New This Week
Developing New Revenue Streams
Kirk Smick, OD, FAAO, recommends finding new revenue streams as managed care reimbursements decline and more patients purchase contact lenses and eyewear online. He points to opportunities in nutriceuticals such as ocular vitamins. He also notes that some practices are buying turnkey audiometric services to screen all patients over 60 and offer full audio examinations to those who need it. >>READ MORE>>
Software Solutions
Combine EHR System and Recall System to Make Patient Recall More Effective and Profitable
By Ryan Wineinger, OD
Electronic health records, combined with patient recall software, can track annual exam schedules and put more patients in your exam chair. >>READ MORE>>
Staff Management
Maximize Staff Productivity with a Workforce Efficiency Analysis
By Scot Morris, OD
Conducting a workforce efficiency analysis can pinpoint inefficiencies in your office flow. Acting on that information can redirect a foundering practice on a path to profitability. >>READ MORE>>
Marketing
Segment Your Patient Base and Target Your Most Profitable Patients
By Michael Karlsrud
Determine which patients yield the best ROI for your marketing efforts–and put your dollars there. >>READ MORE>>
ROB Fast Fact
Some 65.4 percent of independent ECPs currently dispense personalized progressive lenses manufactured by freeform, according to Jobson Research’s Wholesale Lab Usage Study 2010. The number of independent ECPs who do so has been climbing since 2008, when 45.9 percent dispensed personalized progressive lenses manufactured by freeform. In 2009, 60.2 percent reported dispensing these lenses.
Click HERE to read more from Review of Optometric Business professional editors Carole Burns, OD, FCOVD, and Mark Wright, OD, FCOVD, on effectively prescribing and dispensing personalized progressive lenses.
The Vision Council Commits $4 Million Over Two Years to Think About Your Eyes Campaign
The Foundation for Eye Health Awareness announced that The Vision Council has joined to support the Think About Your Eyes campaign with a $2 million annual commitment for a period of two years and up to $4 million dollars for a national launch. The Think About Your Eyes initiative has resulted in a six percent improvement in the number of eye exams in the campaign markets over the last year, a significant improvement compared to the current flat trend of the industry. The Vision Council contribution is contingent on others from the vision community joining the expansion. The Foundation is actively seeking support for its mission to raise awareness about vision health and the need for yearly comprehensive eye exams through contributions from other industry leaders and organizations. >>READ MORE>>
MBA Survey Shows that Web Sites Generate New Patients 
Nine out of 10 independent optometric practices have web sites, and these web sites are a significant source of new patients to those practices, according to the MBA Practice Website Management Survey, conducted in August. There were 452 responses to the survey.
On average, 81 new patients were attracted to a practice via the web site in the past year. That rises to 113 new patients among the largest practices, as measured by numbers of exams conducted. Appointment scheduling is offered by 41 percent of practice web sites.
In terms of web site management, 54 percent have their web sites managed externally—but that figure rises to 67 percent among the largest practices.
View the full survey results here.
MaximEyes by First Insight and Accelerated Payment Technologies Announce Built-In Integration
First Insight Corporation announced that MaximEyes now integrates with Accelerated Payment Technologies X-Charge payment processing services. Practices can charge, post and track patient debit and credit card information via a secure PCI-compliant gateway. The goal of the technology is to enable every PC in a practice to serve as a credit card processing station. X-Charge supports all major credit cards and all data is protected through an end-to-end encryption.
Medicare Establishes Reimbursement for VisionCare’s Implantable Telescope for Macular Degeneration 
VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies, a developer of advanced visual prosthetic devices, announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has granted transitional pass-through payment status and established a billing code for the Implantable Miniature Telescope (IMT by Dr. Isaac Lipshitz) under the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System. The new pass-through code, C1840, is effective October 1, 2011, and will enable outpatient facilities to obtain reimbursement for the telescope implant for covered procedures. >>READ MORE>>
ROB Poll: ODs Prefer a Global Contact Lens Fitting Fee
Asked whether you charge one global fee for contact lens fittings, or whether you charge a fitting fee plus separate fees for follow-up visits, all of ROB’s readers who responded said one global fee that also covers follow-up fees is the way to do it.
