Optometrists

(i)  Raison d’être: Hereford Vision Surgical Group’s surgeons are passionate about improving our surgical techniques to give future patients the best possible outcomes.

a) Although we measure our patients’ vision and initial postoperative refractions, we are conscious that longer-term refractive data are more important. Without such data, we would not be able to supply the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) with complete data, meaning that patients would be forced to make decisions regarding their choice of surgical provider based on inadequate information.

(b) Collecting such data takes time and we know from our many interactions with patients that: (i) they prefer to see their local trusted optometrists, wherever possible; (ii) costs associated with additional private hospital assessments are potentially significantly higher than in optometric practice, with consequent financial disadvantage for patients; (iii) optometrists certainly have the necessary skills and expertise required to complete a postoperative examination and refraction; (iv) optometrists provide rigour to the scientific process of audit by being impartial observers in this process, allowing independent data collection.

(c) We understand the time involved in such assessments and its associated costs. We understand that Herefordshire clinical commissioning group (CCG) and other CCGs nationally have a long established precedent for payments to optometric practices for postoperative information and consequently understand the necessity to incentivise optometrists to return HVSG data; not doing so would potentially disadvantage HVSG patients. The relevant HVSG payments are commensurate with payments already made by CCGs.

(ii)  Payments for Hereford Vision Surgical Group (HVSG) postoperative data will be made according to the following terms and conditions, which may be amended from time to time without notice, however, HVSG will always endeavor to keep optometry practices informed of any material changes to the terms and conditions of payment.

(iii)  A postoperative report should only be submitted after a request for such data from the HVSG surgeon. Such a request will normally be made via a letter from the HVSG surgeon at the point of discharge.

(iv)  Report payments will only be made for patients who have had surgery by HVSG surgeons, not other surgeons who may practise in Hereford.

(v)  The payment for a postoperative report is not a payment for clinical services, for which optometry practices reserve the right to charge the patient if desired.

(vi)  Payments will be made to the optometry practice, not the individual optometrist.

(vii)  For patients undergoing sequential bilateral surgery, which HVSG expects to be the overwhelming majority of patients, one report regarding the final postoperative outcome of both eyes will be requested after discharge. On occasion, patients may not be discharged from the care of the HVSG surgeon, as they may have other conditions requiring ongoing management. Under these circumstances, the HVSG surgeon may still request a report.

(viii)  Payments will be made for postoperative reports of patients who are self-funding and insured patients (although not all insurance companies at all times).

(ix)  For patients undergoing unilateral surgery (e.g. already pseudophakic in the other eye, or purely unilateral requirement for surgery), a report may still be requested.

(x)  For a bilateral report, HVSG will pay the optometry practice £90 via BACS transfer. For a unilateral report, HVSG will pay the optometry practice £70 via BACS transfer, these figures being correct from August 1st 2022.

(xi)  The amount payable for reports may be altered without notice, however, HVSG will always endeavor to keep optometry practices informed of any material changes to the terms and conditions of payment.

(xii)  Postoperative assessments by optometrists should not be undertaken less than three weeks from the date of surgery (date of the second eye surgery, in the case of bilateral surgery). Reports of assessments undertaken earlier than three weeks will be acknowledged, but are not eligible for payment.

(xiii)  Postoperative assessments need to occur within 3 months of the request being issued and reports also need to be received within 3 months of the request being made.

(xiv)  All postoperative reports must be submitted electronically via the website in order to be eligible for a payment.

(xv)  Postoperative reports need to be complete in order to be eligible for a payment, although on occasion, HVSG may request optometrists to complete the data and subsequently make a payment.

(xvi)  Payments for unsolicited data will not be made.

(xvii)  Only one payment per patient will be made, with the sole exception being where patients opt for purely unilateral surgery only and then decide to undergo second eye surgery at a later date (more than three months after first eye surgery), when a second eye payment (of £70) will be made.

(xviii)  The submitting optometry practice agrees that the receipt of a postoperative report by HVSG generates an invoice to HVSG for the provision of the data, which we will hold on file. In addition, the submitting optometry practice agrees that HVSG settling this invoice via BACS will generate an internal receipt for HVSG for the relevant fee on behalf of the submitting optometry practice, which will be held on file.

(xix)  BACS payments will be made once a month to the individual practices with a target payment date of the last Friday of the month. To allow time for the internal processing and verification of the data, to be payable on the month’s payroll postoperative reports need to be submitted by the first Friday in the month.

(xx)  HVSG reserves the right to make payments faster than this in certain circumstances. Likewise, in the unusual event of absence (e.g.sickness), payments may be necessarily delayed, although HVSG would endeavor to make an exceptional payment at the earliest possible opportunity.

(xxi)  In addition to the monthly BACS transfer for all relevant payments to that optometry practice, HVSG will also electronically remit a summary of the individual payments and associated patient names to the optometry practice by encrypted email to aid the practice in reconciliation.

(xxii)  In the case of dispute regarding payments for postoperative reports, the terms and conditions of this agreement will be examined, however, the decision of the HVSG directors will be final; the relevant payment will be withheld until dispute resolved.