We’re happy to announce our second round of gift card winners in the ‘Picture Perfect and Protected Vision with Crizal UV’ contest! Congratulations to our latest winners!
There’s still plenty of time for your practice to enter and win! Find out how here.
Winners include:
Filed under: eBuy | Tagged: Crizal, Crizal UV | Leave a Comment »
New! Boot Camp Fridays Training for OfficeMate
Want a fast and easy way to enhance your OfficeMate skills to help grow your practice? Try Boot Camp Fridays! Choose 1, 2, or all 3 live, web-based classes—just 1 hour each and $59 per class, for individuals or groups. Learn best practices from an expert practice manager and the Eyefinity training team; then try out what you just learned. Learn more and register.
Questions? E-mail OfficeMateTraining@eyefinity.com.
Filed under: best practices, Education, EMRs | Leave a Comment »
Last night, VSP and the AOA sat down for an informative 90-minute discussion about the inclusion of stand-alone vision plans in the Insurance Exchanges. VSP remains concerned that the AOA has no plans for assuring optometry’s access and parity in healthcare reform.
Watch the video below where Dan Mannen, OD, FAAO, shares his concerns about “putting the fox in charge of the hen house and place our future in the hands of health plans that routinely discriminate against our profession, blocking our access and paying us less for like services.”
If you missed last night’s discussion, you’ll still be able to watch a recording the video here later today: http://vspprovesit.com/healthcare
Curious about the issues? Find out more below (sourced from http://www.vspprovesit.com/healthcare-issues)
If the Exchanges move forward as structured, private practice eye doctors will have to provide care to their patients through health plans.This new structure could lead to a variety of unintended consequences for both patients and their eye doctors.
Filed under: AOA, healthcare reform, Industry news, Uncategorized, VSP | Leave a Comment »
Congratulations to our first round of gift card winners of the ‘Picture Perfect and Protected Vision with Crizal UV’ contest!
There’s still plenty of time for your practice to enter and win! Find out how here.
Winners include:
Dr. Cecille Taylor
Arlington Vision Care
Optometry at Redwood Shores
Cumberland Hill Vision Care
Dr. Robert Deck
Dr. Jay Bosco
San Ramon Family Optometry
Potter and Haroldson Optometry
Dr. Scheffels Eye Care Center
Contact Lens Gallery & Designer Eyewear, Inc.
Jansen Optical
Filed under: eBuy, Uncategorized | Tagged: Crizal, Crizal UV | Leave a Comment »
Since 2007, there has been a 650% increase in adults buying their eyewear online in the United States. Many of those consumers buying eyewear on the internet are probably your patients. As an independent eyecare professional in a changing market, what are you doing to compete with this expanding group of online optical retailers?
Leonard Hampton, OD
Many independent eyecare professionals have already opened their own eStore, including Dr. Leonard Hampton, who has practiced optometry for 29 years at Memphis Family Vision in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Hampton recently sat down with us to discuss his recent decision to open an eStore. Initially apprehensive and skeptical, everything changed when he learned that an eStore could keep patients in his practice and money in his pocket.
Q: What methods do you use to market your practice?
A: We’ve used traditional marketing techniques, such as give-aways, trunk shows, and other events. We recently tested the social media waters with Facebook and Twitter, and have more than 500 Facebook “Likes” and more than 20 Twitter followers. I’m not a “Facebooker,” but I recognize the value of having an online presence where so many people today connect and shop.
Q: Why did you consider opening an eStore?
A: Patients were walking out the door with their prescriptions and buying contacts and eyewear elsewhere, and we didn’t have a solution. We’d heard about eStores, but to be honest, I’m “old school” and it felt weird even thinking about having an online store!
Q: What steps did you take to learn more about eStores?
A: A trip to SECO in March changed everything. The turning point for me was learning from an eStores representative how an eStore could address our problem, how easy it was to set up, and that it was free because I already had an eWebExtra site.
Q: Can you describe your experience setting up your eStore?
A: It was fast and the easiest thing we’ve done in a long time—truly a no-brainer! Eyefinity did a great job helping us set it up and showing us how it worked. We started receiving contact lens orders immediately. Also, the prescription validation process is easy and straightforward.
Q: How are you marketing your eStore?
A: There’s an eStore link on our eWebExtra site and we advertise it on our business cards. Now, when patients ask for their prescription, I let them know they can buy online from our eStore. It’s not a high-pressure sale—we’re just letting them know they have a new option.
Q: Are the opticians in your dispensary directing patients to your eStore to see more frame options?
A: Yes, and if patients don’t find what they need, we ask them to come back for more help.
Q: What would you tell your peers about your experience offering patients online options to connect with your practice?
A: Having an eWebExtra site is phenomenal. It’s one convenient place for patients to download forms, link to Facebook and Twitter, and shop using our eStore.
# # #
If you’re an eWebExtra customer, opening your eStore is free, fast, and easy. Get started now, and you can be open for online business in less than 30 minutes.*
If you’re not an eWebExtra customer, sign up now so you can reap the rewards like Dr. Hampton. Questions? Contact an eStores customer support expert at 855.393.2664.
*eStores are exclusive to VSP® practices at this time.
Filed under: best practices, eStore, eStores by Eyeconic, Eyeconic, online optical, Optometry, product news, SECO, technology, testimonials | Leave a Comment »
It’s important for your patients to take care of their sight 365 days a year, including protecting against harmful UV rays. UV rays can cause accelerated eye aging, wrinkles around your eyes, and have contributed to millions of cataract surgeries every year. Check out the video below on how UV rays can affect your eyes all year long.
UV rays are everywhere and are reflected off many surfaces. In fact, 40% of all UV exposure occurs when you’re not in full sunlight. That’s why Crizal® No Glare lenses designed a new generation of lenses to protect your patients’ eyes from harmful UV light coming from the back side of the lens, ensuring their visual health over time. Watch the “Complete story about UV” video below to learn more.
Crizal is the only No-Glare range on the market offering the most complete protection against the invisible and often irreversible dangers of UV reflection, and the best enduring clarity of vision by fighting the five enemies of clear vision—glare, scratches, smudges, dust, and water. See how!
Starting today, your office can enter to win weekly prizes through the Picture Perfect and Protected Vision with Crizal UV contest through Eyefinity!
How to Enter
Eyecare professionals must register here for the contest to be eligible to win. All registrants will be put into one of four groups based on orders placed at eyefinity.com in 2011. You’ll receive an e-mail with your group name and the average number of Crizal orders for your group.
How to Win
Beginning today through July 31, 2012, weekly prize winners (one office from each group) will be announced and one lucky grand prize winner will be announced at the end of the contest. Registered practices will earn points based on the lenses they order: one point for Crizal® Alizé® and Crizal EasyTM and two points for Crizal Sapphire UVTM, Crizal Avancé UVTM and Crizal SunShieldTM.
Weekly Drawing Prize: $25 Best Buy® Gift Card
Earn entries into a weekly drawing based on the Crizal lenses your office orders at eyefinity.com. You’ll receive the same number of entries into the drawing as points listed above.
Grand Prize: Canon Powershot ELPH 300 HS Digital Camera
The office from each group that earns the most points from ordering Crizal lenses at eyefinity.com, will win a Canon Powershot ELPH 300 HS Digital Camera.
Learn and Earn!
Take the Crizal UV Advanced Product Training Course and earn 5 bonus points!
Filed under: eBuy, Education, Eyefinity, product news, Uncategorized | Tagged: AR coating, Crizal, Crizal UV, no glare lenses | Leave a Comment »
James Kirchner, OD
2012 is a very important year from an EHR meaningful use incentive perspective. A year that should not be ignored if you have plans to move into a certified EHR system and get the most incentive money possible from Uncle Sam. Under the HITECH act, 2012 is that last chance to get the full $44,000 under the Medicare meaningful use program. Here’s how it works.
The HITECH incentive plan began January 1, 2011. On that date, CMS began the meaningful use program under the first of three stages. In Stage 1, which is the easiest of the three stages, an eligible provider (both optometrists and ophthalmologists are EPs in the Medicare program) can fulfill meaningful use for 90 days in their first year. If that is accomplished in either 2011 or 2012, an eyecare professional is qualified to receive a potential $44,000 (depending on your annual Medicare Part B allowable billings) over the length of the incentive program, with the first year check of $18,000.
If for whatever reason, you fail to get your first year accomplished in 2012, you will automatically lose $5,000 in potential incentive money. Realize this means that you must start your 90 days of meaningful use no later than October 1, 2012. If you miss that date, you have missed fulfillment in 2012 and must wait for 2013.
Another HITECH bonus for getting it done in 2012 is that CMS has just announced that Stage II meaningful use will not begin until 2014 rather than 2013. That means you will have two years to fulfill meaningful use under the easier Stage I. For those of you who were successful in 2011, you have three years of fulfillment under Stage I.
There is no reason to wait. At Eyefinity, we have our certified suite of OfficeMate/ExamWRITER v10 ready for you. In fact we already have thousands of offices using the certified version and we are proud to say that in 2011 nearly 1,000 of our customers fulfilled meaningful use, almost twice as many as our competitors. We have a full training program and a powerful meaningful use knowledge base on our website at eyefinity.com.
So don’t wait any longer. Do yourself and your practice a favor by moving into the modern world of EHR. You will never regret the move and your pocketbook will be the proof. Don’t run the risk of someday looking back and saying, “if only I had…”
- James K. Kirchner, OD
Chief Professional Officer, Eyefinity
Filed under: best practices, EMRs, HITECH, meaningful use | Tagged: ARRA, healthcare reform, HITECH Act, Meaningful Use, stimulus money | Leave a Comment »
There is no disputing that digital lens technology offers patients the ultimate in customized eyewear, tailored for their unique visual needs and lifestyle. Some eyecare professionals have found digital lens or “free form” lens technology to be difficult to dispense, but now there a simple solution available: UNITY® Performance Optics.
VSP Optics Group originally launched UNITY Performance Optics in March of 2011, and beginning today, they are expanding the portfolio with the introduction of premium digital progressive and single vision, wrap and computer vision lenses. The new products give eyecare professionals even more choice in digital products that are easy to dispense, offering the latest technology and value without compromise.
Using advanced lens design and state-of-the-art processing technology, UNITY lenses deliver quick adaption and high patient satisfaction. That satisfaction is a result of an unmatched quality verification process in which every UNITY lens produced is digitally mapped to ensure the lens design produced matches exactly what the doctor and laboratory intended.
The new products include: UNITY PLxtra is a VSP “O” category digital progressive lens in five fixed fitting heights from 12mm to 20mm with position-of-wear design customization.
UNITY PLxtreme is the UNITY progressive lens solution for wrap frames.
UNITY SVxtra is a customized, digital single vision lens solution compensating for the patient’s individual position-of-wear measurements.
UNITY SVxtreme is the ideal single vision performance lens choice for patients with high wrap frames.
UNITY CVx is the perfect solution for patients that spend more than two hours per day in front of a computer, tablet or smartphone, as they offer optimal vision and comfort in the near and intermediate viewing area. They are the perfect match for patients with jobs or hobbies that utilize high levels of near and intermediate vision. CVx lenses are also simple to dispense and only require the patient’s distance prescription and reading addition power.
UNITY PLxtra, PLxtreme, SVxtra and SVxtreme all offer position-of-wear precision, delivering a customized prescription that gives patients even greater personalization and visual clarity by compensating for frame wrap, pantoscopic tilt, and back-vertex distance.
Watch the video below to learn more about UNITY lenses and what ECPs are saying about them.
UNITY products are available to all eyecare professionals and patients (including ordering through Eyefinity) and UNITY lenses are available in virtually all materials. Additionally, VSP practices can maximize their revenue and receive up to $25 in UNITY Savings on each qualifying VSP claim. Designed to support VSP practices, the UNITY Savings program lets VSP providers exclusively receive $10 for each UNITY progressive lens dispensed to a VSP patient. They can then earn an additional $10 for adding UNITY Performance Coatings and another $5 for adding Transitions.
Learn more about the benefits of dispensing UNITY and how to maximize your revenue at the brand new VSP Optics Group web site.
Filed under: eBuy, Industry news, private practice, product news, testimonials, trade shows, Uncategorized | Tagged: customized lenses, digital lenses, free form lenses, private practice, UNITY lenses, UNITY Performance Optics, VSP | Leave a Comment »
Looking for a fast and easy way to enhance your OfficeMate skills to increase office efficiencies and grow your practice? If so, Boot Camp Fridays are for you!
From the award-winning Eyefinity® training team, Boot Camp Fridays offer one hour of live, hands-on training on using OfficeMate software in the cloud.
Convenient: 3 different webinars every Friday, all focused on topics that show the relationship between set-up, patient flow, and back office. 30 minutes of in-depth instruction and 30 minutes of hands-on practical experience. No travel expenses, and no time away from the office! Start times: 7:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., and 12:30 p.m., Pacific time.
Fun: Energetic and highly interactive—connect with the instructor and your peers!
Affordable: Just $59 per class—one low price for individuals or groups.
Variety: New topic and new classes every quarter. Classes start April 6, 2012.
Register now for 1, 2, or all 3 at www.officemate.net/bootcamp.aspx
Questions? E-mail OfficeMateTraining@eyefinity.com.
Filed under: Business Essentials, Education, private practice, Uncategorized | Tagged: Education, training | Leave a Comment »
Have you ever wanted to check your appointment schedule from home or from a coffee shop or review patient notes conveniently at home? Thought about using an iPad in your exam room to improve your patients’ perception of technology in your practice? Now you can. Eyefinity® today announced that it supports use of OfficeMate/ExamWRITER on the iPad. 
Using an iPad allows the eyecare professional to enter information right into their practice management or electronic health records system as they talk with the patient rather than turning away to use a laptop.
Through the offering, clients will be able to use their iPad to access a computer running OfficeMate/ExamWRITER in their practice through a remote desktop protocol (RDP) app. For more information, visit the Eyefinity booth (#1857) at the 2012 International Vision Expo East. OfficeMate/ExamWRITER clients can login at www.officemate.net/ipad.aspx to learn more.
Filed under: best practices, Education, EMRs, Eyefinity, Industry news, Optometry, private practice | 3 Comments »
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