetic retinopathy (CDC, 2020).

The diabetic eye exam measure is outlined as:

Percentage of patients 18-75 years of age with diabetes and an active diagnosis of retinopathy in any part of the measurement period who had a retinal or dilated eye exam by an eye care professional during the measurement period or diabetics with no diagnosis of retinopathy in any part of the measurement period who had a retinal or dilated eye exam by an eye care professional during the measurement period or in the 12 months prior to the measurement period. 
 
Strategies to help improve your rates include:
  • Include a questionnaire on your intake paperwork asking diabetic patients the date of their most recent eye exam
  • Build relationships with ophthalmology offices to provide an easy path for exam completion and return of results
  • Build a report in your EHR on diabetic eye exams
    • Run the report monthly for patients that are due for the exam or do not have the results
    • Evaluate your data for improvement
  • Include eye education during the visit to emphasize the importance of eye health
  • Work with a South Piedmont AHEC Coach! 

Regulatory Reminders: Eye Protection

Eye protection in the clinical area is an important tool for staff to protect themselves. Eye protection is used to prevent exposure to splashes, sprays, splatter, and respiratory secretions. Practices can perform a risk assessment to identify areas that staff would need to use eye protection based on the types of activities in their offices. 

The CDC adds additional references to the NIOSH requirements around eye and face protections and the occupational standards . Additionally, the CDC has information related to eye protection for infection control . 

Make it actionable! 
  • Round in your practice to identify placement and availability of eye protection.
    • Areas of high importance include sterilization rooms, laboratory and janitorial closets.
  • Ensure staff have documented training on when to use eye protection.
  • During your monthly safety rounding, ask staff for examples of when they would use eye protection.
  • Make available eye wash stations in case of an event. 

Win some South Piedmont AHEC Swag!

Give two examples in your practice when a staff member needs eye protection.

The first three to respond to the question above with the correct answers to
Practice Support will receive a prize.

Congratulations to Amelia Ely from Progressive Medical Associates, PLLC
for winning our last giveaway!

Coding for Healthy Eye Month

To help to track effectiveness and timeliness of care, and to facilitate quality improvement efforts, coding is important to the practice and management of your diabetic patient population. Here are a few tips to ensure complete and accurate coding for Diabetic Retinal Exams.

Our partners at WellCare also have a helpful HEDIS guide and tool kit available for download o access additional coding practices: Quality | Wellcare  

The key points needed for complete coding and measurement documentation included:
  • Retinal or dilated eye exam by an eye care professional during the measurement year, with documented results.
  • Results, notes, or letter from an ophthalmologist, optometrist, or qualified reading center indicating the date the exam was completed notating the results.
  • Documentation from a PCP chart showing that a retinal exam was performed by an eye care professional, with the date and result–this would be compliant for exams completed in the measurement year.
  • Exams indicating negative diabetic retinopathy in the prior year would be numerator compliant if performed by an appropriate eye care specialist. 
To read more on tips and best coding practices, click here .

News from NAMD: Fraudulent Scheme
Detected in Several States

The National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) has learned of a fraud email scheme that has potentially impacted several states over the past few days. The scheme, which is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was perpetrated by a sophisticated overseas group which utilized fraudulent emails seeking changes to electronic funds transfers (EFT) to redirect funds to an institutional provider.

Providers are reminded that all EFT and OA change requests submitted to NC Tracks must go through a verification process to ensure authenticity. These security enhancements were detailed in our 2022 announcement on Enhanced Security for OA and EFT Change Requests, available here .

Additionally, NC Tracks is in the process of rolling out Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all users, further strengthening access control and system security. More information on this requirement is available in the 2025 MFA announcement, located here .

Providers are encouraged to remain vigilant and confirm all change requests through known contacts. Read the full announcement on NC Tracks.
AHEC Class Spotlight
Placeholder image

Enhancing Support for Patients with Hearing Loss Through Medicaid Communication Access

May 21, 2025 | 12–1 PM

Join us for a virtual Lunch and Learn with the Division for Services for the Dead and Hard of Hearing

Meet with the NC Medicaid Communication Access team to learn how you can support your patients with hearing loss and how to register and use the free resources available through the organization. This reimbursement program may help your medical practice meet various incentives.

Register Now
Placeholder image

How to Use Data in
Quality Management

May 27th & 28th | 8:30 AM–12:30 PM
Michelle Franklin, BSN, CPHQ

Register for our Live Webinar on How to Use Data in Quality Management hosted by South Piedmont AHEC.

This course will review quality principles related to information management. We will discuss types of data, measurement strategies, interpreting and using data for decision making, and review performance improvement tools.

Register Now

Handouts Available - Navigating Measles:
Essential Insights for Healthcare Professionals

If you registered for our webinar on measles, you can access the slides and Q&A's from your MyAHEC account . You can also find the recording posted on South Piedmont AHEC's website .

Practice Support would also like to thank the South Piedmont Continuing Professional Development team and our partners at Atrium Health for supporting us in making this webinar possible. We look forward to additional partnerships.

Additional Resources

Medicaid Manage Care
Latest Course Catalog
Collaborative Care Model
Prior Practice Support Newsletters
South Piedmont AHEC Practice Support
Helping You Meet the Challenges!
Facebook
Instagram
X
LinkedIn
YouTube