New This Week
Auto-Reminders Can Aid Contact Lenses 
Compliance
Robert A. Davis, OD,of The Eye Center in Pembroke Pines, Fla., uses auto-reminders to text patients every two weeks that is time to throw away their lenses. After a year, a text reminds them that is time for their next comprehensive examination. >>READ MORE>>
Use EHR to Optimize Billing and Coding
By Lorie Lippiatt, OD
By implementing electronic health record software in your practice, you can make the billing and coding process more efficient. >>READ MORE>>
Big Changes to Google Places: What it Means to ODs
By Daniel Rostenne
Google Places is a leading social media hub where consumers rate businesses—and where businesses find new customers from positive reviews. Google has changed some key rules at this site, and ODs looking to benefit may need to make some changes. >>READ MORE>>
Treat Patient Companions as Guests in Your Office
By Scot Morris, OD
Family and friends often escort patients to your office. Treating them as welcome guests may help you to acquire new patients. >>READ MORE>>
ROB Fast Fact
Over Half of Patients Wear Eyeglasses Post-LASIK Surgery
Some 63.7 percent of refractive surgery patients currently wear eyeglasses, according to the Vision Council’s 2011 Eyewear Habits of Refractive Surgery/LASIK survey. Some 15.5 percent report wearing contact lenses; 11.4 percent report wearing reading eyeglasses; 10.9 percent report wearing prescription sunglasses; and 85.2 percent wear plano sunglasses.
In Brief
Most Ability to Customize Tops
Doctor Satisfaction with EHR
Some 78 percent of family practice doctors say they are satisfied or very satisfied with the ability to customize their electronic health record software, according to the 2011 EHR User Satisfaction Survey, which appears in the July/August issue of Family Practice Management, and was reported on AAFP.org. >>READ MORE>>
California OD Creates Free Online Self-Help Videos
Robert Rothbard, OD, of Alta Loma, Calif., has developed a free, online video library of vision care and preventative maintenance for consumers. The library consists of seven self-help videos that Dr. Rothbard created with director/co-host Julie John. They can be seen at www.wehelpuc.com, and cover such topics as “How Vision Can Improve Through Training,” “Vision and Sports” and “Eye Health, Diet, Supplements and Exercise.”
ClearVision Offers Virtual Try-On for Marc Ecko Launch
ClearVision Optical is using virtual try-on technology to build excitement for the company’s new Marc Ecko Cut & Sew Collection, a new contemporary men’s line.ClearVision is partnering with the Fitting Box, a France-based company that provides virtual try-on solutions to the eyewear industry and is one of the first in the business community to use VTO in this manner, a platform enabling ECPs the opportunity to try before they buy, creating a more interactive experience for the buyer as compared to a paper or online catalog. >>READ MORE>>
Vision Care Revenues Up 1.2 Percent; Exam Dollars Up 2.8
Percent
Overall vision care sales revenues, including the retail sales of eyewear, contact lenses and exams, increased 1.2 percent during the 12 month period ending in June 2011, when the vision care industry in the U.S. generated $32.2 billion, an aggregate gain of $388 million at the retail level compared to the prior-year, according to VisionWatch. >>READ MORE>>
EyeMed Vision Care Call Center Earns Center of Excellence Recognition
EyeMed Vision Care’s customer call center has earned the “Certified Center of Excellence” designation from BenchmarkPortal for 2011, the second year in a row. BenchmarkPortal also ranked EyeMed’s call center 12th among the best call centers in the nation in its Center of Excellence Top 100 for 2010. >>READ MORE>>
ROB Poll: Eclectic Frame Board Organization
Half of ROB readers organize their frame boards using a combination of brands, gender, price point and metal/plastics. Thirty percent organize their boards by gender, and 20 percent by brand.
