August 2018

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Thank you for your support!

WOA Board

Joe Maycock- President
Nate Edwards- President-Elect
Chris Jons-Treasurer
Jonathan Hartley-Secretary
Jeremy Nett- Director
Sam Hoffman-Director
Brandi Bilyeu- Past President

Happy Birthday!


August
Amy Aldrich-4
Carl Cottrell-11
Carla Shoults-14
Marty Carroll-20
Levi Porter-27
 

Remember- if you're birthday is not showing up here you need to update your member profile!

Achieve HIPAA Compliance in Your Practice



Webinar: These Audits Can Save Your Practice

When it comes to HIPAA compliance, it can be difficult to decide where to begin. You may have the start of a compliance program in place, such as employee training or policies and procedures. However, failing to address the full extent of regulations could put your practice at risk.

A good starting place when you're developing a HIPAA compliance program is to audit your practice against the regulation. HIPAA regulation identifies several key areas of vulnerability that must be audited against. These can be broken down into six audits that you can perform within your practice, including:

 
• Privacy Standards Audit
• Security Standards Audit
• HITECH Subtitle-D Audit
• Asset and Device Audit
• Physical Site Audit
• IT Security Risk Assessment
 

These audits form the backbone of an effective compliance program. Find out how to get started with these audits by joining AOAExcel’s HIPAA compliance partner, Compliancy Group, in an upcoming webinar for WOA members: 

“These Audits Can Save Your Practice” webinar

Tuesday, August 14 at 12pm MST

Register here 

Compliancy Group gives eye care professionals confidence in their compliance with a total HIPAA solution to address the full extent of the regulatory requirements. With guided support, clients are given the tools they need to maintain the privacy and security of health care information, all while growing their business. As a WOA benefit, members receive three additional months free, included with a one-year subscription. Compliancy Group is dedicated to helping eye care succeed.

For more information about Compliancy Group, and the HIPAA resources available to WOA members through AOAExcel, please visit ExcelOD.com/HIPAA-compliance

UW's James A Boucher, OD and Julie M Uhlmann, PhD Optometry Scholarship





Sarah Morton, of Cheyenne, W.Y., is the recipient of the University of Wyoming’s James A. Boucher, O.D. and Julie M. Uhlmann, Ph. D. Optometry scholarship.
Morton will be joining the Arizona College of Optometry at Midwestern University in Glendale, A.Z. this fall. She graduated from UW in May with a B.S. in Physiology and Honors and minors in Psychology and Human Nutrition.

“I can’t even begin to express how excited I am to begin studying optometry this fall. All of my hard work and preparation has paid off and now I get to live my dream beginning in Arizona this fall. After job shadowing, volunteering, and working as a vision therapist I am excited to know that optometry is truly a passion of mine. For me, optometry is the perfect because it is able to combine the science side of healthcare that I love along with building personal relationships with patients.

I am endlessly grateful to receive this award. It means so much to me to have such strong support from local people in the optometry field. Additionally, the monetary support will be so helpful this fall when I need to pay for equipment, books, and tuition.
My advice to current UW students is to enjoy the present. All of the planning and preparation that goes into being a pre-optometry student is extremely important, but it is also important to be able to explore your other interests and build up the other parts of who you are. For me, those outlets were being a senator in the student government, ASUW, as well as being active in the outdoors. Being able to grow and develop different facets of yourself will make you a stronger, more well-rounded pre-optometry candidate and ultimately a better healthcare provider.”

WOA Scholarship Recipients

The WOA would like to announce and congratulate this year's Optometry Scholarship recipients.

Sarah Morton, who will be attending the Arizona College of Optometry at Midwestern University. (see previous article for more info on Sarah)


Kiana Cade, who will also attending the Arizona College of Optometry at Midwestern University.  Kiana graduated from Chadron State College.  She shadowed several optometrists and also worked at the Newcastle Vision Clinic as an exam technician.
"My grandma has age-related macular degeneration, and it breaks my heart to see her struggling with her vision-loss. I would like to help her, and others like her, as best as I can because it is devastating to watch that process." says Kiana.  "Also, I know personally how important glasses and contacts are because of my mom and myself. My mom has awful vision, and she would not be able to function without her contacts. As a 5th grader, I received my first pair of glasses. I vividly remember when I first put them on, and how amazed I was with how clear everything around me was. Suddenly I could see each individual leaf on a tree; it wasn’t just a green blob. Prior to getting glasses, I thought that was just how everyone saw; I didn’t realize all the detail that I was missing out on, and I want to try my best to allow others to see as clearly as they possibly can."

Congratulations to both our recipients!
 

WOA Social Media

 As part of the communications effort for the WOA we have started social media!  Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter!  You can follow with your personal account as well as your practice account.  Share and re-tweet to help us raise the awareness of the WOA and what OD's do in WY.  We will be highlighting your practices and what you do for your patients and communities.  

FACEBOOK:  The Wyoming Optometric Association (note- it has to have THE in the title when you look for it)


 
TWITTER:  WyoEyes@EyesWyo
WOA Newsletter - August 2018