New This Week
Offer Discount on Sunwear with Annual Supplies of Contact Lenses
Robert A. Davis, OD, of The Eye Center in Pembroke Pines, Fla., offers a discount on sunwear to patients who purchase an annual supply of contact lenses. This special deal promotes annual supply CL sales, and it directs patients to sunwear options in the practice’s optical dispensary. >>READ MORE>>
Co-Management
Retain Boomers by Providing Pre- and Post-Op Cataract Care
By Jeanmarie Davis, OD
More Boomers are having cataract surgery–and opting for premium multifocal IOLs. Providing pre- and post-op cataract care can yield co-management fees, and you can keep these Boomers active in your practice. >>READ MORE>>
Coding and Billing
Four Key Steps toward Accurate Billing and Coding
By Charles B. Brownlow, OD
Increase your confidence that you accurately code and bill–and that your staff does, too. Consistently performing four key steps can protect you from insurance audits and increase reimbursements.
>>READ MORE>>
Finance
Marketing by the Numbers: Measure Often for Success
By Alissa Wald, OD and Scott Daniels
Marketing your practice costs money–so make sure you’re getting a good ROI for your marketing campaign. Set financial goals, and frequently track the performance of all components in your campaign. Then put resources behind what’s working. >>READ MORE>>
Over Half of Consumers Will “Possibly” Use Daily Deal Sites to Help Purchase Eyewear
Some 50.8 percent of consumers say they will “possibly” use daily deal sites like Groupon and Living Social to help them purchase eyewear in the future, according to The Vision Council’s Vision Watch 2011 Daily Deal Eyewear Report. Some 5.5 percent say they “definitely” will use daily deal sites to help them purchase eyewear, and 43.7 percent say they will not use these sites in the eyewear purchasing process.
Click HERE to read more from Review of Optometric Business professional editors Carole Burns, OD, FCOVD, and Mark Wright, OD, FCOVD, on why the popularity of daily deal sites makes cultivating patient loyalty more important than ever.
Baby Boomers Value Vision Most But Lack Focus on Eye Health
Seventy eight percent of Baby Boomers rank vision as the most important of the five senses according to Eye on the Boomer, a new survey released by the Ocular Nutrition Society. What’s more, many (55 percent) Baby Boomers surveyed worry about vision loss–almost as much as they worry about heart disease (60 percent) and cancer (65 percent). Despite this worry, almost one half of respondents said they don’t typically have an eye exam at least annually, and even fewer are aware of important nutrients that play a key role in eye health.
>>READ MORE>>
Essilor Partnership with JCAHPO Results in New ECP University Course Materials 
Essilor of America announced an agreement with the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (JCAHPO), a non-profit organization that provides certification and training for eyecare professionals (ECPs). Through this new relationship, JCAHPO will offer ECP University course materials in connection with its online training programs, which include the ophthalmology e-learning site ACTIONED. >>READ MORE>>
ROB Poll
Most Serious Practice Difficulty:
Competition from Corporate Optometry
Asked about their most difficult practice challenge so far, 50 percent of ROB readers cited competition from corporate optometry in their community, while 25 percent said making payments on major investments was most difficult. Seventeen percent cited a disagreement with a partner or associate as their most difficult practice challenge and 8 percent cited competition from online eyeglasses retailers as most challenging.
