The American Academy of Ophthalmic Professionals™ (AAOP™) is the Academy’s home for technicians, scribes and other clinical team members. As a membership organization, AAOP supports the exceptional delivery of physician-led patient care through education, training and career development. Access to this community is a free benefit to all current AAOP members. Join today!
Why you should be a part of this online community
AAOP-Talk provides AAOP members with a place to openly exchange ideas and discuss the clinical issues facing modern ophthalmic practices.
How to participate
To participate in the online community, you must be a member of AAOP and use the link to register to gain access to the community. If you have any questions, email us at aaop@aao.org.
Already a subscriber? Access AAOP-Talk.
Rules of participation
From the perspective of federal and state enforcers of antitrust laws, AAOP members participating in the online community are doing so as members of an organization of competitors. While one ophthalmologist can ask a colleague what she or he pays staff or charges to perform Lasik, these issues cannot be discussed in a forum sponsored by a professional society. The government views such pricing and other economic discussions as a way that competitors can fix prices, supply costs, salaries and other economic measures in a noncompetitive manner that violates state and federal antitrust laws.
Participants can discuss CPT and ICD-10 codes. Discussions about concerted action towards private payers, insurance contract clauses and private payer reimbursement cannot be discussed. These rules protect AAOP, its members and the Academy from costly legal actions and potential fines by the Federal Trade Commission or the Department of Justice. For this reason, a poster who violates the rules will be barred from participating in AAOP-Talk and may, at the sole discretion of the AAOP Advisory Board, lose his or her membership in AAOP.
AAOP-Talk is intended for discussion of business issues. Members should refrain from posting forwarded emails, contests and other emails that are not relevant to the business aspects of ophthalmology practice.
Here are some additional important dos and don’ts:
- Be forthcoming in your messages about any potential financial conflict of interest.
- If you repost something from another source, it is only ethical and helpful to give credit to the original poster along with the full citation.
- DO NOT post any copyrighted material to any of the lists unless you have acquired permission to do so from the holder(s) of the copyright.
- Keep your messages short and clear to encourage others to read your messages.
- Remember, emphasis and emotional tone are difficult to convey through text. Jokes and sarcastic comments may be insensitive to others. Any criticism, personal attacks, and use of profanity are unwanted and will result in your removal from AAOP-Talk. You are responsible for what you post.
- Use a descriptive subject line. Avoid subject lines such as “question” or “coding question.” Most people decide whether they want to read a message based on the content of the subject line, and vague subject lines are less likely to surface when users search.
You must agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the Academy Online Community Standards, Guidelines and Disclaimer.