September 2013 Issue of EyeCare Professional Magazine by ECP Magazine

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NEW RELEASES FOR FALL / PAGE 6

MANAGING MANAGED CARE / PAGE 12 September 2013 • Volume 7, Issue 69 • www.ECPmag.com

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EYECAREPROFESSIONAL

SEPTEMBER 2013

Magazine

Features 6

Courtesy of Trevi Coliseum Eyewear

Contents

Vol. 7 Issue 69

NEW RELEASES FOR THE FALL Usher in the new season with the latest releases in eyewear and sunwear. by ECP Staff

MANAGED CARE PLANS Which managed care plans should you adopt and how can you work with them successfully?

by Cliff Capriola, Practice Management Consultant

REMEMBERING YOUR PATIENTS Increase your patient retention and satisfaction by immediately remembering their names. by Anthony Record, ABO/NCLE, RDO

OFFICE EXPERIENCE Five practical ways you can make your patientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; office experience more enjoyable. by Corrie Pelc

EYE SHAVING The ancient practice of a barber scraping a razor over the eyes still goes on in China today. by Elmer Friedman, OD

SOCIAL MEDIA REVIEWS The emergence of medical rating websites means that ECPs must be careful to avoid damaging reviews. by Jason Smith, OD

On The Cover:

Departments

US OPTICAL

MOVERS AND SHAKERS ..................................................................................22

800-445-2773 www.USOPTICAL.com

MOBILE OPTICIAN ...........................................................................................24 DISPENSING OPTICIAN...................................................................................28 TECHNOLOGICAL ECP ....................................................................................36 INDUSTRY QUICK ACCESS..............................................................................44 ADVERTISER INDEX .........................................................................................45 LAST LOOK .........................................................................................................46

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Signet Armorlite Launches KODAK Lens Intelligent Dispensing Software Progressive Lenses including KODAK Lens designs as well as polarized, photochromic and AR coating options. The MEASURE section of the KODAK Lens IDS app optimizes the use of an iPad by quickly turning it into a measuring device. With the help of a back plate with light and a frame measurement clip, patients’ prescriptions can be easily and accurately collected. When all sections are utilized, KODAK Lens IDS is an incredibly powerful tool for the independent eyecare practitioner.

Signet Armorlite is pleased to introduce KODAK Lens Intelligent Dispensing Software, also known as KODAK Lens IDS. Compatible with the latest version of the iPad with Retina display, KODAK Lens IDS is an app composed of three separate sections: FRAME, LENS and MEASURE. The FRAME section compares and shares photos of patient frame options. The LENS section assists the eyecare practitioner in educating the patient about the visual benefits of KODAK

“KODAK Lens IDS is a remarkable tool for the eye care professional,” says Francois Glon, Executive Vice-President, Global Marketing. “From helping to choose frames, to educating patients on their lens and material options, all the way to obtaining optical measurements for customized KODAK Progressive Lenses – KODAK Lens IDS is truly a Practice Solution.” For more information, go to: www.signetarmorlite.com/KODAKLensIDS

STARS! in their Eyes

Actor George Clooney wearing ‘Snowdon’ by TOM FORD. Correction from the August 2013 Issue:

ic! berlin

English R&B singer Rihanna, wearing ROBERTO CAVALLI sun frame ‘Marutea’ in London.

ic! berlin’s fabulously innovative Summer Collection presents the Ritter Butzkes I and II – like two metal eye protectors worn by knights in the old days. The Ritter Butzkes’ sleek sheetmetal design offers a perfect fit for all face shapes with its simple clean elegant design. www.ic-berlin.de

RUDY PROJECT has entered a partnership with Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig to wear its technologically advanced eyewear while on the baseball field for the remainder of his rookie Major League season in 2013.

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mlindberg 6505

VISION EXPO WEST 路 THE VENETIAN 路 35TH FLOOR 路 SUITE 206

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New Releases for

FALL

1. Spectacle Eyeworks The Canadian design house keeps the geek chic revival revving with seven new additions to their RETRO line, a collection of cool, confident designs with current old-school style. Seamlessly blending the modern and the modish, these fresh styles also play with opposing ends of the size spectrum. Adding to the appeal of the new designs is the unique dot matrix finish utilized on each frame, which adds a rich texturizing to the color, without being intrusive. www.spec-eyeworks.com

2. Trevi Coliseum Clark 832 is constructed from the highest quality Mazzucchelli zyl with silver metal temple inlays for added style. It defines the concept of fashion and beauty. Available in 3 beautiful colors: red (shown), black and blue. Made in Italy and backed by a two year warranty. Sold exclusively in North America by National Lens. www.national-lens.com

3. BCBGMAXAZRIA

BCBGMAXAZRIA Celesteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lightweight, flat metal Wayfarer is heavy on style. This retro inspired frame is modernized through a fashion forward stud bar design on its temporal edges. The rich & colorful temple materials make Celeste a standout beauty. Available in Black, Blue Slate, and Wine. www.cvoptical.com

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4. LINDBERG LINDBERG Strip 9800 blends style details from LINDBERG acetate and titanium plate designs, with the upper rim featuring more pronounced curves, and the unique screw-free front where the lenses fix the acetate front to the titanium frame. The range is our only ‘combi-style’ frame, distinctive for its subtle curvaceous appearance and fashion-forward fifties inspired design. www.lindberg.com

5. SALT Optics Inspired by the timeless styles of the 50’s and 60’s, THE HARLAN pays homage to this classic era. Handcrafted construction of Italian acetate and titanium is paired with flexible silicone nose pads intended for maximum comfort. The engraved detailing on the bridge gives this piece a classic look and feel. The HARLAN sun comes in two colors along with PFV polarized lenses while the HARLEN RX has four color options. www.saltoptics.com

6. ic! berlin Colorful, gaudy, shiny. Just like a rainbow. Nearly too good to be true. Just like our frames. This time, we’ve coated them: no varnish. They shine in exciting new colors created through simple light refraction. For the first time, through the electric! PVD coating, we have managed to get our stainless steel to sparkle in fantastic new colors. We’re launching eight new models in four new colors: electric! violet, electric! light blue, electric! turquoise and electric! magenta. www.ic-berlin.de

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Revolution Eyewear

Baby Banz

Baby Banz is excited to announce a new specialty line of Junior Banz. These frames feature Swarovski crystals hand placed by Jimmy Crystal of New York. These fun frames are fashionable and protective – featuring 100% UVA/UVB protection as well as polarized lenses. usa.babybanz.com Revolution Eyewear continues to raise the bar with a new combination of zyl and titanium. This fashion forward style will feel weightless on your face. Featured is Matte Rose, other colors include Dark Tortoise, Sky Amber, and Turquoise. Size is 50-21-140 with a generous B measurement of 40.8 for those needing progressives. www.revolutioneyewear.com

Jonathan Paul Eyewear™

Hilco

We proudly set the trend in over-prescription sunglasses with 25 styles and 46 colors. Sunglass sizes range from extrasmall to extra-large and can be worn with or without regular prescription glasses. As trend setters, we carry 2 styles of sunglasses for children. IKARA™ style – Berry Crush with a POLARVUE™ Gray lenses (IK002). www.fitovers.com The new FrameWorks Asia Collection is your plastic frame fitting solution for Asian/ethnic patients. Most frames are designed and constructed to fit typical Caucasian facial features, not the higher cheekbones and flatter bridges of many Asian and other ethnic faces. The frames feature a reduced pantoscopic angle, flatter face form, higher nose pads or thicker built-up pads and wider bridges. www.hilco.com

Marcolin KC2725 from the Kenneth Cole Reaction sun collection is a new part of a special 11-piece capsule created by Marcolin and Kenneth Cole Productions. The overall zebra stripe pattern is printed on a paper transfer and wrapped over the injected frame, making the style extremely lightweight; it also features a smoky gradient lens. www.marcolin.com

Marcolin – KC2725

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Not small, fun size ! www.jfreyusa.com

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Best Image Optical

Clariti Eyewear

This Fall/Winter, the Dolabany Eyewear collection recreates original vintage design that captures the true retro-trend with frame models: Arden & Wilder. The Arden (shown) and the Wilder are two very different designs that enhance the collection, while incorporating the finest Italian zyl in deep, earthy tones, which include tortoise patterns, crystal frame fronts, and honey hues. bestimageoptical.com

New AirMag Style A6030: This AirMag Acetate Eyewear with polarized clip-on magnetic sunglasses suits a variety of personalities. From geek chic to sophisticate and professional, Clariti Eyewear offers this style in three rich colors including Matte Black, Demi Brown/Green and Black/Crystal Blue. www.claritieyewear.com

J.F. Rey K-Mars Optical

Undergram™ Eyewear – Guinness World Record lightest eyewear frame in the world. Made from 100% medical grade titanium. This frame is available in different thickness and multiple colors. www.kmarsoptical.com

JF2518: The new STRUCTURE line explores the fashion and textiles fields in the autumn/winter seasons. Using laser engraving technology, with an extremely thin work design, the brand succeeds in creating some outstanding touch and textile effects. Scottish tartan, dog tooth pattern and sophisticated weaving bring a pure and smart silhouette. The stainless-steel work allows subtle light effects to enhance the frames. www.jfrey.fr

Rudy Project Distilling several key technologies into a unified form, the new Agon sunglass is the ultimate fusion of aesthetics and function. Years of research with biometric specialists have advanced the design to achieve ultimate comfort and stability. The newly integrated Vent Controller™ allows rapid adjustment of airflow to reduce thermal shock and prevent fogging. Helmet compatibility is a core design concept – assuring the Agon fits perfectly with any lid. www.rudyprojectusa.com Rudy Project – Agon

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Consumer Barometer Shows 3.9 Percent Increase in Vision Care Market Revenues The latest VisionWatch Consumer Barometer, covering the 12-month period ending June 2013, reflects a 3.9 percent overall increase in revenues for vision care products and services in the U.S. compared to the prior year period. The total vision care market, as defined by The Vision Councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s VisionWatch survey, reached $35.47 billion in the 12-month period, and includes dollars spent at all retail types, at any retail location, and spent on the sale of either spectacle lenses (including Rx Sun), frames, contact lenses, plano sunglasses, OTC readers or revenue earned by refractive surgery or eye examinations. The number does not include sunglass clips and reflects the dollars spent by U.S. adults ages 18 and over. The report shows an increase in Rx spectacle lens sales of 6.0 percent to $10.85 billion in that 12-month period, while frame sales at retail rose 2.7 percent in

dollars to $8.77 billion during the year ending June. Contact lens sales, in dollars, climbed 5.9 percent to $4.1 billion in that period while plano sunglasses increased 4.0 percent in retail dollars to $3.61 billion. Also during the 12 months ending June, VisionWatch reported that eye exam revenues reached $5.34 billion, up 2 percent from the year ago period. The number of eye exams for refraction conducted within the last six months for the period ending June 2013 was 50.8 million, per the Consumer Barometer, compared to 49.9 million for the sixmonth period ending June, 2012. Independents conducted 68.2 percent of the eye exams in the six months ending June, even with the prior yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s six-month period ending in June 2012. Chains conducted 31.8 percent of the eye exams for the six months ending June, 2013, versus 32.0 percent for the six months ending June, 2012.

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PRACTICE MANAGEMENT Cliff Capriola, Practice Management Consultant

Are You Thriving With Managed Care? In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, managed care appeared as a modern-day Sword of Damocles, hanging over the eye care industry. INCE LITTLE WAS KNOWN about it back then, rumors abounded, and there were all sorts of theories on how to prepare for it. Basically, managed care seeks to lower the costs and improve the effectiveness of healthcare under a formal system that sets standards, reviews programs, and negotiates fees. Emphasis is on preventive care and practicing efficiently, with incentives to do so. It became apparent early on that managed care would have vastly different effects on the three O’s of eye care (opticians, optometrists, and ophthalmologists).

Since one of the methods of reducing costs and improving efficiency was the concept of providing all eye care services under one roof, the free-standing opticians bore the brunt of the impact managed care had on the eye care industry. In fact, since they could provide only one of the three components of eye care (primary care, surgery, and vision correction); opticians were not allowed to participate in many plans. For the optometrists and ophthalmologists managed care was a double-edged sword. Yes, it lowered the profit per patient providers had grown accustomed to, but it also increased the patient volume of ODs and MDs alike. It appeared ophthalmologists held the upper hand since by adding a dispensary they could provide patients with all three components of eye care. Since virtually everyone was unsure of the exact effects managed care would have, many ODs affiliated with MDs so they would not be left out of provider panels. However, the

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business-savvy optometrists realized that they could function perfectly well in a managed care environment without paying outrageous fees to join a specific MD group. They simply found local ophthalmologists they were comfortable working with and retained patients for primary care and most vision correction. Managed care is a given in today’s marketplace, and in 2013 the largest managed care problems facing independents are maximizing managed care and determining which plans to participate in. Let’s analyze how to do just that, always keeping in mind that the real power in any plan lies with the end users – the patients and the doctors. Go into this process knowing that you are not required to accept any plans, and choose the ones that

work for your practice. Here are some tips to help you decide which plans to keep or adopt and how to work with them on an everyday basis: 1. Is The Plan Profitable? The easiest method to determine this is to find the average patient transaction value for a given plan. This is relatively easy to determine from your financial statements. Take the total dollar volume from a plan for the previous year and divide it by the number of patients seen who are covered by the plan. If you have no history with the plan, determine your chair cost. You can do this by taking your annual overhead costs and dividing that number by the number of hours you are open per year. Continued on page 14

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Learn more about KODAK Lenses VEW Booth #LP7065 for prizes

The Kodak trademark and trade dress are used under license from Kodak by Signet Armorlite, Inc. ÂŠ2013 Signet Armorlite, Inc.

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2. Can You Profit From Selling UP? One of the most important factors to consider is whether the plan allows you to profit from selling premium products. If so, you and your staff need to be trained to sell today’s premium products. So much of this depends upon how information given to the patient is phrased; for example, which dispenser would you prefer working with your patients? Dispenser 1 – “Well, your insurance covers frames up to $X, and scratchcoated plastic lenses.” Dispenser 2 – “These lightweight and thin polycarbonate anti-reflective lenses, which allow more light to reach your eyes, reduces eye strain, and improve your vision, would cost you $X without your insurance, but for you, they would only cost you $X minus Y.” The first dispenser takes a very negative point of view and obviously has a low opinion of the patients’ vision insurance. The second dispenser begins with the fact that her or his patients should have the opportunity to acquire

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the product best for their vision, and that it is not the dispensers’ place to calculate what the patient might want to spend. Dispenser 1 stresses the low amount covered by insurance, while Dispenser 2 stresses how much more affordable the optimal product is for the patient.

“The largest managed care problems facing independents are maximizing managed care and determining which plans to participate in.” 3. Patient Communication I have seen far too many offices where patients arrive not having a clue as to what their insurance covers. This leads to upset and disillusioned patients who often blame the dispensers. Vision insurance companies are notorious for not communicating the plan details to the employees covered. When at all possible, pre-certify patients coming in as to their

eligibility, and when setting appointments urge patients to check with the plan administrator in their company to explain their benefits BEFORE coming into your practice. Most vision plans are made available to companies for little or no cost to the business. There is nothing wrong with telling patients that pay $X per month into the plan to re-evaluate whether their plan is worth what they pay. This leads us to: 4. Offer Your Own Vision Plan Sooner or later you will have to drop an unprofitable plan, and in this situation it is best to offer an alternative. Many practices, especially is small communities, have offered their own plan to local area businesses free of charge. They do not have to be complicated and the easiest method is to offer a percentage discount off of goods and services. Spend a few dollars and have vision plan cards printed up and get out into your community. 5. Designate an Insurance Contact Person You need to have one person in your practice who serves as your in-house

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expert on the plans you accept. It could be an office manager, head optician, or front desk person. This person would also be responsible for any ongoing training concerning any plan changes affecting your practice. 6. Outsource Your Coding and Billing If you’re a small practice, it’s usually not economically feasible to have one person on staff that will do billing, claim filing, claim follow-up, and coding for maximum reimbursement effectively. Competent coding and insurance employees can easily cost you $50,000$60,000 per year, and that person is one less employee focusing on making money for you. 7. Should You Drop (or Not Join) a Plan? Usually 80% of your income is derived from 20% of your patients, and this should be kept in mind when deciding whether to keep or enroll in a plan. That said, there a quite a few factors to take into consideration when you make this decision (hey, they call it managed care, not easy care!)

a. Profitability – obviously, the most important factor in this decision. Does the plan meet or exceed your chair cost per hour? If not, is it close enough that the volume of patients makes it worthwhile? b. Ease of Use – does the plan make your employees jump through hoops to get each patient pre-certified? Does the plan make you wait and wait for re-imbursement? Do your patients hate the plan? Might they be happier if offered a straight discount plan through your practice vision plan? c. Patient Volume – this is where things can get tricky. If you are in a small town with 2 or 3 main employers, and 2 of them have a certain plan, then you almost have to accept the plan. Along with this, however, is your patient volume. How far out are you booked? If your next appointment is a month from now, it’s pretty safe to drop an underperforming vision plan. d. If you drop a plan, notify the

affected patients with a mailing, offering them either a cash discount on goods and services on their next visit or membership in the free vision plan offered by your practice. Communication is the key to retaining these patients and some providers actually see an increase in the average patient transaction with these patients. 8. The Devil is in the Details Fewer and fewer practices have the luxury of not accepting managed care. So, instead of whining about it, embrace it! One indisputable effect of managed care is that it magnifies the strong and weak areas of your practice. If your staff is weak in marketing premium products, the effect on your bottom line will be larger with managed care patients than with cash patients. If communication of benefits is weak, patients will spend more time in the dispensary, disrupting patient flow. I hear many doctors say that managed care is killing their practice, when in fact; it is their practice that can’t handle managed care. I

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MANAGING OPTICIAN Anthony Record, ABO/NCLE, RDO

Building a Better Memory YEARS AGO I WAS WORKING WITH A NEWLY LICENSED OPTICIAN IN ONE OF OUR STORES. There was no doctor that day so it was a relatively laid-back environment. Just before noon, a middle-aged woman entered our shop. She was dressed in a very distinctive, professional manner. The young optician approached the client and said, “Good morning, how may I help you?” The customer replied, “I picked these glasses up a few days ago, and I think the tint is too dark. They said you might be able to lighten them for me.” The young optician said no problem, and instructed the woman to return in a couple of hours. So far, so good. Fast forward two hours later. While business had picked up a bit, it was still a non-doctor day so it’s not like it had been Grand Central Station. The businesswoman returned, and the same optician approached her, saying (you guessed it), “Good afternoon, how may I help you?” In other words, despite the fact that she had only interacted with maybe eight or ten people since their first encounter, despite the fact it had only been a couple of hours, and despite the fact the client was dressed exactly the same way, the optician had no memory whatsoever of having met the woman at all.

If you can’t relate to that specific event, I’m sure most of you can relate to this one: You meet someone for the first time and of course, you introduce yourself to one another. Maybe the person you’re meeting says, “Hi, my name’s Carol.” And as she walks away you find yourself thinking, “What the heck was her name?” When you address her you say, “It sure was nice to meet you Karen,” or “See you later, Sharon.” If you’re lucky, at some point she’ll remind you, “It’s Carol!” That happened to me many times over the years, but it never embarrassed me enough to do anything about it, until one day when it happened to me in front of a bunch of important people. Finally, it had embarrassed me enough to do something about it. So I bought a book on improving memory called, oddly enough, “The Memory Book” by Harry Lorayne. Here’s a novel idea (for some people): I read it! I learned I was doing things as I met people that were counterproductive to remembering their names, and I picked up some real-life tips and techniques that I could really relate to – things that I said to myself, “I could do that.” Now to be honest, there were a couple of things he suggested doing that I said to myself, “Oh no...that’s not me...I could never do that.” But I didn’t discard the book because of the one or two things I felt I couldn’t do. Rather, I embraced those things I knew I could do. And after practicing for a few weeks, I developed the ability to remember names and faces better than probably 95% of my peers and colleagues. What are the advantages to that? The advantages for you personally would vary depending on what you do. For me, I see two distinct advantages. As an instructor/lecturer, demonstrating the

ability to remember 30-40 attendees’ first and last names without nametags proves to them that any challenge can be overcome - if we’re willing to take in new information and do a few things differently. But as an ECP (Eye Care Professional) working the front lines of my optical dispensary, the advantage is huge. Imagine you’re a customer who hasn’t been to my office for six months...imagine the difference between the following two greetings. Greeting One: “Good morning, welcome to Max Optics, how may I help you?” Greeting Two: “Good morning, Mr. Cusack, nice to see you again, how’d your wife’s hip operation turn out?” To borrow from our optometric friends, “Was it better at one...or better at two?” The instant rapport in the second greeting should be quite obvious to all. Now I’m not going to mislead you. I can’t greet all of my previous clients the way I illustrated in Greeting Two. But guess what? I can with maybe 60-70 percent of them. Not too shabby. And before I share a few things you can do to improve your memory, let me address what some of you are thinking. Things like, “I could never do that,” or “I was born with a bad memory,” or “That’s just the way I am.” You could settle for that. But instead of being so quick to say that’s just the way you are, why not consider that that’s just the way you choose to be. Take in some new information, be willing to do things a little differently than you do now, and the sky is truly the limit. So here are a few tips for improving your memory. First, get yourself a good reference guide – the place where you can learn some different things to do. Things like repetition, facial cues, association, developing a memory landscape. The book I mentioned earlier is a good one, as is “The Memory System” by Bob Burg. Continued on page 18

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Second, learn to use mnemonic devices. Most people think mnemonic devices are only acronyms you use to remember things. Any ECP remembers the order of the colors in the spectrum using the acronym Roy G. Biv (this is a name acronym that helps you remember it’s red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet). However, you will learn from whatever reference book you purchase, that basically anything you use to help improve your memory is a mnemonic device: a to-do list, Microsoft Outlook, a piece of string tied around your finger. Third, consider that diet, exercise, nutrition, lifestyle choices, and even sleep can affect your ability to remember. According to Dr. Laura J. Martin, in an article published by WebMD, exercise may “slow down or even reverse age-related memory loss in older adults.” Not surprisingly, the same foods that are good for your waistline, are good for your memory; foods like whole grains, fresh fruit and vegetables, and not too much protein - just enough to fuel your body’s daily activities. Another study suggested that diets rich in olive oil were conducive to good memory skills (of course it was from an Italian

university, so maybe it was just a bit biased). Omega-3 acids found in mostly cold-water fish like salmon, tuna, and herring, also had a positive influence on “natural” memory. Researchers at the University of North Carolina have proven that vitamin B12 is important for memory and other cognitive functions. According to nutritionist and researcher Richard C. Mohs, “Getting enough of vitamins C and E may also perk up flagging memory and keep it sharp.” Dr. Mohs also claims that magnesium (which is sometimes called the antistress mineral) has “many essential metabolic functions in the body, and it may be important in learning and memory.” His research also showed that routine aerobic exercise can also maintain, and even improve, memory function. As you would also imagine, drinking too much alcohol and smoking too much tobacco can adversely affect your memory. More specifically those two habits can permanently damage your ability to remember “everyday life.” Fourth and finally, it has long been known that inadequate sleep can also neg-

atively affect your memory. Research as far back as the 1960s showed that people who didn’t get enough sleep the night before had a harder time processing simple, short-term memory items. Maybe that optician I worked with years ago had pulled an all-nighter! If you have difficulty falling asleep, memory experts say you are better NOT taking sleep-inducing drugs. Instead they offer the following six guidelines for falling asleep naturally: 1) Go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. 2) Keep your bedroom quiet and dark. 3) Follow the same routine before you go to bed each night. 4) Use your bedroom only for sleep (and that other bedroom activity that begins with the letter S). Do not read, watch TV, eat, or talk on the phone while in bed. 5) Don’t try to “concentrate” on falling asleep. 6) If you haven’t fallen asleep after 20-30 minutes in bed, get up and go to another room, sit quietly, read, or watch TV. Then go back to bed. Repeat steps 5 and 6 as necessary. Developing a better memory is like any other skill: It takes time and a little diligence to master. And while nothing is a guarantee, I can promise you from personal experience: it’s possible. I

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MARKETING ECP Corrie Pelc

5 Ways To Better Your Patients In-Office Experience are greeted — he says it’s never with a “hi” or “hello,” but instead they are “welcomed” into the practice. Plus being that the majority of their storefront is glass, the staff anticipates and watches for patients coming in. “About 80 percent of the time (we) open the door for the patient when we see them walking to the door,” he adds. Another way patients are welcomed is through the appearance and ambience of the office, including how it smells. “One of the first things folks will comment on when they walk into our office is this scent we have in the office,” Dr. Gee says, which is an aromatherapy-type smell that conveys a “homey feeling.” #2 – Make it Simple

GETTING PATIENTS to step into your practice is important. However, what kind of an experience they have while in your office can make the difference between a one-time patient and a repeat patient. And let’s face it – repeat patients is how a practice is built as not only do they keep coming back, but many times they become your referral source by spreading the word to their friends and family. “Those patient referrals are the best referrals you’ll ever get, and probably the least expensive referrals you’ll ever get,” says Joy Gibb, ABOC, owner of Eyes of Joy Mobile Optical Service in Woods Cross, UT. “If you want to be the best, you really have to have people feel comfortable to go out saying they are the best.” “It’s vital to our survival because we mostly grow our practice through word of mouth,” says Dr. David Redman, co-owner of Precision Eye Care Centers in 20 E Y E C A R E P R O F E S S I O N A L

Mountain View and San Jose, CA. “There are nine optometrists to choose from in our town, so if we don’t do a good job there are plenty of other good doctors to choose from, so we like to make sure that we give the best service possible.” That means it’s up to the doctor and their staff to make sure their patients are getting the best in-office experience possible, which sometimes is not as simple as it seems. Here are five tips on how you can help ensure you’re giving your patients the best experience possible. #1 – A Warm Welcome One of the things emphasized to the entire team — both doctors and staff — at Gee Eye Care in Missouri City, TX, is making sure patients receive a warm welcome, says owner Dr. Kevin Gee. “When you walk into our office we want you to feel like you’re at home,” he explains. Dr. Gee’s staff achieves a warm welcome in two ways. The first is the way patients

Another way of improving a patient’s in-office experience is to make it as simple for them as possible, Gibb says. For example, allow patients to complete paperwork before coming to the office or make appointments online. Or hire on a patient liaison to find out about insurance benefits before a patient even walks through the door. “Anything you can do to make that main contact streamlined, easy, and convenient I think is huge.” And much of that, Gibb says, comes down to the communication within the entire office team. “When you don’t have good communication, sometimes morale goes down the tubes, sometimes you have miscommunication, and people aren’t really sure what their job is supposed to be or what their responsibilities are,” she explains. For this reason, Gibb suggests regular, consistent staff meetings. “Just don’t drop the big bombshells on them, but really make sure they’re in-tune with how the office is functioning on a regular weekly

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basis,” she says. “Touching base with the staff makes a huge difference in that.” #3 – Know Your Stuff At Precision Eye Care Centers, Dr. Redman says not only offering good quality products and services, but having staff knowledgeable about them, is key. “Knowing a lot about the products and services you offer (makes it) so you can be confident in what services you offer,” he adds. Dr. Redman says they guarantee all services in their office to their patients, such as successful contact lens fittings and glasses. And for products, they offer a two year guarantee. “Even if they break, if they bring back the pieces we’ll replace it for them within reason,” Dr. Redman says. And when it comes to knowledge, Gibb suggests doctors be not only willing but engaged in making sure their staff have opportunities to become educated about the products in the office — where does it come from, how is it made, why is it priced the way it is. “If you don’t know your products, it’s really hard to sell it,” she adds. “It doesn’t sound like you’re recommending it, it sounds like you’re selling it and there’s a difference.” #4 – Have Fun Another way to better patients’ in-office experience is to have a team that has fun together, Gibb says, who adds it should be fun to do business with you. “Are people excited to work there?” she says. “If they’re not, it conveys to the patient.” Gibb also suggests figuring out what is it that makes your practice unique to patients. “It doesn’t have to be expensive, it doesn’t have to be over the top, but what makes it fun to do business with you,” she adds. For example, Dr. Redman has a funny candy jar on their counter — a kid’s Halloween basket that’s a large eyeball with feet. “The staff dresses it up for each season, so for Fourth of July it had red, white and blue,” he says. “Patients really like that.” #5 – A Fond Farewell And when it’s time for patients to leave, don’t let their experience just end abruptly — that is where the “fond farewell” comes in, says Dr. Gee. He says patients are literally escorted out the door and thanked on the way, and staff even helps patients to their cars since many times they have been dilated for their exam. “About 99 percent of our patients are walked to the door and outside the door when they leave our office,” Dr. Gee adds. Dr. Redman and his staff also make sure to thank patients for their business before they leave. Additionally, they send each patient a survey so they can comment to them directly on how their experience was. The surveys are shared and discussed with the entire staff on ways they can improve. “We’ll either improve our policies or talk to the patient directly — our goal is always to exceed their expectations,” he adds. I

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Optical Lab Division Awards and Pioneers The Optical Lab Division has named Barney Dougher, president of Hoya Vision Care, North America, as the recipient of the 2013 Directors’ Choice Award. This year’s Optical Pioneers Hall of Fame honorees are: Richard Cherry, president of RD Cherry Optical, Jonathan Jacobs, president of Barney Dougher Superior Optical, Andrew Karp, editor Jobson Optical Group, James McLean, former owner of Dietz-McLean Optical, David Rips, president of Younger Optics, Joseph Santinelli, CEO of Santinelli International, and Robert Shanbaum, president of Ocuco.

Shared Visions V-Awards Marshall B. Ketchum University will honor community leaders for their philanthropic impact and humanitarian support of optometry at the third annual Shared Visions Gala & V-Awards. The Corporate V-Award will be presented to Allergan, Inc. and will be accepted by Allergan chairman of David E.I. Pyott the board and CEO, David E.I. Pyott. The Founder’s V-Award will be accepted by the Ketchum family for the university’s founder, Marshall B. Ketchum, MD. The Shared Visions Artist Award will go to Susan Joy Gustafson of Vancouver, Wash.

Vision Source Vision Source’s founder, Glenn D. Ellisor, OD, will transition from chairman and chief executive officer to the newly created position of executive chairman of the corporation. Jim Greenwood will assume the role of president and chief executive officer. Ellisor will continue to lead the company’s Glenn D. Ellisor board of directors and will remain actively involved in the company’s strategy development, including being the full-time clinical lead of the company and setting the strategic direction of the optometric alliance.

George Woo Wins Award Professor George Woo, visiting chair professor of optometry and emeritus professor of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Optometry, will be presented the Essilor Award for Outstanding International Contributions to Optometry by the American Academy of George Woo Optometry next month. Woo graduated with a Doctor of Optometry degree from the University of Waterloo and completed his PhD at Indiana University. After serving at different universities in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, he joined the then Hong Kong Polytechnic in 1987.

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Neurotech Pharmaceuticals Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company developing sight-saving therapies for chronic retinal disease, announced that James Mazzo was appointed the company’s executive chairman. Mazzo, a long time leader in the ophthalmic industry, is the former CEO of Abbott James Mazzo Medical Optics (AMO), is an operating partner at Versant Ventures and was recently named chairman and CEO of AcuFocus, a Versant portfolio company.

SynergEyes SynergEyes, Inc. has appointed Peg Achenbach, OD, FAAO, vice president of professional services. Prior to joining SynergEyes, Dr. Achenbach was chief medical and academic strategist at Contamac, Ltd. She also served as senior director of professional and medical Affairs at Vistakon Peg Achenbach and as manager of worldwide clinical research at Bausch + Lomb. Dr. Achenbach also spent 16 years in private practice in various group practices across the U.S. and in solo practice in New Jersey.

SPY SPY Inc. has announced that Jim McGinty will assume the role of CFO. In addition, David Rane will join the company’s board of directors. McGinty has honed his career in the retail sector, working with fashion companies Victoria’s Secret, Structure, and Express, all functioning as divisions Jim McGinty of Limited, Inc. For the last 13 years, McGinty served as CFO at Hot Topic. Rane’s professional history spans 30 years in senior financial roles in the hard good and technology industries, as well as the investment management sector.

Will Be Missed... Frederick E. “Rick” Mider III, a former Signet Armorlite sales representative, passed away at the age of 64 in Syracuse, NY on August 12. Mider’s career spanned 35 years in optical lens sales throughout which he traveled the Northeast extensively. He often mentored new sales reps, and Frederick E. Mider III was sought out for his advice even after he left Signet Armorlite in January, 2012. Survivors include his wife of 33 years, Michele; son, Keith (Lacey) Mider; grandson, Aidan Mider; mother, Shirley Mider and sister, Catherine Stanard.

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THE MOBILE OPTICIAN Ginny Johnson, LDO, ABOC

Clutter is a Kill Joy Do you ever have days when you feel as though there aren’t enough hours in the day? How about days that seem like they take forever to end?

Who knows? Maybe you don’t care and you’re just reading this to kill some time. I always thought that was an interesting concept of time...killing time. Bang, bang, I shot and murdered some time today at work. How was your day? It doesn’t matter because I really can’t stop to listen. I’m too busy on the run to keep myself from get busted. You see it doesn’t make sense for me to have to go back and serve time. Let’s face it, we’re all guilty of wasting time throughout the day. I’ve become more aware lately of the little time wasters that can quickly lead to larger ones. As ridiculous as it may sound, I’ve started saving seconds daily for more enjoyable moments. By the time you reach the end of this article maybe it will make more sense. It’s unfolding in perfect timing, just for you. All that’s required is that you make an honest assessment of the way you spend your time. If you are already pleased with the way you are spending your time, then that’s great, if not, then what are you waiting for? How much time do you believe are you wasting at work each day? It may be on something as petty as walking across the

room to retrieve something you could position closer to you, or surfing the internet while waiting on an important email that has been sitting in your spam folder. It might be trying to decide what’s for lunch because you didn’t make time to prepare lunch before you left the house. Maybe it’s plopping down at your desk, wishing you were elsewhere and not bothering to keep that a secret. So that’s somewhere between a few minutes and eight plus hours. Everyone already knows that time flies when we’re having fun. But why is that? Why is it that one hour of work can feel so much longer than one hour on break? They are exactly the same amount of time. I’ve decided it has something to do with my predicting outcomes beforehand. I’ve

been known to reference days backwards and carry those results over into a new day. I’d make my predictions for today being just as bad, if not worse, than yesterday. Not to worry, I’d be on the lookout for those I told you so moments, so others could enjoy my sense of time warp. I told you today was going to seem like a long day. I told you doing it this way would feel like it was taking forever. I told you we would never get out of here on time. I told you so maybe you’ll listen to me next time. Continued on page 26

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If this is starting to sound like you or someone you know (besides me) then don’t go waving this in their face just yet. They probably have some clutter issues and are not real happy at the moment. Given time, hopefully they’ll clean up their act and make some positive changes. What exactly is clutter? In my opinion, clutter is anything that holds you back from moving forward with the gift of time. Some examples of clutter are a messy desk, distracting thoughts, junk emails, unnecessary texts, trash, visual chaos, and even certain people. Clutter is a kill joy. It can creep up on you fast and put you in a funk. Everybody knows what it feels like to be in a funk. It’s recognizing and lessening our clutter so funks are few and far between that matter. So without further hesitation, how is clutter affecting you and your work? How often do you find yourself getting in a funk over controllable clutter? Here are 13 tips that may help you eliminate some work clutter: 1. Unsubscribe to daily, weekly, monthly email resources that clutter your mind and any emails forwarded in poor taste. 2. Have a secure, online password manager and bookmark the websites you frequent. 3. Recycle any magazines that are more than a couple of months old. Get rid of any outdated product brochures, catalogs or point of purchase (POP) materials. 4. Sell or donate any retail displays, furniture or equipment that you no longer use.

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5. Do your best not to play the office time game (this day is dragging and taking forever). 6. Keep all of the living plants in the practice watered and dust free. Snip off any dead stems or leaves and throw out the gum and candy wrappers that patients drop in the planter. If plants don’t look healthy then don’t have them sitting out in everyone’s view. By the way, watering fake plants doesn’t make them grow. I found that out not too long ago. 7. Organize your desk from an outsider’s point of view. What do people see when they walk past your desk? Return any items you may have borrowed that are cluttering up your desk. 8. Look for the obvious needs. If you are having to get up from your desk and borrow a pair of scissors every time you need to cut something, then your office needs to purchase some freaking scissors. Unless there’s a scissors app that I don’t know about. 9. Keep all of the restrooms clean. Check the patient’s restroom throughout the day and make sure it is skunk and funk free. 10. Stop the madness. If the same person keeps calling to follow up on a proposal and the decision maker isn’t interested and wants you to relay the message for them, this can mean a funk coming on. If the caller will not accept your professional rejection then this tip has worked for me in the past. The next time they call, pick up and hang up without saying a word. It may take more than one time, but at least it’s more fun than funk. Make

sure you have the correct Caller ID person on the other end of the line though. 11. Don’t let junk mail fool you. Junk mail shouldn’t make it to your desk top but be careful before you toss or shred any mail. I went to throw away what I thought was junk mail the other day and instead I opened it at the last second. Thank goodness I took the time to look at it closer. Otherwise, I would have been shredding cash money. Inside the envelope, there was a crisp ten dollar bill from a survey I had participated in a few weeks ago. 12. Do any co-workers leave you feeling drained rather than good about things after every conversation? If you can’t totally avoid conversations with them, figure out ways to limit their impact on you. Refuse to let their funk rub off on you. 13. Leave your excess outside baggage funk at the front door as much as humanly possible. The boss needs to set boundaries in this area before any new hires come on board to avoid a funky town setting. As you can see, clutter can be distracting and it takes away from your best productive self. Too much visible clutter reminds us of all that needs to be done, all the time. And that is enough to put anybody in a funk. So for the sake of time, do something about it. I

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DISPENSING OPTICIAN Judy Canty, LDO

INDEPENDENCE Or Something Like It WEBSTER’S DEFINES INDEPENDENT AS “NOT RULED, CONTROLLED, SUPPORTED, ETC. BY OTHERS.” THAT WORD, that adjective, has been on many an eye care professionals mind of late. Recent changes in large vision care plans have caused many in the eye care professions and associated industries to question their dependency on a third party to sustain their independent practices. While this situation will sort itself out eventually, how does the average eye care professional begin to evaluate his or her dependence on outside entities? • Review the numbers. Are you sacrificing valuable exam time for private pay patients to accommodate the increased volume of vision care plan members? Are you replacing “That was the best exam I’ve ever had” with “Wow! That was fast”? Does an outside entity require specific additional testing or other services with little or no reimbursement or with substantial discounts? • Evaluate your patient database. Who is active and what percentage of them are private pay versus insurance pay? Who is not active and why? Are you competing with big-box retailers for the same covered lives? • Evaluate your services. What can you offer, what do you offer and what do you want to offer in your area of influence? • Evaluate your products. Does a third party require that you carry specific

products or use specific lab services and does that requirement enhance or undermine your control over your inventory, cost of goods and patient satisfaction? Are you required to offer discounted products and services in addition to what is covered by a third party payer? • Evaluate your staff. Are inadequate reimbursements or excessive discounts forcing you to change your staffing levels or stretch your staff too far to provide anything other than a perfunctory level of service? Has the increase in size and complexity of administering vision care plans forced you to hire extra staff for that function only? Does this make you sad? It should. This is not independence, this is benign dictatorship. The iron hand in a velvet glove, my late father-in-law used to say.

Jeanne Ruff, OD of Williamsburg, VA looked long and hard at her practice numbers for 2012 and YTD (Year-ToDate) 2013. She found that 40% of her fees were billed to one vision care plan, yet that same plan only constituted 17% of her insurance payments and only 4% of all (insurance and private) payments received. Having dropped one plan more than a year ago with no ill effect, she is considering dropping yet another. Her Licensed Optician, Debby Robertson contends that she can only make a profit from these plans by either using cheap materials or by up-selling every patient every time. In either scenario (low quality or high price), the practice reputation suffers in their patients eyes. So, what is a practice owner supposed to do? Control what you can control, manage everything else. • Control the database. While you’re digging through your database, dig into your local demographics. Have they changed? Is it time to change how you market to your area? Patients disappear from a practice for a variety of reasons. They move, change jobs, were dissatisfied, were accidentally dropped from a recall list, change names (think marriage/divorce, NOT witness protection) or die. Whatever the reason, knowing it allows you and your staff to take corrective action. Building a Continued on page 30

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practice around a third party payer is not independence and allowing unfettered access to your database by any entity is foolhardy. • Control your services. Just advertising “full-scope” Optometry isn’t clear enough. You know what it means, I think I know what it means, but to a potential patient it doesn’t mean much. Plus, anything that involves a “scope” sounds painful. Is there a specialty that is not readily available in your area? What was your vision of your practice when you graduated? Low Vision, Sports Vision, Pediatrics, Specialty Contact Lenses, Glaucoma, Dry Eyes, etc. are all specialties or sub-specialties worth investigating. While you’re at it, are you charging an appropriate fee for your services? • Control your products. What do you offer in your dispensary that no one else offers in your area? If you offer the same products that every other practice offers, your only point of comparison is price. While some level of brand recognition may draw patients to your door, being able to offer something unique will keep them there. There are literally thousands of lens and frame combinations available to every eye care

professional. Make the most of those choices to differentiate your practice from others in your area. You may need to step outside your comfort zone, but it could be the difference between standing out and just standing. • Manage your staff. Do you have the right number of people with the right personalities, with the proper training to enable your practice to function smoothly? The old advice to “hire for personality, then train for skill” is not only outdated, it is expensive. The optical industry has become far too technologically advanced to simply allow staff members to learn by doing or by screwing up. As the scope and practice of optometry has evolved, less and less time is available to spend evaluating lens materials, designs and treatments or on frame materials and construction. A well-educated, experienced optician is worth his or her weight in gold. Optometric technicians are performing more specialized testing with increasingly advanced equipment requiring a higher level of skill and training. Even the front office is required to handle computerized scheduling and other data entry tasks unheard of even just a few years ago. This

isn’t your Mom and Pop practice anymore. Finding and keeping the best staff is critical to building and maintaining any successful practice. • Manage your practice image. How visible is your practice within your community? Do you and/or your staff participate in community events? Have you established yourself and your staff as the local experts in vision care? Is choosing your practice a complete and positive patient experience from appointment scheduling to final dispensing? Do you regularly survey your patients for their opinions? You may be uneasy, if not downright terrified to take that first step or reject that contract, but there are many fine resources to help you on your way. Consult with your peers, classmates and successful business owners in any field, not just your own. There are many terrific resources online and through your professional organizations, including a personal favorite, “ODs on Facebook”. Independence is always hard won and often difficult to maintain. It will require the same laser-like focus on your goals that propelled you through school. But, if it was easy, everyone would do it. I

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SECOND GLANCE Elmer Friedman, OD

“Get Your Eyes Shaved Here! Very Cheap...” THERE STILL EXISTS A TRADITIONAL chinese practice called “eye shaving.” There is an old saying in Sichuan, that cleaning the eyes renders the beauty in life visible. Sichuan barber, Liu Deyuan, 53 is one of the few remaining barbers known to still engage in the practice today, as reported in the Chengdu Business Daily.

Eye cleaning is an ancient craft in the same category as ear picking. The craft was supposedly popularized by brothers Zhou Chengfu and Zhou Chengyin, who followed their father’s footsteps and excelled in the technique of servicing the eyeballs, ears and necks of clients. For those who are super anxious to know about the procedure, I will not hold you in suspense any longer. The scene will seem surreal and raise your anxiety levels. It is, believe it or not, a daily occurrence in Chengdu. Read on at your own risk and wonder. After sharpening his razor, and rinsing it in clean water, the barber holds one of his customer’s eyes open with one hand and holds the razor in the opposite hand. He then gently scrapes the razor across the inner surface of each eyelid. Liu then pokes a thin metal rod with a smooth ball shaped end beneath the customer’s eyelid and moves it around, much like a windshield wiper. The entire process takes about five minutes and no waiting. He charges five Yuan ($0.82) for eye shaving which includes a facial shave and a haircut.

lids were shaved. He reported to the newspaper, “I can see things more clearly now.” (Apparently they pay attention to lyrics of American music.)

A customer who has undergone the process several time reports, “I am still a bit nervous during eye shaving. I do not dare move even a bit during the process.” But he also added that the experience was quite comfortable, saying “My eyes feel moist and my vision is clearer.” When asked about their lack of concern over the safety of the eye cleaning procedure or about hygienic matters, most customers expressed lack of concern. Liu soaks his tools in alcohol every night for disinfection. However, the same cleansing rod is used over and over in customer’s eyes and disinfected only at night.

Liu said that he discovered eye shaving when he was seventeen years old. It took him three years to become proficient. He states that, “The secret is in the strength and flexibility of the wrist and steadiness of the hand.” Astonishingly, he has not caused any eye accidents over the course of his career. Liu’s customers may enjoy his eyeball shaving, but eye care professionals warn the public to be cautious. The practice was widely used in hospitals sixty or seventy years ago to treat trachoma, said Qu Chao, deputy director of the ophthalmology department of the Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital. However, it has been phased out as trachoma became much less widespread and medical technology advanced.

Another frequent, satisfied customer named Jiang is 97 years old. He has had Liu shave his eyelids for seven years. Jiang said that he often felt that his eyes were dry and sticky on the inside of the lids. This discomfort went away after his eye-

“Eye shaving can scrape away the ulcers and scar tissue under trachoma patient’s eyelids, and stimulate the eyelids so they may secrete a liquid to moisten the eye sockets,” said Qu. But the practice could also easily result in damage to a client’s Continued on page 34

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“I am still a bit nervous during eye shaving. I do not dare move even a bit during the process.” retina. Poor hygiene could also result in the spread of infection of eye diseases along to other customers. As your reporter, I have a certain responsibility to use accurate and verifiable information in our columns. This I have done. The question then follows, “Why have USA eye care professionals been sitting on their duffs allowing China to dominate the field of eye ball cleaning? Medicare and third party insurers have not yet sunk their bloody hooks into this field. At this time, eyeball cleaning is a selected procedure. We had to invent LASIK and special implant procedures to avoid downgrading our fee structures. We must act now before they issue codes and fees that will be commensurate with that of Liu. And imagine, he is a barber and not a professional like we are. They will use his $0.80 per cleaning as the baseline for their payments. We will have to see 500 patients per day to help pay the huge malpractice premiums that will be tendered. You do the math. I fear it would take a millennium to create a patient base that would show interest enough for frequent visits. While we take pride in the skills we have developed as eye care specialists providing a

34 E Y E C A R E P R O F E S S I O N A L

broad base of services, we must present the new field of eyeball shaving in an appealing light so that we may attract practitioners for this procedure. In a hasty, informal poll of some practitioners and students, I have determined that very few (if any) are ready to take up the cudgels, as it were. Therefore we must take a leap into the next possibility for success: the group practice. There are a plethora of offices that are multi doctor based. I vow that each office has a small cubicle of space that can be converted for the use of eyeball cleaning. Somewhere between a dispensing desk and the bathroom would be ideal. The eyeball cleaner is standing behind a seat where the eyeball cleanee is seated. The nearby bathroom will be equipped with band aids and anti infection medications, plus lotions, herbs and incantations for every occasion. The working area must be free of traffic that might jar or tremorize the cleaner’s hand. The cleaner will not be able to perform to the highest degree of his training if he must be in an area that may be affected by earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes. It would be wise to inform the panel of doctors in your center that someone is

available for the eyeball cleaning service. After all, who can expect a normal, average patient to think of it by him or herself? In addition, a heavier than average advertising campaign will be needed. But be careful, be wise, do not include any pictures or photos of the procedure. Some narrow minds may consider them disgusting or worse. If all avenues are attacked successfully, I visualize eyeball cleaning reaching a point of acceptance. I can see kits that are sold very cheap, to the public for self eye ball cleaning (with ear picking on the side) and training classes all over the country. Liu could come to the USA and open schools for eye ball cleaning throughout the country. Maybe, at first, his company will not appear on the NYSE – Liu will need to sell shares in his company to finance his endeavor. A smart logo to take the place of the dirty fingers pictured in the newspapers about him and eyeball shaving would be a good place to start. An ambitious public relations man would be helpful. His main job would be to make people suspend their sense of reality and seriously consider the service we have described. If you accept this mission, lots of luck. I

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EYECAREPROFESSIONAL

Magazine

Publisher/Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeff Smith Production/Graphics Manager . . . . . . . . . . . Bruce S. Drob Director, Advertising Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lynnette Grande Contributing Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Judy Canty, Cliff Capriola, Paul DiGiovanni, Gary Fore, Elmer Friedman, Lindsey Getz, Renee Jacobs, Ginny Johnson, Jim Magay, Warren McDonald, Corrie Pelc, Anthony Record, John Seegers, Jason Smith Technical Editor . . . . . . . . . Brian A. Thomas, P.h.D, ABOM Internet Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Adler Opinions expressed in editorial submissions contributed to EyeCare Professional Magazine, ECP™ are those of the individual writers exclusively and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of EyeCare Professional Magazine, ECP™ its staff, its advertisers, or its readership. EyeCare Professional Magazine, ECP™ assume no responsibility toward independently contributed editorial submissions or any typographical errors, mistakes, misprints, or missing information within advertising copy.

ADVERTISING & SALES (215) 355-6444 • (800) 914-4322 lgrande@ECPmag.com

EDITORIAL OFFICES 111 E. Pennsylvania Blvd. Feasterville, PA 19053 (215) 355-6444 • Fax (215) 355-7618 www.ECPmag.com editor@ECPmag.com EyeCare Professional Magazine, ECP™ is published monthly by OptiCourier, Ltd. Delivered by Third Class Mail Volume 7 Number 69 TrademarkSM 1994 by OptiCourier, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. No part of this magazine may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the publisher.

OptiCourier, Ltd. makes no warranty of any kind, either expressed, or implied, with regard to the material contained herein. OptiCourier, Ltd. is not responsible for any errors and omissions, typographical, clerical and otherwise. The possibility of errors does exist with respect to anything printed herein. It shall not be construed that OptiCourier, Ltd. endorses, promotes, subsidizes, advocates or is an agent or representative for any of the products, services or individuals in this publication.

For Back Issues and Reprints contact Jeff Smith, Publisher at 800-914-4322 or by Email: jeff@ECPmag.com Copyright © 2013 by OptiCourier Ltd. All Rights Reserved For Subscription Changes, email: admin@ecpmag.com Scan this barcode with your smartphone to go to our website.

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TECHNOLOGICAL ECP Mary Armstrong, ABOC

POP! A La Cart Optics may be closer than they appear The Pop-up business trend continues, takin’ it to the streets to reach customers in affordable, opportunistic and seasonal ways. The long-standing American hot dog stand has evolved into specialty kiosks moving into shopping malls’ center aisles. Empty store fronts in revitalizing neighborhoods are being rented out for eclectic, rotating restaurants. An August/September local ad magazine delivered to my mailbox has a new business offering by a well-known ice cream brand to stock, deliver and pick-up an ice cream cart, rentals starting at $150.00. Why increase your advertising budget aimed at attracting customers to your bricks location, when you can mobilize your products and services and go on the road with your own “OPTICART”? If you’ve ever considered a company-lettered van outfitted with a dispensary unaffordable, consider a smaller and more maneuverable vehicle: a pop-up umbrella cart. What we’re going for here is, in the sign business, known as “number of exposures.” Vehicle signage, next to word-ofmouth, is the most cost-effective advertising you can buy. Just a few sales can reimburse your expenditure and from then on the rest is profit. You’re probably also thinking in terms of weather exposure.

Whether your cart is bicycle/motorcycle powered, hauled in a pick-up truck or trailer-mounted and pulled behind, it’s possible to customize for most routine inclement conditions. Adding a pop-up tent (fans & heaters) could up your appeal in a downpour, whether at a large stadium sporting event featuring tail-gate parties or a neighborhood ball game, convention, fair or flea market. A pop-up camper is another ideal variation and if you’re an RV enthusiast, converting your own to a mini-optical shop in the off-season could maximize both your use and tax write-off opportunity. Instead of paying to store your RV in an RV parking lot, you could park it in campgrounds, posting hours of operation, and in front of your business and/or your home. In case you’re “tut-tuting” all this as a little too unconventional, unprofessional, even a little too “gypsy” for someone like yourself who is long rooted in the

established doctors office, optical shop, retail dispensary prestige, try thinking of this approach as a community outreach effort. If you do business in an area that’s been damaged by nature: fire, flood, hurricane, it would behoove you to get involved partnering with rescue/support agencies. There has to be crisis victims who’ve lost too much, including their eyeglasses, not to overlook assisting the rescuers with their emergency vision needs. If the “gypsy” aspect just happens to really appeal to you, there is a push in America for the Gypsy Vanner horse, a very expensive and scarce breed bred specifically to pull gypsy vans. If you’re into equine, the folks who breed these sturdy, unique and beautiful creatures (many priced from $4,000) form caravan parades to their get-togethers and most need some eyewear not only to participate but to enjoy the spectator value of the view. They draw curious crowds and they’ll be looking at you, too. Continued on page 38

36 E Y E C A R E P R O F E S S I O N A L

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Fairly recent examples of rising to meet market demand occurred during Occupy Wall Street. I’m surprised that no one had an ice cream cart selling to the 99%, as “99’s” are a uniquely English ice cream treat: wafflecone, soft ice cream topped with a cookie (biscuit). Wall Street reaches across the pond in so many ways.

Lunch” and “Perfectly Legal”, stated in a videotaping in the documentary, “Heist”, that: 1⁄3 of US jobs pay less than $15K/year (including those with 2 part-time jobs or unemployed); 1⁄2 make less than $25K/yr; 3 ⁄4 make less than $54K/yr and the 99%, we are all too familiar with, make less than $250,000/yr.

Also, during the London Olympics last year, Black Cabbies, providing shuttling during the day, converted their Black Cabs into pop-up motels at night (starting at $75). Bathroom facilities were pre-arranged, including one who made his home privy to his guests. Others offered candlelight and champagne and continental breakfast.

What is the average income of your customer base? Regularly fit many of the 1% millionaires? With the development of new diagnostic tools whose cost is bundled into the price of eyewear purchases, capturing incremental revenue, by going outside the box (your office or store) may be the only way to nudge the profit margin up enough for you to stay in business.

It was a perfect solution when hotels were all fully booked: being in the right place, right time with the right service at the right price. Check up on your competitors and co-providers. Are any of them creating Pop-up Art? Could you create a sensation, by being the first to Pop-Up with a POptical cart? Be fast. Be first. Be Best. Be fill-in-the blank. And not the least, be there. Showing up counts.

Just as flexibility and adaptability are the key requirements to not only survive but succeed, creativity is always in style. Make a new survey of your patient profiles. Solicit them and your staff for their interests and ideas about what new activities they are considering, what new trends excite them, what new destinations they’re contemplating. Ask your employees about their willingness to stock and staff the cart; a chance to get out of the office and still be on the payroll. Where do they see location and product opportunities?

David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize author of several books, including “Free

Fear not the internet. Enhance your Facebook page and company website with timely announcements of your attendance with customized services, products, contests and giveaways at specific events. Email announcements to your customers, patients and suppliers and include them in newsletters. Post your innovations on your LinkedIn profile. Engage the other social media, like Twitter, that work for you to repeat the messages. When you pop the champagne corks this New Year’s Eve and you look back at your career year in your Third Eye’s Rear View Mirror, I hope you see images of Optics Objects that were indeed closer than they appeared. By accelerbrating now, full speed A Head, one at a time, your optician’s toast might go something like this: “May all your reflections be in the mirror. Neither conCaving in nor conVexing about, But converging on clear images of success: Double Vision, Multi-Focal Points, and Popping Up & Out!” I

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Use one website to order all of your stock lenses electronically with no usage or ordering fees!

Hilco Releases New Eyewear/Accessories Merchandising Solutions Hilco has introduced new eye-catching merchandising solutions for your eyewear and accessories showcasing a wide variety of products in an attractive and professional manner. This new modular display system is designed to minimize space and maximize product sell-through. Hilco offers turnkey solutions to suit every practice need with displays that are modular and customizable and also available for individual or multiple products. Choose from single-sided countertop/wall mount, rotating double-sided countertop or the impactful floor display. Leader Merchandising displays optimize shelf space and product presentation and allows for the flexibility in merchandising and location of eyewear and accessory products. Displays available for all major product categories: Rx Sport, Rx Sunglasses, Rx Safety Workwear, Sun Accessories, Lens Care/ Accessories, and Readers. Displays are free with purchase of pre-selected product assortment or order an empty display to build your own personalized assortment. For more information, go to www.hilco.com

If you are currently ordering lenses from any of the following participating vendors, you can create and submit your order using the Opticom website at no cost! Augen Optics Bristol C&D Carl Zeiss/AO Sola Centennial Optical Limited Conant USA Essilor (Silor, Varilux & Gentex, Prio) Eye Solutions Eyenavision Eyewear by ROI Eyewear Designs Fantom Optics Hilco (Supplies) Hoya Lens I-Coat Kaenon Polarized KBco Lab-Tech L.B.I. Lenses Lensco Melibrad Nassau Lens

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OD PERSPECTIVE Jason Smith, OD, MS

Your Patients Will Tell the World about You: The New Age of Social Media Reviews THE WORLD OF SOCIAL MEDIA IS CHANGING THE WAY EYE CARE PROFESSIONALS DO BUSINESS. Social media is not only affecting how we market our businesses, but the way the public may view us, either positively or negatively. In the past, if someone needed to find a product, a service, or a doctor, they may have checked the yellow pages or heard by word of mouth. That certainly still exists today, but with a smart phone, a tablet, notebook, or (still) a desktop computer, more information about you may be available to the public than you had ever imagined. If you have ever decided to Google your name, you may be surprised at what you find. There could be people with the same name located in different locations, both nationally and internationally, which can create confusion for people who want to search for you locally. If you finetune the Google search and include the added words optician, optometrist, or ophthalmologist with your name, the search may provide you with some information that may be helpful, damaging, confusing, or outright misleading. In this age of email, messaging, blogs, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, aggregator sites, and e-commerce, the world that we used to know is changing. The

Internet has changed the “game” of business entirely. People are looking online in order to do their own research more than ever before. Unfortunately, sometimes this information can be misleading or inaccurate depending upon the source of the information, the author, and the motivations of those people who are actually posting information.

There are some newer sites on the Internet that are allowing the public to rate their doctors, medical professionals, health care professionals, and eye care professionals. New sites named Healthgrades.com, Ratemds.com, Zocdoc.com, Kudzu.com, Thedochelps.com, and Yelp.com are allowing patients, customers, and the pub-

lic to write something about their experience at a local eye care professional’s office. At the site Ratemds.com, you can sign up and post any comment you choose concerning the staff, their punctuality, if they were helpful, and if they showed knowledge about what they were doing. Whether the posting is fair or not, ECPs have an opportunity to respond. Obviously, there are some problems that can be encountered with these rating sites. Certainly they can serve a useful purpose so that the public can get more information concerning a good professional versus someone who creates professional chaos. But there are other people who may want to vent their frustrations on these sites for no reason other than to cause trouble. There may be a former spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend who thinks that it is ok to blast someone “virtually” and publicly on a supposedly “trusted” site. There is also the concern for legal action that can be taken if someone maliciously slanders or libels another person, even though it is done with proper intentions online. Ratemds.com has posted on its site a “wall of shame” list of doctors that have had patients sign a “gag contract” before they are accepted as patients. There are many comments about this topic where people have reacted either positively or Continued on page 42

40 E Y E C A R E P R O F E S S I O N A L

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y? r o t a r o b a L l tica p O n a n i r o kf o o l u o y o d What RVICE FAST SE DUCTS O R P Y T I L A RDAYS) U TE, QU A T A R S U C G C N A I D NG (INCLU I P P I H S Y A NEXT D IN HOUSE L A T I G I D N HOUSE I S G N I T A O C UCTS D O CRIZAL R P F O E L LIN CE STAFF L I V U F R E X S U L R I E R VA LY CUSTOM D VE N E O I R B F , A D E E C N H E FT EXPERI S = ALL O

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negatively. Some doctors are worried about their reputations and are trying to fight back against negative reviews, requiring patients to sign contracts. Critics call them “gag orders,” promising not to post comments onto public sites. Such contracts have not been tested in court, and Internet law experts say that they are unlikely to prevail. Critics say that they are nothing short of censorship. “Essentially, patients are being asked to trade in their freedom of speech for medical care,” says John Swapceinski, founder of RateMDs.com. Dr. Jeffrey Segal is a neurosurgeon and the founder of Medical Justice Services Inc. that helps doctors battle defamation. He has stated that, “Patients are always free to seek the services of a doctor who does not require the signing of a waiver. For those people who do sign the waiver, the contracts are a way to balance the rights of a patient and the rights of a doctor. There is no venue for physicians to get their side of the story out and doctors cannot respond to specific patients because doing so would violate federal privacy laws.” Angie’s list is another site where people can go for information and be able to post information. This company is large enough financially to be able to afford national advertising on TV. According to their website, “Angie’s list is a word-ofmouth network, helping more than 1.5 million households find the best physicians, dentists, and healthcare specialists in their area. Read detailed reviews from members near you to find out which doctors (and others) to trust, and which to avoid. Reviews are submitted by verified members, not anonymous visitors. Companies do not pay to be on Angie’s list. We are the only review site certified by BPA Worldwide, a respected auditing firm. Find and submit reviews in more than 500 service and health care categories including plumbers, roofers, dentists, and medical specialists. See both sides of the story. Companies and providers can respond to their reports.” Dr. Alan Glazier is an optometrist from Baltimore, MD and has written an

EYECARE PROFESSIONAL

excellent book on the world of social media and marketing, titled “Searchial Marketing”. According to Dr. Glazier, “Before social media, one unhappy customer would maybe tell ten people about a bad experience. Now, one unhappy customer can spread venom to thousands of people about your business easily with the stroke of a keyboard and the click of a mouse.” If someone does post something negative about you or your business, the comments may not be able to be retracted. If you know who the patient is, try to contact them and to resolve the problem verbally. Respond to the comment in a positive way. Never be confrontational with anyone who wrote a bad review. It may just make a bad situation worse. Bad reviews can add to the perception that eye care professionals are human and are susceptible to the same criticisms that anyone can receive. An Internet website called Reputation.com can help to improve your online image. I heard about this site from a Sirius radio advertisement. Small businesses can improve ratings and reviews. You can control your personal and private information online and manage how your enterprise looks online. According to their website, “Our team is on a mission. We believe that individuals have the right to control how they look online. That is why we are here. Reputation.com is the world’s leading provider of online reputation products and services. We have assembled a world-class team of engineers, researchers, and an award-winning customer service team in Redwood City, California. Our patented technology helps you understand your online reputation and gives you the tools to monitor, manage, and secure your information on the Internet. We believe that you should control your online reputation and private data.” As eye care professionals, we are also being reviewed and possibly audited by managed care companies and insurance companies. Medicare audits are becoming more prevalent in a world that is plagued by fraud. Doctors, hospitals, insurance

companies, and medical suppliers must keep accurate and appropriate records and bills, according to Medicare guidelines. According to American Medical News, concern over increased billing of higher level evaluation and management services has led Medicare payers to start scrutinizing physician claims for patient office visits more closely. Medicare administrative contractors have instituted reviews of claims for the services by requiring physicians to submit supporting documentation before payment is issued. Davis Vision is a vision insurance company that does on-site record reviews with most eye doctors every 2 years. Patient records are reviewed by another eye doctor and a written report is then provided to the eye doctor for accuracy and for improvements that need to be made. Eye care professionals need to remember that every patient who enters any kind of optical business must always be treated with the utmost respect and courtesy. Every patient has a unique and different personality and even on your best days, a patient may be having a bad day and leave unhappy or disgruntled for no reason. We can only put our best feet forward and always hope and expect the best. I

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National Lens

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Nellerk Contact Lens Cases

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—

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LAST LOOK Jim Magay, RDO

What Does My Insurance Pay? When people look back and say, “Whatever happened to America?” The answer may be that banks, multinational corporations, insurance companies, and their hired politicos ruined it.

he banks are now too big to fail, the corporations (The average CEO salary is $9.7 Million) are so big they become more monopolistic by the day, and insurance companies; well...don’t even get me started on insurance companies. Let me explain, I love having medical expenses covered – God knows we pay enough in insurance premiums every year to buy a nice place on the water somewhere. When a big catastrophe occurs, we are very glad we have it, the rest of the time it is like a dull pain as we scrape up the money to pay the bill. Even with outrageous premiums, the insurance companies are reluctant to pay for legitimate expenses. A major illness can result in many thousands of dollars of uncovered expenses – even with great insurance. (“great insurance” an oxymoron?) But, and it is a big “BUT” – insurance has effectively destroyed the bond we ECPs and every other medical provider has had with their patients, clients, whatever you like to call them. I’m sure I’m not unique in having old customers, 2nd and 3rd generation clients, in tears telling me they “have” to go elsewhere for their vision services because their insurance coverage has changed. And then there are the new patients with insurance that you accept, most times they are just nice average folks glad to get something for nothing, other times they are like the fellow who called today and

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told me that he wanted a designer frame and Nikon brand progressives all for nothing because his insurance would pay. Uh oh! I know you’ve heard it all before, but the older I get, the more unsettling it becomes. Especially the plans that depend on us to give large un-reimbursed discounts to their members – one wonders why clients pay premiums to an insurance company when we are the ones who finance the patient’s benefit. Maybe the answer is dropping insurance altogether as an MD friend of mine did recently. She has a general practice and her slogan is “The Home of the $50.00 Office Visit.” She has been very

successful even with folks who have insurance and high deductibles. This move has allowed her to eliminate the 2 or 3 billing clerks figuring out the labyrinth of insurance billing forms and has cut short the usual long waiting time to get in to see the doctor. By reducing her overhead – she maintains a nice standard of living, while getting the office visit costs down to their pre-insurance company meddling levels. Is this the right move for an ECP? Well, it depends. If you are in a wealthy area where people are in love with technology and luxury and you have the skill set to deal with them – maybe. For most of us though, we still need the people coming through the door asking, “What does my insurance pay?” Darn it! I

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Wavefront Optimized RefraXion In a Fraction of the Time How will you use the 5-7 minutes saved per refraction in your practice?

you choose.

HOA [μm]: @4.00mm / Order = 4 T. Sph T. Coma T. Tre HO Total: 0.020 0.040 0.025 0.059 Cornea: 0.061 0.108 0.073 0.155 Internal: 0.041 0.085 0.091 0.156 Refraction: VD = 13.75mm Sph Cyl Axis WF@4.00 +1.00 -0.50 105 WF@5.42 +0.75 -0.50 111 -0.25 0.00 6 Diff

RMS 0.07D 0.19D

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