New This Week
Shawn Curtner, assistant clinic director, The Ohio State University College of Optometry, involves the school’s optometry students in hosting biannual fashion frame expos in the clinic’s dispensary. The dispensary, which stocks over 2,500 frames, offers around 5,000 frames during the expos, when frame reps present the latest designs. These events, which the clinic has run for five years, generate a week’s worth of business in one day.
>>READ MORE>>
Frames
Overheard in the Dispensary: Patient-Staff Communication Breakdowns and Fixes
By Mark Hinton
Train your optical dispensary staff to hear patients clearly—and to respond to common questions with positive responses that help to serve needs and drive sales.>>READ MORE>>
Digital Strategies
“Grade” How Well Your Web Site Attracts Visitors
By Alan Glazier, OD, FAAO
New web sites offer online tools to measure the effectiveness of your digital communications. Here is the how-to for using these tools. >>READ MORE>>
Diagnostic Instrumentation
Carotid Artery Ultrasound Screening: Add Value to Comprehensive Examinations
By Kathleen M. Andersen, OD
Enhanced instrumentation allows you to scan for early detection of disease. Offering a vascular health screening adds value to your comprehensive eye health exam and expands your scope of practice. >>READ MORE>>
Report on Online B-to-B Communications Available as Download:
“Does Your Eye Care Practice Rely on 19th Century Technology for B-to-B Communications?”
Now available as free download is a white paper report “Does Your Eye Care Practice Rely on 19th Century Technology for B-to-B Communications?” This four-page report on the effectiveness of online B-to-B communications in product ordering and insurance claims processing is based on a recent survey conducted by Practice Advancement Associations through a grant from VisionWeb.
Click HERE to download the report.
More than Half of Independent Optical Retailers Promote Use of Customized Progressive Lenses 
Fifty-four percent of independent optical retailers agreed with the statement, “I promote the use of customized progressive lenses to all my presbyopic patients, including those who currently wear bifocals or trifocals,” according to Jobson Optical Research’s 2010 Premium Lenses MarketPulse Survey. Some 20 percent disagreed with the statement, and 26 percent neither agreed or disagreed.
Click HERE to read more from Review of Optometric Business professional editors Carole Burns, OD, FCOVD, and Mark Wright, OD, FCOVD, on how best to market customized progressive lenses in your practice.
Show Patients How to Keep their Children’s Eyes Safe this Holiday Season
December is Prevent Blindness America’s Safe Toys and Gifts Month. Young children are often described as “accidents waiting to happen.” Too often, accidents do occur and may result in eye injuries, the organization points out. Each year, thousands of children age 14 and younger suffered serious eye injuries, even blindness, from toys. There are three important ways to protect your child’s eyes from injuries when playing with toys: only buy toys meant for their age; show them how to use their toys safely; and keep an eye on them while they play. Click HERE to download a PDF with Prevent Blindness America’s tips and checklist for keeping children’s eyes safe.
JCAHPO Releases Module II of EHR Course
The Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (JCAHPO) launched and demonstrated the Module II of its online Electronic Health Records course. Slated to be available in January 2012 on the ophthalmology e-learning site ACTIONED, module II focuses on training ophthalmic professionals in the areas of Patient Management, Scheduling, Insurance, Billing, and Financial Management and Reporting. The first EHR course module, released by JCAHPO in 2010, focused on training in the fundamentals of an EHR system and navigation of electronic medical records. ” >>READ MORE>>
ROB Poll
Top Office Enhancement Priority: More Display Area in Dispensary
Asked what tops their list of desired office enhancements, 43 percent of ROB readers cited more display area in the dispensary. Twenty-nine percent said they most needed a larger pre-testing area, while 14 percent wanted more exam lanes and another 14 percent wanted a larger reception area, including a children’s play area.
