Apply For Membership

Download a membership application to send in.

Types of Membership

There are five types of membership: full active member, second year member, first year member, senior member and military member.

Active: A physician who holds a MD or DO degree or equivalent, who holds a valid and unrestricted license to practice medicine in Washington State, and who has been certified or is eligible to be certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology.

Associate: A physician who holds a MD or DO degree or equivalent, who holds a valid and unrestricted license to practice medicine in the State of Washington, and who has satisfactorily completed an entire program of formal residency training in ophthalmology, or who is not an ophthalmologist but is engaged in a field allied with or in a basic science related to ophthalmology, or a person who, in the judgment of the Board of Trustees, has made significant contributions to ophthalmology. Associates shall not have the right to vote and shall be ineligible to hold office.

Senior: A previous Active member who remains in active practice and whose license to practice medicine is valid and unrestricted after having reached the age of 65 and engaged in the practice of ophthalmology for a period of 25 years, who has been a member of this Academy for five or more years.

Military: A physician who holds a MD or DO degree or equivalent, and serves full time active duty with any branch of the U.S. Military Service.

Emeritus:  An Active Fellow who is no longer engaged in the active practice of ophthalmology by reason of disability or retirement and whose license to practice medicine   was valid and unrestricted at the time of disability or retirement, and who has held active membership for five or more years is eligible to become an Emeritus Fellow.  Emeritus fellows shall not have the right to vote and shall be ineligible to hold office.

Resident: A physician who holds a MD or DO degree or equivalent, and who is engaged on a full-time basis in an ophthalmology residency training program, or who has satisfactorily completed such a training program and is engaged on a full-time basis either in an ophthalmology fellowship training program or in a postgraduate educational course of training leading to an advanced degree at an accredited college or university, or a foreign medical graduate who is otherwise not eligible for membership and is engaged on a full-time basis in a postgraduate ophthalmology training program. Resident members shall not have the right to vote and shall be ineligible to hold office.

Cost of Membership

WAEPS is pleased to offer a $50 discount on your yearly dues when paid by April 1, 2011.

How To Join

To join, download the WAEPS Membership Application. Complete the application and return it to WAEPS, 2033 Sixth Ave, Suite 1100, Seattle, WA 98121.

Benefits of Membership

Representation
We realize it is hard to sometimes see all that WAEPS does for you behind the scenes, but it's substantial. WAEPS is a member-driven organization with a very active team of physicians who volunteer a considerable amount of time to help ensure you can concentrate on patient care. Ophthalmologists in our state need your continued support.

Advocacy
The Washington Academy is your voice in state legislation and regulatory affairs. We proactively protect your practice in Olympia. We engage two lobbying firms that monitor all health-related legislation and regulation which could remotely affect ophthalmologists in the state. They help us strategically defend against legislation that could be harmful to our members’ ophthalmic practices.

Recent successful advocacy efforts include:

• Confronting efforts by the Optometric Physicians of Washington (OPW) to expand their scope of practice and endanger patient safety. (Sunrise Review 2009)
• Stopping legislation to restrict contact lens dispensing rules.
• Stopping legislation that would tax cosmetic services (which could have included LASIK and oculoplastic procedures).
• Supported legislation that expanded vision screening in the State.
• Contributed to the legal defense of a suit that could potentially prohibit physicians from employing other non-physician health care providers (“unlike licensees”).
• Supporting tort reform legislation.

Education
As a member, you and your staff receive special discount pricing on the following educational programs offered by WAEPS:

WAEPS Annual Meeting: This physician CME program is one of the country’s best state meetings, featuring nationally renowned faculty.

Also held annually in conjunction with the WAEPS Annual Meeting:

• Ophthalmic Technician Meeting : An outstanding program to help your technicians get their much needed JCAHPO credits.
• Practice Management Seminar : Offering the latest and greatest training for your management staff.
• Coding Conference : A much anticipated specialty coding conference to assist you and your staff in coding more accurately, getting paid for your services promptly, and avoiding unnecessary audits and legal pitfalls.

Monthly Meetings: Free of charge to members, this meeting series runs from October through April. It features speakers from across the country lecturing on a variety of clinical topics and offers up to 10 hours of AMA PRA Category 1 CME Credits.

For more information about our 2012 Monthly Meeting Series, please visit our monthly meeting page.

Faculty handouts, along with clinical and practice updates, can be found on the WAEPS website – accessible at no charge to members.

Health Plan Relations
WAEPS represents you with payers. Member volunteers sit as liaisons on the Medicare Advisory Committee and the WSMA Interspecialty Council. Information on payer updates and alerts are shared with members in the In-Focus newsletter and special e-broadcasts. A WAEPS board member attends these meetings to monitor for changes important to all ophthalmologists in the state.

Member Communications
WAEPS members receive the quarterly e-newsletter, In-Focus, plus as-needed e-broadcasts to help you and your staff keep up-to-date on educational opportunities and practice alerts.

Public Education & Awareness
WAEPS hosts a consumer-driven website that provides empowering resources and information for the public to take charge of their eye health.

OMIC Discount
WAEPS members are eligible for up to 8% off their annual malpractice rates through OMIC (Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Company) by attending risk management seminars, phone conferences, or webinars.

Referrals
The WAEPS website maintains a robust membership database, accessible by consumers to help them find a physician. In addition, WAEPS handles referral calls generated by yellow-page ad placements. A members-only online directory makes for easy access to colleagues for referrals and consults.

WAEPS EYEPAC
EYEPAC is the most successful physician specialty political action committee in the state.
Your voluntary, personal contribution to the EYEPAC will help ensure ophthalmologists have a strong voice in our state legislature. By joining forces with your fellow WAEPS members through the PAC, you can maximize our specialty’s political clout and help ensure that what is being legislated is productive to your practice interests and best for patient care. Contributions go directly to helping pro-ophthalmology candidates win election to the state legislature.

WAEPS Refund Policy
Membership dues do not renew automatically. When a member wishes to terminate membership, no refund of the prepaid dues will be provided.