The first Retina Sunday program debuts at this year's ASCRS and ASOA Annual Meetings

From April 25-28, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ASCRS) will hold its annual meeting concurrently with the American Society of Ophthalmic Administrators (ASOA). Abby Markward, MBA, is Executive Director of the ASCRS Foundation and the ASOA, and she sat down with the Eye Care Network to preview the ASOA's first foray into the retina space.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Hattie Hayes, editor, Ophthalmology Times Europe: My name is Hattie Hayes. This year, the Eye Care Network will be going to Los Angeles, California for the ASCRS annual meeting. Joining me today, we have Abby Markward, who is the Executive Director of the ASCRS Foundation [and the ASOA]. Abby, thank you so much for sitting down and telling me what we can expect in Los Angeles later this April.

Abby Markward, MBA: We have a lot of really unique, interesting events coming up. I think I'll lead with the ASCRS Foundation Party for a Purpose. It's our annual fundraiser that also serves as the welcome party for ASCRS and ASOA members. We generally have around 1500 attendees. We have some great party for purpose teams set up that compete this year. We're going to have kind of that Hollywood theme. Each team will dress up from a specific Hollywood movie. Can be any genre, and they'll perform either a skit, a dance, something along those lines. And it will all be competitive to raise money for the ASCRS Foundation. So that will be Friday, April 25 from 8 to 11pm at Novo in the LA Live area, so right near the convention center, JW Marriott, etc.

HH: I know that you mentioned already the ASOA, the American Society of Ophthalmic Administrators—I understand that this is going to be the first year with a Retina Sunday at the [ASOA] meeting. Can you tell me a little bit about that? Who should attend? What can they expect to have as the key takeaways from that Sunday program?

AM: Thank you for mentioning our Retina Sunday. On the ASOA side, it is our first foray into retina-specific programming, and that has stemmed from our membership being very vocal that this is needed. We really span the gamut of the anterior and posterior segments with our administrators. Some are in multi-specialty practices. Some are in retina-specific practices. Sunday will be our first retina-specific programming, and we'll dive into the business of retina. You know, what to expect when implementing different products, services, technologies into the practice. It's mostly to really fill that need with our retina administrators.

HH: Great! I love that focus on collaboration, and how these small, everyday actions we take together can have such a big impact. And speaking of together: thanks for sitting down with me to talk about this meeting. I'm excited to come to L.A. and can't wait to visit you at the booth.

AM: I look forward to seeing you, Hattie, and thank you so much for your time today.