(Fairfax, VA) - The American Society of Ophthalmic Administrators today announced the winners of the second William E. Rose, Jr. Pinnacle Award.  The following practices are the recipients:

Two-four Physician Category - Thomas F. Marquardt, Ohio Eye Associates Eye Surgery and Laser Center, Mansfield, Ohio.

Five or More Physician Category - Ava Ashby, DeHaven Eye Clinic, Tyler, Texas.

The Pinnacle Award honors ophthalmology practices that demonstrate excellence in one or more of the following areas:

• Outstanding achievement in developing and implementing exemplary policies and guidelines to help protect the practice from erroneous or fraudulent billing practices.
• Exceptional efforts to maintain compliance with government regulations by providing continued training and education of all billing staff.
• Implementation of an internal audit program to minimize billing mistakes and reduce chances of fraudulent or abusive Medicare billing.
• Development of open lines of communication with staff to ensure that billing errors are identified and immediate corrective actions taken.

The awards will be presented in San Francisco at the opening general session of the ASOA Annual Congress on Ophthalmic Practice Management, Saturday, April 12, 2003.