New This Week
AOA President Dori Carlson on “Success Through Volunteerism”
Dori Carlson, OD, American Optometric Association president, describes how her career and practice experience have been enhanced through volunteerism. Dr. Carlson notes that organizational work not only aids the optometric profession, it affords opportunities to share ideas with colleagues and to overcome fears and widen horizons. She challenges fellow optometrists to support the profession by living their lives as an exclamation. >>READ MORE>>
Software Solutions
Cut Labor Costs with EHR Systems for Co-Management
By Kim Castleberry, OD
An integrated EHR system improves accuracy between co-managing doctors, speeds reimbursement and can cut labor costs. >>READ MORE>>
Diagnostic Instrumentation
Macular Degeneration Testing: Alert Patients to Value of Nutraceuticals
By Yoongie Min, OD
New instrumentation to measure macular pigment thickness provides a measurable way to monitor the risk of macular degeneration over time–and it provides substantiation for the benefits of nutraceuticals. >>READ MORE>>
Office Environment
Checklist: “Five-Minute Office Environment Evaluation”
By Scot Morris, OD
Download a checklist to conduct a “Five-Minute Office Environment Evaluation.” Experience your office environment from your patient’s point of view, then make improvements that will encourage valuable patient referrals. >>READ MORE>>
Major Challenge for Independents: Selling Sunwear for Children
Sixty-three percent of independent optical retailers said selling sunwear for children was a major challenge for them, making it the biggest challenge for independents in Jobson Research’s 2010 Kid’s Eyewear MarketPulse. Twenty-nine percent called it a “minor” challenge and 8 percent said it was not a challenge at all.
Click HERE to read more from Review of Optometric Business professional editors Carole Burns, OD, FCOVD, and Mark Wright, OD, FCOVD, on how best to ensure children patients have effective sunwear.
New eBook: 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Filing Claims
Vision Web has released a new eBook on how to best avoid costly mistakes when filing claims to insurance companies for reimbursement of patient fees. The eBook, “5 Mistakes to Avoid When Filing Claims,” is designed to teach ODs how to spend less time on the phone with payers; how to make filing claims more efficient; how to reduce redundancies of duplicate data-entry; how to follow your money and claims more closely; and how to ensure proper coding of claims.
Click HERE to sign up to download a copy.
ODLean Launches Facebook Page
The ODLean program at The Vision Care Institute has launched the ODLean Facebook page. Click on “Blog,” Alumni” or “Consulting” on the ODLean Facebook page to find commentary, key learnings and industry trends from ODLean experts on the topics of productivity, marketing and the patient experience. The page also features weekly practice management and marketing tips, and serves as a forum for discussion among optometrists, ophthalmologists and their staff.
ROB Poll
Greatest Challenge for Optical Staff:
Getting Patients to Purchase Second Pair of Eyeglasses
Asked about their optical staff’s greatest challenge, 50 percent of ROB readers cited convincing patients to purchase a second pair of eyeglasses. Some 20 percent cited the challenge of getting patients to forego putting new lenses in old frames, while 15 percent said selling polarized sunwear was their optical staff’s greatest challenge. Another 15 percent said serving the individual needs of patients rather than taking a cookie-cutter approach to sales was their optical staffers’ steepest challenge.
