Now Available: MOA Diabetic Eye Examination Report

Did you know that 7.9% of the Maryland population has diabetes, of which 74.3% reported receiving a dilated eye exam in 2006? The American Diabetes Association, as well as the American Optometric Association, recommends all patients with diabetes get a yearly dilated eye examination.

With Medicare’s Physician Quality Reporting Initiative taking effect July 1, 2007, it is now recommended that optometrists document “the presence or absence of macular edema and level of severity of diabetic retinopathy” (CPT Level II code 2021F) and document that “communication with the managing primary physician in a patient with diabetic retinopathy” has taken place (CPT Level II code 5010F). To facilitate the documentation portion of this initiative, as well as encourage communication between MOA optometrists and managing primary physicians of diabetic patients, the MOA is recommending use of the MOA Diabetic Eye Examination Report. This report was originally conceived by the Ohio Optometric Association and adopted by the American Optometric Association (AOA). It is available for MOA members online in a downloadable, fill-able PDF format using your member login and password. This form can be accessed at www.marylandeyes.com/members/MOADiabeticExamForm.pdf. Paper copies can be requested by contacting Dr. Nina Doyle by email at Nina.Doyle@gmail.com or by phone at 410-721-2500. The AOA will also make these forms available for purchase later this fall, in a triplicate version, through their Order Department.

This form’s availability ties in nicely with MOA’s recent decision to join the Maryland Diabetes Control and Prevention Coalition. The mission of the coalition is to reduce the burden of diabetes on the citizens of Maryland by providing informational resources, technical assistance and support to organizations and agencies as they plan and implement activities to prevent and/or control diabetes. The MOA will serve as a resource to the coalition’s members with regards to eyes, in sharing the goal of diabetes control and prevention.

1. Data obtained from the Maryland Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2006 results.

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