New This Week
Doctor to Patient: “Have I Answered All Your Questions?”
Kirk Smick, OD, of Clayton Eye Center in Morrow, GA, reminds doctors to remember the human side of optometry. Advances in technology don’t take the place of meaningful doctor-patient conversations. End each exam with, “Have I answered all of your questions?” There will be few complaints if you do. >>READ MORE >>
Ophthalmic Lenses
Personalized Lenses: A Measurement System Makes It Work
By Scot Morris, OD
Installing a measurement system is essential to making personalized ophthalmic lenses work in your practice. It greatly improves accuracy in fitting new eyewear, minimizes remakes, and projects a high-tech image to patients. >>READ MORE>>
Staff Management
Staff Retreat: Team Building and Goal Setting
By Yoongie Min, OD
A staff retreat can be a powerful tool to motivate your staff and focus them on setting and fulfilling improvement goals. Careful planning and team-building exercises can make a retreat a measurable success. >>READ MORE>>
Medical Model
Use Drug Samples Selectively for Treatment Plan Success
By Arthur B. Epstein, OD, FAAO
Drug samples can make treatment plans more effective–if we present them as something of value, not as freebies.
>>READ MORE>>
ROB Fast Fact
How Many US Adults Are Planning to Have an Eye Exam Soon?
Some 19.6 percent of US adults said they were planning to have a comprehensive eye examination in the next three months in The Vision Council’s December 2011 Consumer Barometer report. That figure is slightly up from 2010, when 18.9 percent said they were planning to have an eye exam in the following three months.
Click HERE to read more from Review of Optometric Business professional editors Carole Burns, OD, FCOVD, and Mark Wright, OD, FCOVD, on reviewing and improving your recall system to capture more exams.
In Brief
Essilor Rolls Out Online Training Tool for ECPs
Essilor of America has rolled out an online training tool for eyecare professionals (ECPs), created by a leading serious game developer. Launched on April 20, with a Spanish-language version to follow in June, Essilor’s serious game training tool is designed to teach and improve dispensers’ skills for recommending lenses based on patients’ interests, needs and lifestyles.
>>READ MORE>>
Transitions Optical Launches Sight of the Day Photo Contest
As part of its Official Sponsor of Sightseeing (OSS) campaign, Transitions Optical has launched a Sight of the Day Photo Contest to encourage consumers to think about the importance of their vision in their lives. Participants can visit SeeMoreSights.com to upload photos of meaningful everyday moments–along with a brief description–for a chance to win various sight-seeing prizes. Starting with a base $20,000 donation made to Optometry Giving Sight through the Transitions Healthy Sight for Life Fund, an additional 25 cents donation will be added for every photo uploaded to the contest. >>READ MORE>>
ROB Poll Results
Readers Say they Are Just “Satisfactorily Pleased” with Staff
Asked how pleased they are with the performance of their staff, 62 percent of ROB readers said they are satisfactorily pleased saying staff “get the job done, but are far from great.” Thirty-one percent say they are very happy, and that there is only “the tiniest room for improvement” on their staff. Eight percent said they are displeased and that their staff needs “significant help to provide superior patient care.”
