I was recently interviewed by EyeNet Magazine on the future of ophthalmic practice.

I am honored to work with friends, colleagues & leaders in a shared mission of protecting sight and empowering lives.

AAO Members can access the online version here.

Screenshots of the magazine article are below.

Colleagues,

I’m delighted to invite you to the 3rd annual Ophthalmology Business Summit, on March 14-15, 2020 in Chicago.

With reimbursements falling and a shifting healthcare market in flux, the third annual, leadership-focused “boot camp” pairs your real-world experience with a broad range of intimate strategic sessions geared to helping you run a sustainable modern practice.

Cordially,

Ravi

Ophthalmology Business Summit American Academy of Ophthalmic Executives® It’s more important than ever to address the volatile market forces impacting your practice. 2020 Ophthalmology Business Summit March 14-15 | Chicago All-new program with tools and tactics for sustaining a healthy, viable practice. Program Director: Ravi D. Goel, MD Keynote Speaker: Ruth D. Williams, MD With reimbursements falling and a shifting healthcare market in flux, the third annual, leadership-focused “boot camp” pairs your real-world experience with a broad range of intimate strategic sessions geared to helping you run a sustainable modern practice. Past Academy President Ruth D. Williams, MD, will deliver a keynote address exploring ways to foster a healthy practice culture that builds trust and increases productivity. Program Director Ravi D. Goel, MD, has engaged business experts and Academy leaders to deliver a focused curriculum with tools for overcoming your most complex business challenges. See the session summaries below or visit aao.org/business-summit to review complete descriptions and register. The Ophthalmology Business Summit is sponsored in part by Modernizing Medicine and Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Co. (OMIC). Register Now Discount registration ends soon and seats are limited. Claim your space today. For registration questions, call 866.561.8558 or email registration@aao.org. 2020 OPHTHALMOLOGY BUSINESS SUMMIT CURRICULUM SATURDAY MARCH 14  8-9 a.m. | Opening Session Successful Leadership Drives Culture Keynote Speaker: Ruth D. Williams, MD 9-11 a.m. Respond to Changes in Your Practice Environment: A 20/20 Perspective Robert E. Wiggins, MD, MHA Arvind Saini, MD, MBA and Sara Burns Rapuano, MBA, OCS 11:15 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Audit-Proof Your Practice Sue J. Vicchrilli, COT, OCS, OCSR 12:45-1:45 p.m. | LUNCH 1:45-4 p.m. A Healthy Practice is Lean: Simple Fixes to Maximize Efficiency and Improve Patient Experience Sara Burns Rapuano, MBA, OCS 4-5 p.m. Keeping the Fire Lit: Strategies for Preventing Burnout Robert F. Melendez, MD, MBA 5-6 p.m. | RECEPTION SUNDAY MARCH 15 8:30-10:30 a.m. Smart Money: Ensure Financial Wellness for Your Practice in 2020 Ann M. Hulett, CMPE 10:45-11:45 a.m. Protecting Your Practice: Risk Management Session Open Mic Linda D. Harrison, PhD 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The Compassionate Practice: Establishing Equity Between Your Patients and Staff (Maximizing Communication from Millennial to Baby Boomer) Ravi D. Goel, MD and Robert F. Melendez, MD, MBA Register Now For registration questions, call 866.561.8558 or email registration@aao.org.

I learn clinical pearls each day from CataractCoach.com, which was started by my friend Uday Devgan MD.  I honestly don’t know how he has the energy to create so many superb cataract surgery videos.  Uday has gone 500+ straight days with a blog post which includes new cases and reviews of ophthalmology principles.

The site includes an opportunity to submit challenging clinical cases.  The cases submitted by colleagues worldwide have been phenomenal and have made me a better surgeon.  I often hear Uday’s voice when I come across a clinical challenge in the OR.

I’m honored to have my second submission posted to Dr. Devgan’s website.

1. Bleeding from Pupil Expander! Now What? (July 11, 2018) – I think I was one of the first guest surgeons on the site!

2. Two-Handed Capsulorhexis Technique (February 4, 2020) – I learned this technique from Uday’s site!  My own apologies that the video filter was dark on this recording.

With thanks to Dr. Devgan for educating colleagues worldwide!  He’s constantly on the cutting edge. Check out http://www.CataractCoach.com and please submit videos to this wonderful site.

I have spent the last few days most confused about MIPS reporting.  My two ophthalmologist practice uses an ophthalmology specific EMR and plans to report using the IRIS Registry (American Academy of Ophthalmology).

An essential part of MIPS reporting is PI (Promoting Interoperability).  The IRIS Registry portal directs you to the CMS website to obtain your official CEHRT 2015 ID.  This certifies that the EMR product you have meets 2015 federal standards:

https://chpl.healthit.gov/#/search

When I typed in my EMR System and clicked the yellow button, the basket showed 46% and I was unable to generate an ID number.  I thought my EMR was de-certified!

I emailed my EMR vendor, and after a turbo meeting, I realized I was making a simple mistake …

In order to generate a CEHRT 2015 ID, you need to add ALL of the individual components which make up your EMR.  This includes the other vendors which make up the various components (secure messaging, electronic prescriptions, patient portal, IRIS Registry).  Each vendor has a unique name which you may need to obtain from your EMR vendor.

In my case, we use 6 different vendors.  With EMR tech support, I searched each component and added them like an Amazon shopping cart.  Once I added 4, I reached  100%, and with all 6 entered generated CEHRT 2015 ID.

For me, I needed to search for the following 6 products, select the 2015 version, and click the Yellow “+Cert ID” for each one:

1. MDOffice (2015) – EMR vendor
2. Updox (2015) – secure messaging
3. Regulatory Compliance Platform (Eye Care Leaders) 2015
4. Rcopia (DrFirst) Version 3 2015 – electronic prescriptions
5. Sophrona Solutions 2015 – patient portal
6. FigMD Inc. 2015 – IRIS Registry

Once I created the shopping basket, I could easily use the CMS ID generator to create a “Your CMS EHR Certification ID”

I then typed the number back into IRIS Registry and FINALLY enter my PI information!

My advice: Contact your EMR company to find out the “official names” for each of these vendor products as reported to federal program.  This may be different for every practice & EMR!

1. EMR vendor
2. Secure Messaging vendor
3. Regulatory Compliance Platform (if necessary)
4. Electronic prescription vendor
5. Patient portal vendor
6. IRIS Registry or other registry database vendor

Hope this helps!

(Optional)

Below are screenshots as I added each component:

1. MDOffice (2015) – EMR vendor

2. Updox (2015) – secure messaging

This process continued for:

3. Regulatory Compliance Platform (Eye Care Leaders) 2015

4. Rcopia (DrFirst) Version 3 2015 – electronic prescriptions

5. Sophrona Solutions 2015 – patient portal

6. FigMD Inc. 2015 – IRIS Registry

Finally, 6 items are in the basket and I then clicked “Get 2015 EHR Certification ID”

Generate the ID and download the PDF!

Congratulations to my brother Sonny Goel MD! He’s performed more than 95,000+ refractive surgeries since starting clinical practice in 1997.  He’s now the first to perform the SMILE procedure in Maryland!  SMILE is an acronym for “Small Incision Lenticular Extraction” and is a unique advancement in vision enhancing procedures.

And nothing beats a patient testimonial on their own social media channel:

Congratulations again to my older brother and his dedication to #ProtectingSight.  Wonderful to see the opportunity which patients have to benefit from better vision.

To learn about the SMILE procedure, please visit http://www.GoelVision.com.

(He coined the name before me!)

I remember the days you were both born and less than three months apart. You brought great joy to my brothers, sisters-in-law and our extended families. Now you are both entering college and I wanted to give you some advice. Having no children of my own, and hoping to one day have children, I thought it best to record some of my feelings.

I’ve had the joy of being a doting chacha (uncle). For many years I could watch you grow, attend birthday parties, participate in activities and then pass you back to your parents.  Uncles enjoy the best parts of parenting without the responsibilities. You have both grown up to become wonderful young adults.

Still in your teenage years and ready to take on the world. Having spent my own childhood obsessed with college admissions and watching your journeys I offer you the following advice:

1. The college experience is a privilege not a right. With online resources, college-level courses, podcasts and blogs, you could achieve a world-class education for free online. Appreciate that a university community enhances the learning experience.
2. Learn as much as you can in the next four years. Both from your professors and classmates.  You will be surrounded by mentors.  
3. Universities have vast resources available to you. Take advantage of them. Libraries are places to study and explore. The book you find in the stacks will have resources adjoining ready to be discovered. Google Books & Wikipedia are nice starts but originality comes from researching primary sources. 
4. Remember that borrowed & purchased books should not simply collect dust. Books are meant to be opened, read, and enjoyed. You may not read every book in the curriculum and you will be fascinated that your classmates “read that book in high school.” Learn at your own pace and seek help when you don’t understand concepts.
5. More than 25 years after graduating college, one of my biggest regrets is that I did not go to professor office hours often enough. You’ll be surrounded by world-class faculty and graduate students who have the skills to teach you outside the lecture hall.  Honor and respect them. Seek out your teachers for help. They are not there to complete your coursework. Rather, come prepared with questions and ask them to guide you in the journey of learning.
6. Learn gratitude.  Write to teachers, counselors and mentors to thank them for helping you along your journey.  A text message doesn’t count.  Put pen to paper.
7. Be careful not to judge yourself against your peers. You are now surrounded by many more classmates who have natural abilities which you do not have.
8. Remember that success depends on those who have grit.  Success and failure are both part of success. You cannot be successful in life unless you fail on occasion. The mark of success is being able to give your best effort, be knocked down, and still stand up and fight again. (Read Teddy Roosevelt’s In The Arena and watch my high school classmate Angela Lee Duckworth’s TED Talk before the first day of class.)

9. Surround yourself with classmates that inspire you. Find ways to avoid those who do not inspire you or take away from your learning & growth experiences.

10. Limit social media.  Every post you make will be reviewed by graduate school admissions officers and human resource departments.  Turn your phone into airplane mode, set an alarm for 30-60 minutes and then study uninterrupted. (I learned this from Shane Parrish’s wonderful Farnam Street blog & The Knowledge Project podcast.)

In four years I hope to be at your graduation. I hope that you will look upon these next few years as a learning experience. I hope that you will utilize the unlimited resources that are available to you.

If you need help, assistance, or an ear to listen to, I’m here for you. Your parents, siblings and extended families are here for you. You are surrounded by those who want you to succeed in life. Do not waste these next four years on stress, the loss of learning opportunities, nor regret.

Love,

Ravi Chacha

I returned from vacation to learn that my personal information may have been hacked via Equifax, one of the three biggest credit reporting agencies. I’ve infrequently reviewed the “free credit reports” available via the three companies, which a prudent consumer would rotate and obtain every four months (once learned I had a 20 year old Macy’s account still active). I’d usually get a report from all three companies at the same time and every couple of years.

The Equifax data hack, which could have affected 140 million+ consumers, is a wake up call to us all.

Here’s my quick pearl list to protect your credit report and personal identity post-Equifax:

1. Read Ron Lieber’s “Equifax’s Instructions Are Confusing. Here’s What to Do Now.” (NY Times). This is the most straight-forward summary I’ve seen. Based on this, I will NOT sign up for the free Equifax service post-hack, which strips away legal rights for arbitration.

2. I created a security freeze on on my credit reports with the three big credit report agencies (and a 4th one below). Each state has various costs to freeze, temporarily unfreeze, or permanently unfreeze your credit. I live in a state which is FREE to freeze and costs $5 to “lift” (temporarily unfreeze). I’ve seen the costs vary even for my state via the agencies online links. (Transunion is most web friendly) If you are a consumer advocate, now is the time to lobby your state legislators to address these fees and especially if they are higher than other states.

Here’s a quick run-down of how I initiated credit report security freezes this morning:

A. Equifax – relatively easy to do. You need your current information. Created immediate 10 digit PIN you need to unfreeze (I took a screenshot and wrote down).

B. Experian – relatively easy to do. They will ask you about old account details (5 multiple choice questions, “What is the last 4 digits of a phone number (or a primary checking account) … Which is a street number of an old address?” ) Creates 10 digit PIN.

C. Transunion – straightforward. Need to create an account and then select freeze (You may need to create an account, log out, then log back in). You then get to pick your own 6 digit PIN.

D. Innovis – straightforward but they will send you a letter once you sign up.

3. Obtain a free credit report every four months at annualcreditreport.com. Here, you simply set up a mobile phone / desktop calendar alert every 4 months to obtain a credit report from Equifax (September 1), Experian (January 1 ), TransUnion (May 1). Do this on the same day you change the air filter in your heating system (Air filters should actually be changed every 3 months!). In any event, a calendar alert should be a good reminder to review your credit report for FREE (federal law) every few months.

My NEW calendar Alerts:

I will add more links as this story evolves. Please like, share and comment below!