News & Notes

Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals

The university has a general “no pets” policy in all of its buildings. However, service animals are generally allowed to accompany their handlers on campus, including our clinics.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines a service animal as a dog (or alternatively a miniature horse) that has been trained to perform an active task that mitigates the impact of the handler’s disability. Emotional support animals are defined as animals that provide passive support that ameliorates the impact of a disability. Unlike a service animal, emotional support animals are not automatically allowed to accompany their handlers into university buildings. Patients who desire bringing an emotional support animal to accompany them on a clinic visit must obtain approval from the university ADA coordinator and provide advanced notice prior to arrival.

Protect Your Electronics

There have been recent instances regarding electronic device theft from the main campus clinic. Please be mindful of not leaving your cell phone, iPad, laptop, or other electronic devices unattended. Interns are recommended to have them on your person, leave them in your student locker, or lock them in the wardrobe cabinet in your assigned exam room. If a visitor claims to be lost in the building, escort the person to their intended location if you are able and comfortable doing so. If you see suspicious persons or activity, discreetly communicate with the supervisor for that area, an Assistant Clinic Director, the Associate Dean for Clinical Services, or the building coordinator. If at any point you witness a crime, or you or someone else is in danger, do not confront the perpetrator directly. Either hit the panic button within a clinical area or Call OSU Police at 614-292-2121.

Required Training Due March 1

As a healthcare institution, we must abide by regulations to protect our patient data and ensure accessibility of digital materials to all patients. To be in compliance with these regulations, all personnel who conduct any degree of work within our organization must complete required training courses.
As such, the annual Digital Accessibility Policy (DAP) training and IT Security Awareness training deadline is March 1. The DAP training is available from your transcript in BuckeyeLearn and the Security Awareness training is available through the Cybersecurity4you platform found at Cybersecurity For You | Ohio State (osu.edu). Completing these activities will allow you to maintain access to college and university IT systems.

News & Notes

New Exam Templates

The spring semester 2024 exam appointment templates for the main campus clinic have updated start and end times. These new exam templates represent the great work of the service chiefs to better align TOC clinic schedules with those of our satellite offices. Specifically, the goal is to have a real lunch break between morning and afternoon clinic sessions and to provide a better opportunity to finish the workday closer to 5:00 p.m. most days and 5:30 p.m. on Mondays. Be on the lookout for messages from each of the service chiefs to provide the template details for their respective service.

The clinical optometric education we provide is the best in the country. We are deeply committed to supporting a work environment that supports all clinic staff and faculty in that important work.

Updated Clinic Fees

Although the clinic will not be open for patient care December 27-29, the clinic staff will still be hard at work. One of the projects that will be completed is an update to certain clinic service and material fees that will go into effect spring semester on January 2. Although there are no changes to vision exam or refraction fees, a number of material and shipping fees were adjusted due to inflation. Additionally, the Contact Lens Service Fees have been restructured. Look for further e-mail communication from service chiefs or staff leaders about the details of the upcoming pricing changes.

Location of Clinic AED

The automated external defibrillator (AED) is located in a wall-mounted cabinet in the hallway across from the AOC consult room. In case of a healthcare crisis, never leave a patient in distress. Whenever a patient requires CPR or use of the AED, always have someone else bring the AED to your location and activate emergency medical services (EMS) by having someone call 911.

News & Notes

OCT-A is Here!

The Zeiss Cirrus OCT at main campus has been upgraded to include OCT angiography. This advancement in technology provides noninvasive means of investigating the vasculature of the retina, which can lead to improved diagnosis, and staging of diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration.

Family Members’ Account Activity

We have the great privilege of being the eyecare providers to many optometry faculty and staff members’ families. However, this can create some unique challenges. To be consistent with Ohio ethics laws and university regulations, a faculty or staff member should be not involved in any ledger activity of a family member. This includes determining or posting fees and discounts, and collecting payments even if it is part of your normal job responsibilities. In these instances, another co-worker should assist with these activities. Allowable activity within a family member’s electronic health record is defined by HIPAA regulations. First, there must be a work-related purpose for accessing the record. Second, providers must only access the minimum necessary information to complete the task at hand. Examples of such allowable tasks within ones job tasks includes making appointments, verifying insurance, check-in procedures, or releasing information when appropriate authorization has been completed.

Clinic Leadership Announcement

Please congratulate Megan Piller on being promoted to oversee clinic operations at Pickerington Optometry Services. Megan has been integral in the successful launch and growth of PIC since serving on the Pickerington clinic planning committee 2½ years ago. Since that time, she has effectively managed all optician duties at PIC while also learning patient services operations. She will supervise Joe Thompson who will be taking over the optician duties at the Pickerington office while remaining a part of the Upper Arlington clinic team on Mondays and Fridays.

Winter Leave 2023

Be reminded that all Ohio State Optometry Services Clinics (TOC, UA, PIC, LSS, Lower Lights, and SHC) will be closed December 27-29. Unlike last year when the entire university closed, December 27-29 will not be paid holidays. However, since the clinics will be closed to the public, the phones will be off, and we will not be providing any active patient care those days, all faculty and staff requests for vacation those days will be approved. It is important to emphasize that faculty and staff will not be required to take vacation on these days. All clinic staff will still have the opportunity to work on special projects or get caught up on paperwork at the direction of their supervisor. All clinic staff should have a discussion with their supervisor regarding their intent to work all or portions of those days.

News & Notes

Special Events at The Optometry Clinic

On the morning of August 23, all clinics will be closed while we hold a Clinic Attending Seminar and a Clinic Staff Seminar. Afternoon clinics will run as scheduled at all locations. Attendings and clinic staff should all wear their optometry name badges in a visible location (lapel, shirt pocket, etc.).

In the late afternoon and evening of September 14, The Optometry Clinic will host The Ohio State University Alumni Association’s board of directors meeting. As a result, no patients will be scheduled after 3:00 on this day. The clinic doors will be locked at 3:00, and phones will remain on until 5:00. After 3:00, the EWG will not be open to walk-ins and only be available to care for patients seen in the first half of the afternoon clinic session. Clinic and EWG staff will still work until 5:00 concentrating on non-patient care administrative tasks.

Phone Shortcut

The Optometry Services phone system will transition from a server-based to a cloud-based platform on August 23. One of the new features this will provide is a shortcut to call the front desk for the main campus clinic. After calling the 614-292-2020 number, once the recorded message begins, pressing the * button on the keypad will take you directly to the front desk staff managing the phones.

News & Notes

Medical Records Service

To ensure continuity in our patient correspondence and to provide a service to our clinical attendings, the medical records staff will now research and input the appropriate address or fax number for all patient correspondence. Therefore, attendings only have to include a doctor’s name and general office location (e.g. Dublin) on referral letters, diabetic reports, etc. and medical records will take care of the rest.

The Importance of Exiting Compulink

Due to the nature of our static licensing, every time an instance of Compulink is opened it creates a “lock file” preventing any other user from opening another instance of Compulink on that PC. The lock file is only “unlocked” by fully exiting Compulink. Therefore, each time a user leaves a consult room or exam room, they must not only logout of Compulink, but fully exit Compulink (i.e. when no Compulink windows remain open on your screen). Routinely getting into this habit will decrease the likelihood of being locked out of Compulink during a clinic session. In the event that you encounter an error message indicating that a station license is already in use, please promptly submit a Compulink HelpDesk ticket, providing details such as the license number mentioned in the alert message and your specific location (e.g., AOC Consult room microPC #3, BVP exam 6, etc.).

New Language Line Devices

We recently acquired two new Language Line devices, bringing the total number of Language Lines available at our main campus location to six. Compulink will now have six schedules for Language Line. These devices have been renamed and will be placed in specific areas of the clinic, as follows:

  • Device 1 is housed in TOC 1050 for use on the first floor by LVR, EWG, and Patient Services staff
  • Device 2A and 2B are housed in the AOC consult room for use on the second floor
  • Device 3A, 3B, and 3C are housed in PVC consult room for use on the third floor

The scheduling of the devices in Compulink also has changed slightly to link a specific device to a patient appointment.

  • Appointments on the 1st floor will be booked under the schedule name LI4 –LangLine, Dev 1.
  • Appointments on the 2nd floor will be booked under the schedule names LI1 – LangLine, Dev 2A and LI2- LangLine, Dev 2B.
  • Appointments on the 3rd floor will be booked under the schedule names LangLine, Dev 3A, LI5- LangLine, Dev 3B, and LI6- LangLine, Dev 3C.

Please be mindful of looking under the INT schedule in the appointment scheduler to ensure you use the proper device for your scheduled interpreter exams, and please return the device to its home at the completion of the visit.

Interfaith Meditation Space

Until the space becomes fully equipped, the Executive Committee has approved the use of BVP Exam Room 8 as an Interfaith Meditation Space. The room is equipped with a sink, carpeted floor, and the wardrobe can be used to store rugs. Additionally, the room locks from the inside to allow for privacy and prevent interruptions when in use.

Save the Date

On the morning of August 23, all clinics will be closed while we hold a Clinic Attending Seminar and a Clinic Staff Seminar. Afternoon clinics will run as scheduled at all locations.

News & Notes

Congratulations New Service Chiefs

Starting summer semester, Dr. Aaron Zimmerman will serve as the Contact Lens Service Chief, Dr. Kim Patton will serve as the Student Health Center Optometry Service Chief, and Dr. Greg Nixon will serve as the interim Advanced Ocular Care Service Chief. We look forward to these new chiefs continuing the legacy of exemplary patient care and clinical education within their departments. We are grateful for the leadership and dedication that Dr. Nicky Lai, Dr. Aaron Zimmerman, and Dr. Tatevik Movsisyan have provided in these respective positions over the years.

Congratulations New Residents and Advanced Practice Fellow

We are excited to announce that we will have a number of new graduates choosing to further their education as residents next year. Please congratulate these OPT IVs and wish them luck on the next chapter of their careers.

Em Weatherford: Binocular Vision, Pediatric, and Vision Therapy Resident
Curt Fritts-Davis: Low Vision/TBI Resident
Maddie Roth: Contact Lens Advanced Practice Fellow
Megan Ingalls (UMSL): Contact Lens Resident

Adult Changing Table Now Available

To help accommodate any patients in need, the main clinic now has an adult changing table that can be used by request. This mobile unit is stored on the first floor of TOC and can be moved into the private family restroom when needed. For patients in need of the adult changing table, please direct them to the first floor to alert a patient services staff member to assist them.

Attorney Fees and BWC

It is customary to charge law offices for the time it takes to prepare summary letters and copies of records that have been requested for legal review. However, any attorney requests relating to a Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) claim are not subject to any legal preparation fees.

News & Notes

New Vision Plans for STRS and PERS Members

Starting in 2023, retirees of the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) and Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) have new options to choose their vision care plan. All STRS members will have VSP as their vision plan. Within PERS, those retirees under the age of 65 will have a commercial Superior Vision Plan through MetLife/Versant Health, while retirees age 65 and older will have the option of upgrading their plan to VSP. Regardless, we are thrilled that all state employee retirees will now be covered by plans for which we are providers.

SureScripts IDs Automatic Expiration

Our Advantage ERx prescribing software is supported by the SureScripts provider database. One of the security features of the SureScripts database is to automatically expire any accounts that have been inactive for more than 25 days. This will not prohibit an attending from being able to access Advantage ERx; it just blocks the transmission of any electronic prescriptions to the pharmacy if it has been longer than 25 days since your last transmission. Unfortunately, there is no warning sign or pop-up screen that alerts you that your account has expired. It is typically discovered by a failed transmission to the pharmacy. If you encounter such a situation, please enter a Compulink HelpDesk ticket so that Jason can request an account restoration with SureScripts.

News & Notes

TOC Turns 2

November 5 marked the second anniversary of the first day of patient care at The Optometry Clinic. We celebrated by showing off our state-of-the-art facility to over 100 prospective students at the Fall Admissions Visit Day.

Compulink Upgrade Offers New Features

The main purpose of the most recent Compulink upgrade on October 21 was for improved functioning of the eRx History Merge feature to access a list of the patients’ medicines that have been received through the pharmacy and paid for by insurance. However, we have learned of some other valuable benefits of the upgrade. See the examples below.

  • When searching for a patient you now have the ability to click on the “Previous” button to go back to the account you were previously on.

    small screenshot showing the new Previous button (alt-p) that now appears to the right of the Search (alt-s) and Advanced (alt a) buttons

  • The process for printing a receipt has been simplified. Click on the “Printer” icon picture of the actual Compulink printer icon above the Insurance Balance on the ledger. Enter the date you want the receipt to start printing from. Click okay.

Medical Records Reminders

  • If providers would like the medical records staff to fax exam summaries, it is not necessary to be print them out and send to the medical records department. Please send a task in Compulink to the Medical Records group and include the name of the recipient to whom you’d like us to fax it.
  • Similarly, when sending diabetic eye reports that are requested to be faxed to a facility, such as OSUWMC or OSU East, it is critical to provide the name of the recipient to expedite delivery and prevent it being sent back to you for more information.

News & Notes

HIPAA Training Reminder

As a healthcare institution, we complete annual training on the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) to protect our patient’s privacy. The deadline to complete your required training is October 1. Log into BuckeyeLearn (go.osu.edu/BuckeyeLearn), click “My Transcript,” and launch the course to complete.

New Contact List for Optometry Services

An updated contact list for the optometry services staff is available on the I:Drive at I:\CLINIC\DIRECTORIES. If you have updates or corrections, please e-mail Clinic Coordinator Kristen Campbell at Campbell.2295@osu.edu.

Monday Morning AOC Appointments Now Available

Detailed appointment statistics have shown the need for additional same-day, acute care appointments on Mondays. Therefore, at the start of autumn semester, AOC has been operational all day on Mondays, adding morning appointments to the schedule. The full AOC appointment availability is now every afternoon, Monday mornings, and Tuesday mornings.

Phone System Upgrade for Optometry Services

Due to our large call volume and complex operations, the clinic will be upgrading our phone system to a new customized call center application called CIC. In addition to improving customer service, this new system will enable us to have greater call statistics including average wait times, peak call hours, and the number of dropped calls to help inform us of staffing needs at various times of the day. After a brief introduction to the new system, the clinic staff will devote their September 19 staff meeting to in-depth training on the new system with the live launch to follow shortly thereafter.

Pencils Down, Please

The fact that exam records are legal documents requires that all elements of the patient record be completed in pen. Therefore, pencils should not be used on any document that will be scanned into Compulink (HIPAA attestation, special testing document, eyewear waiver, etc.). Any documentation done in pencil is not picked up by our scanners, resulting in patient records appearing incomplete.

News & Notes

Optometry Services at Pickerington celebrates its one-year anniversary

June 29 marked one year since our first patients were seen at our new Pickerington clinic. Our first year was a huge success thanks to the insightful planning and coordination of Pickerington clinic planning team of Ashley Hill, Charity Levengood, Megan Piller and Dr. Kim Patton.

Changes to the Clinic Committee Meetings and Clinic Staff Meetings

Effective for the 2022-2023 clinic calendar year, the clinic committee will reduce its size to be limited to main clinic service chiefs, the Director of Externs, Director of Outreach Programs, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, and the Associate Dean for Clinical Services. This new structure will align with the scope of the committee to address issues related to clinic teaching, learning, and assessment. The clinic committee will meet every other month on the third Monday during the common hour.

Releasing the existing staff members of the clinic committee also will allow the entire clinic staff to attend monthly staff meetings. This will double the number of clinic staff meetings to facilitate improved communication among and between departments, provide opportunities for staff development, and increase time dedicated to ongoing training. Clinic staff meetings will be held every month on the third Monday during the common hour.

Professional Development Program for Clinic Staff

Due to our large call volume and complex operations, the clinic will be upgrading our phone system to a new customized call center application called CIC. In addition to improving customer service, this new system will enable us to have greater call statistics including average wait times, peak call hours, and the number of dropped calls to help inform us of staffing needs at various times of the day. Stay tuned to updates from Ashley Hill and Charity Levengood regarding the training and testing of the new system, which will roll out later this summer.

The Coding Corner

  • It has long been known that CPT code 92250 Fundus photography cannot be billed on the same date of service as CPT code 92133 Optic Nerve OCT or 92134 Macular OCT. Since all of these tests are medically necessary to diagnose, track, and monitor patients with glaucoma or a suspicion of glaucoma, it is recommended to perform and bill fundus photography for these patients at the annual exam in PVC, then perform and bill any necessary OCT codes during their glaucoma specific visits in AOC.
  • Interestingly, both CPT codes for OCT (92133 Optic Nerve OCT or 92134 Macular OCT) can be performed and billed on the same day of service if they are associated with the appropriate medical diagnosis. For example, an RNFL and GCA can be conducted on the same day for a patient with glaucoma or a suspicion of glaucoma. Similarly, an Optic Nerve OCT and Macular OCT can be performed on the same day for a patient with optic nerve head drusen and macular degeneration.