COVID-19 Email Update - August 27, 2020

FREE NC Eyes White Coats

Our NC Eyes white coats are available exclusively to members for FREE! The coats include our logo and say Doctor of Optometry below the logo. There is no limit to the number you can order. We are offering free pickup in the Raleigh area or $10 for shipping. Grab yours today before they run out.

Click here to receive your coat.



A Message From Dr. Rebecca Wartman, NCOS Third Party Liaison

Where We Stand with COVID-19

Current US Data: 

Cases: 2,502,851 (decline of 0.6% in the last 24 hours). We are at 5,759 new cases for the daily 7-day average (up by 0.2%) and the daily 30 day average is 11,637 new cases (up by 0.5%). 

Deaths: While daily deaths vary, there have been a total of 183,653 deaths in the US as of this morning, with the daily average deaths running close to 1,000 a day. 

Current NC Data: 

The NC DHHS COVID-19 Coalition is only meeting bi-weekly at this time. However, I wanted to provide an update for you on where NC is right now. The trends are holding steady, if not improving. 

Cases: 2,091 cases today. 161,076 total cases with 8,649 of those in nursing facilities (53%).

Hospitalizations: 958 in the hospital today. In general, this number is slightly dropping.

Deaths: 2 deaths today and 14 deaths yesterday. 2,630 deaths total and 1,043 deaths were in nursing facilities (40%).

Overall, the numbers in NC are slightly improving but certainly no longer getting worse (for rolling 7 day average). This is very good news. NC continues to run between 20,000 and 30,000 tests daily. Since testing began, NC has tested 2,152,725 individuals. With a population of about 10.5 million, ¼ of the citizens in NC have been tested with a rate positive of 1.6% and a very low death rate. Keep in mind that these testing numbers are from state run testing labs and official data, but the true numbers are mostly likely higher.


AOA Health Policy Institute COVID-19 Survey

The AOA Health Policy Institute (HPI) needs your help once again to get member doctors to fill out the third short 5 to 8-minute COVID-19 survey. The HPI would like to now assess how optometrists are re-activating their practices, patient volume, use/access to PPE and potential long-term effects from the pandemic, among several topics. 

As you may recall, your help was instrumental in gaining adequate response rates for our April and June COVID-19 surveys! 

Here is where survey #3 is located and here is where you can find the results of survey #1 and survey #2. 

This collected data together with analysis can make a difference in future advocacy and sustainable optometry practice going forward. This data will be made available to you in the form of an HPI report. 

For questions on this survey, or HPI in general, please contact Dr. Michael Duenas at [email protected]


SPECIAL BULLETIN COVID-19 #124: Reprocessing Claims to Apply Retroactive 5% Rate Increase for Medicaid Providers Covered in SL 2020-4 

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Health Benefits (DHB) is continuing to implement previously-announced temporary 5% provider rate increases to select Medicaid providers (see COVID-19 Special Bulletin #99) to maintain access to care for Medicaid beneficiaries. DHB has identified all relevant claims with dates of service (DOS) eligible for reprocessing to ensure these providers receive the full benefit of the rate increase approved retroactive to March 1 by the North Carolina General Assembly per Session Law 2020-4

During the weeks of August 10th and 17th, 2020, DHB began systematically reprocessing the claims of Medicaid providers in service categories listed in the Medicaid Special Bulletin COVID-19 #99 with DOS from March 1, 2020 through the implementation date of the rate increase for each respective program.  

Due to the magnitude of this reprocessing effort (millions of claims), DHB intends to re-adjudicate claims during the two weeks in August referenced above and through consecutive weekly periods beginning the week of September 6th. and continuing until all affected program claims have been reprocessed. Claims discovered to have issues as a result of this reprocessing effort will be re-examined for resolution and reprocessed in a final designated clean up batch of claims. 

Reprocessed claims will be displayed in a separate section of the paper Remittance Advice with the unique Explanation of Benefits (EOB) code 10333 - Claims reprocessed as a result of Legislated Mandate of 5% increase effective March 01, 2020 associated with the COVID19 Pandemic.      

The 835 electronic transactions will include the reprocessed claims along with other claims submitted for the checkwrite (there is no separate 835). Please note that depending on the number of affected claims you have in the identified checkwrite, you could see an increase in the size of the RA.  

Reprocessing does not guarantee payment of claims. Affected claims will be reprocessed. While some edits may be bypassed as part of the claim reprocessing, changes made to the system since the claims were originally adjudicated may apply to the reprocessed claims. Therefore, the reprocessed claims could deny.  


How Doctors of Optometry Are Answering The Call During The Pandemic AOA Published in USA Today 

The American Optometric Association wrote a sponsored piece in USA Today highlighting the response of optometrists during the pandemic. According to the AOA, optometrists "are following safety guidelines and providing essential services amid the pandemic while reducing patients' risk of exposure at emergency rooms." 

William T. Reynolds, OD, the president of the AOA, said, "The need for comprehensive eye care is still as important as ever. We are all focused on providing care in a way that is safe for patients, safe for their families, and safe for staff and doctors performing exams." In addition, a recent analysis from the AOA's Health Policy Institute found that 89% of optometrists "reported providing emergency or urgent care during the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis.


Updated CDC Considerations for COVID-19 Diagnostic (Molecular or Antigen) Testing

Dr. Rebecca Wartman Comment: I have abstracted much of the changes in recommendations for testing. 

If you are a critical infrastructure worker, health care worker, or first responder:

  • You may need to get a test, according to your employer's guidelines.
  • Even if you have a negative test, you should, at all times, take special care to monitor yourself for symptoms and strictly adhere to CDC mitigation protocols.
  • State and local public health officials may advise specific people, or groups of people, to be tested. You should follow this advice.
  • It is important to realize that you can be infected and spread the virus but feel well and have no symptoms.
  • If there is significant spread of the virus in your community, State or local public health officials may request to test more asymptomatic "healthy people," particularly from vulnerable populations.
  • As discussed above, those responsible for managing infection in such settings should adopt measures to facilitate the early identification of infected individuals, including initial testing of everyone in the setting, periodic (e.g., weekly) testing of everyone in the setting, and testing of new or returning entrants into the setting.

Visit the CDC's website here to view other considerations for COVID-19 diagnostic testing.


COVID-19 and Seasonal Influenza: Preparing for a Collision

10 recommendations in this review are quoted as follows: 

  1. Increase influenza vaccination rates
  2. Implement face covering mandates at state and local levels in accordance with CDC guidance
  3. Increase sanitation measures and room ventilations in K-12 schools
  4. Implement cardiovascular evaluations for athletes returning to practice after COVID-19 infection
  5. Maintain social distancing measures, surveillance, and quarantine procedures for travelers
  6. Develop vaccine infrastructure for COVID-19 vaccine
  7. Develop vaccine education campaign to counter misinformation about the influenza and COVID-19 vaccines
  8. Further expand hospital capacity and production of medical equipment
  9. Create a national strategy for the COVID-19 response
  10. Create greater data transparency at local, state, and federal levels for COVID-19 data

Click here for more information.


Coronavirus the Third-Leading Cause of Death in the U.S.

The COVID-19 pandemic has spread so rapidly since the first U.S. case was reported January 20 that it's now the third-leading cause of death in the country, Dr. Thomas Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told CNN.

Click here to read more.


The Challenge of Measuring IOP in COVID Era

Options for IOP measurement include Goldmann tonometry, Tonopen, noncontact tonometry (NCT), iCare, and transpalpebral tonometry. While certainly the standard for IOP measurement, the required proximity and the reuse of the tonometer tips make many nervous with COVID-19 exposures.

Click here to continue reading.


New Resources

COVID-19: Immediate Predictors of Individual Resilience

Association of COVID-19-Related Hospital Use and Overall COVID-19 Mortality in the USA

Estimating unobserved SARS-CoV-2 infections in the United States

How to Build A Lifestyle And Nutritional Firewall Against Viruses Like COVID-19

Phylogenetic Analysis Of SARS-Cov-2 In The Boston Area Highlights The Role Of Recurrent Importation And Superspreading Events

FDA Chief Corrects Statements On Benefits Of Coronavirus Plasma Treatment

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Children Without Symptoms of Coronavirus Disease 2019

Patient Communication Preferences: The COVID-19 Impact

First Covid-19 Reinfection Documented In Hong Kong

Physician Practice Revenue Cut in Half Due to COVID-19 Crisis

Multimorbidity, Polypharmacy, and COVID-19 Infection within the UK Biobank Cohort

A Dynamic COVID-19 Immune Signature Includes Associations With Poor Prognosis

Coronavirus SARS-Cov-2 Spreads More Indoors At Low Humidity

Women's Leadership Is Associated With Fewer Deaths During the COVID-19 Crisis: Quantitative and Qualitative Analyses of United States Governors

Contact Settings and Risk for Transmission in 3410 Close Contacts of Patients With COVID-19 in Guangzhou, China


NCOS COVID-19 Updates & Resources Page

Click here!


COVID-19 Statistics

NCDHHS COVID-19 Dashboard

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center

WorldoMeter Coronavirus Website