Cost Efficiency of Electronic Health Records
Scot Morris, OD, of Eye Consultants of Colorado, calculates a $53,000 annual financial advantage of using electronic health records. This includes savings in paper and printer cartridges, and most significantly, savings in staff time. Dr. Morris estimates the cost of using paper records at $3.71 per chart.>>READ MORE>>
Equip Your Practice to See One More Patient per Day
By Jerry Hayes, OD
Equipping your practice to see one more last-minute patient per day may be the best route to profitability. The keys: delegation, instrumentation and increased capacity. >>READ MORE>>
Protect Your Practice Legally When Adding an Associate
By Pamela Miller, OD, JD
Before you add an associate doctor to your practice, take legal measures to safeguard both your interests and those of the new associate. Success in the endmay hinge on reading the fine print up front.>>READ MORE>>
Create a Multicultural Practice to Expand Your Patient Base
By Brian Chou, OD, FAAO
By creating a practice that caters to patients of diverse cultures, you can broaden your reach into the local community. >>READ MORE>>
ROB Fast Fact
Those Most Likely to Buy 3-D Eyeglasses Intend to Spend Less than $50
Those who possibly or definitely will buy 3-D eyewear are most likely only willing to spend less than $50, according to VisionWatch: 2011 3-D Eyewear Study. Of that group, men are more likely than women to be willing to spend more.
In Brief
How Well Are You Educating Parents About Children’s Eye Health?
Prevent Blindness America has named August Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month. The organization points out that children often do not realize they have problems with their vision because they think how they see is how everyone else sees. They learn to compensate with their vision problems without fixing them, which can lead to more problems in school and later in life. Some students are even misdiagnosed as having a learning disability or behavioral problems when they may just have a visual impairment. Eye problems can range from common refractive errors such as nearsightedness and farsightedness, to serious eye conditions including:
Amblyopia or “lazy eye”- the most common cause of visual impairment in children. As the brain develops and receives diminished images from the affected eye, it begins to suppress those images and favor the unaffected eye. If this condition persists, the weaker eye may become useless. Amblyopia becomes more difficult to treat effectively as the child becomes older.
Strabismus or “crossed eyes”– a condition where eyes are misaligned, or do not line up with each other. This problem is caused when the muscles do not work together. Strabismus may eventually lead to amblyopia. Approximately one in 50 children has strabismus.
Prevent Blindness America has created “Star Pupils,” a free program specifically designed to educate parents on what they can do to ensure healthy eyesight for their kids. Parents may visit Starpupils.org and receive free information on everything from common eye conditions in children to tips on how to protect eyes from injury while playing sports. For more information on children’s eye health and safety, call Prevent Blindness America at (800) 331-2020 or visit starpupils.org.
VSP Vision Care Launches Online Video With Tips for Combating Digital Eye Strain
VSP Vision Care is addressing eye strain from use of personal computers, hand-held video games, smartphones and e-readers with a new web video.
According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, children and teenagers (ages 8-18) are spending more than 7.5 hours a day consuming electronic media which can cause blurry vision, difficulty focusing, dry and irritated eyes, headaches, neck pain and back pain. In addition, VSP Vision Care optometrists recently reported that nearly one-third of their patients suffer from symptoms of Computer Vision Syndrome, including eye strain, dry or irritated eyes, fatigue and headaches.
“While digital eye strain is commonly regarded as an adult condition, tech-savvy children are growing up with access to a variety of digital devices and are suffering from the side effects of overuse. With children spending upwards of 1.5 hours texting per day, it’s no wonder their eyes are causing them pain,” says Leanne Liddicoat, OD, a VSP optometrist who stars in VSP Vision Care’s EyeFiles web series. The new webisode, which highlights ways to protect children from CVS, can be viewed on the EyeFiles tab on the VSP Facebook page: www.facebook.com/VSPVisionCare. >>READ MORE>>
ROB Poll: Nearly Half of Practice Web Sites Have Self-Scheduling
Some 48 percent of ROB readers who responded to last week’s poll say they have web sites that allow patients to self-schedule appointments online.
