Health 2.0: The Increasing Velocity of Healthcare Technology

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Steve B.

Steve Baker, President of Eyefinity

I had the pleasure of attending a thrilling, three-day conference in San Francisco organized by the Health 2.0 community. Health 2.0 is a clever play on words, signaling the combination of Web 2.0 technologies and the latest advances in healthcare and wellness. The Health 2.0 movement is at the directional forefront of health care, and is often viewed as the bellwether for things to come. The conference was widely attended with over 7,000 attendees from all over the world. Participants from North America, Europe, South America, and even Australia attended the lectures and packed the exhibit hall and panel discussions.

The healthcare space is moving at a startling and increasing velocity, seeking to efficiently solve such critical problems as consumer engagement and communication, predictive modeling, and early diagnosis and prevention. Health 2.0 tracks about 2,100 companies across 20 categories. So, what are the fastest moving categories? The fasted are patient/provider connectivity and clinician-workflow tools. An honorable mention goes to personal-sensor monitoring, which is swarming with small startups clamoring to bring creative approaches that link together your personal health condition through your smart phone directly to your primary care physician. Cool stuff!

As I consider optometry, I can’t help but think about how far we have yet to go as an industry. Primary care is moving at a furious clip. It’s important to monitor key trends, but equally (if not more so), it’s critical that the optometric community begin to embrace the new world of consumer engagement in healthcare. Eyefinity is positioned well for this new world, with solutions like eWebExtra and our practice management platforms. The next few years will be very interesting as healthcare delivery models evolve, and the growing impact of true consumer engagement begins to make its formidable imprint on how these delivery systems provide health and wellness at a competitive cost. Stay tuned!

Do you have questions or comments? Call or write. I’d love to hear from you!
—Steve

Health 2.0 logo

Filed under: Industry news, technology, Uncategorized | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

Succeeding in Sacramento: The Eyefinity Story

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Webmaster
Succeeding in Sacramento

Eyefinity president, Steve Baker, tells a local business group about Eyefinity’s culture and success.

Eyefinity president, Steve Baker proudly shared the story of Eyefinity during the recent MedStart Connect Mixer hosted by the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance (SARTA) in Eyefinity’s hometown of Sacramento. Ranging from start-up medical device companies and venture capitalists to biomedical researchers, clinicians and regulatory affairs experts, MedStart, a SARTA initiative, connects a wide variety of medical technology and biomedical resources in the Sacramento region. SARTA is a not-for-profit organization that was founded in 2001 to accelerate the growth and development of technology companies and the technology sector in the Sacramento region.

SARTA’s vision is to develop the Sacramento region into a nationally recognized center of technology and technological innovation, as evidenced by a significant number of technology companies growing, developing, and prospering in the region.

During September’s mixer, several medical technology companies from throughout the Sacramento region shared personal stories with attendees about medical technology innovations, start-up challenges, and milestones achieved. Eyefinity was specially recognized for “succeeding in Sacramento,” and during his presentation, Steve shared a light-hearted glimpse into who Eyefinity is and Eyefinity’s part in helping to fulfill a vision of enabling millions of people see better through innovation. Steve also talked about the company’s growth in 2012 and the hard-working, fun-loving nature of Team Eyefinity.

You can read more about the SARTA mixer in the Sacramento Business Journal.

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Planning to Qualify for a 2012 Federal Incentive Payment?

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Webmaster

You must begin 90 days of meaningful use by October 3, 2012! Follow this step-by-step checklist to ensure you’re on track.

Upgrade

Visit myinstallcenter.officemate.net to upgrade to OfficeMate/ExamWRITER® v10, the certified, complete EHR system.

Upgrade as soon as possible to ensure you’re up and running well before the October 3, 2012, deadline to start demonstrating meaningful use.

Review the Hardware & System Requirements to ensure you meet or exceed the minimum hardware and system.

If your hardware doesn’t meet software requirements, contact trusted OfficeMate Certified Partners, North Shore Computer or Think Smart to assist.

Register

Register on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) website by October 3, so you’re ready to demonstrate meaningful use.

Train

Visit the Meaningful Use Resource Center for intuitive resources to quickly get you up and running with v10, and help you understand how to achieve meaningful use.

Don’t miss our Ask the Expert session on meaningful use this Thursday, September 27. Submit your meaningful use questions and listen to what other people are asking. Register now!

Fulfill

Fulfill the mandatory 90 days of meaningful use (October–December 2012).

Use the Meaningful Use Reporting Calculator in ExamWRITER, under the Reports menu, for real-time calculations, and to measure and obtain feedback on your progress.

Collect

Check the Attestation User Guide on the CMS website for the complete attestation process.

Be one of thousands of ODs in the country to qualify and receive your stimulus payment—by using the industry leading EHR system.

Filed under: HITECH, meaningful use | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Vision Expo West Recap

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Webmaster
Eyefinity Booth

The Eyefinity booth showcases a variety of technologies tailored specifically for eyecare professionals.

With Vision Expo West barely in the rear view mirror, we wanted to take an opportunity to say thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth. Attendees make VEW a fun and exciting show, and it’s always a pleasure to meet eyecare professionals who are willing to share their thoughts and experiences with us.

Live Chat

The live chat with customer care stations enable clients to ask support questions about our products.

If you didn’t get a chance to visit the Eyefinity booth, here’s a brief rundown of what you missed and a few photos to whet your appetite for the next show. Visitors were treated to demos of the latest versions of OfficeMate and ExamWRITER, eStores, ECR Vault, the EyeXam iPhone app, and otto—the one-touch-to-optical iPad app. Clients who required technical assistance or training could connect directly (and visually) with customer care representatives, who could explain how to resolve issues or call the office to troubleshoot problems. The live chat with customer care has become a popular fixture in our booth. Finally, visitors  who attended theater presentations learned about a variety of topics including meaningful use, EyeXam, how to increase revenue by 10%, and AcuityLogic—the next generation practice management solution.

Booth Theater

Theater attendees could learn about a variety of topics within the Eyefinity booth.

If you weren’t able to make it to our booth at VEW, that’s okay. Check us out at future eyecare shows. We’re bound to have plenty of new things to show you.

Filed under: trade shows, Vision Expo | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

Eyefinity Kicks Off Vision Expo West with a Preconference Event

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Webmaster

Eyefinity got a jumpstart on Vision Expo West by offering an informative training session to a capacity crowd. The theme of FOCUS 2012 was “Embracing the “i” Craze.”

20120905-231538.jpg

Attendees were still filing in when FOCUS 2012 opened.

The objective of the event was to highlight many of the technological advances that are going to change the healthcare industry in general and the eyecare industry in particular. For example, eyecare practices are demanding more of their practice management and EHR software, moving from client-based to web and mobile-based solutions, and requiring more interoperability to share information with other practitioners.

So, too, are patients demanding more of their healthcare providers, seeking mobile solutions, and requiring more accessible healthcare data. Furthermore, cheap, direct-to-consumer options are enabling patients to buy their eyewear and contact lenses online.

In addition to market forces, the government is pushing patents to be more accountable for their own health, to take better care of themselves, and invest in preventative medicine. The confluence of these pressures is requiring us to reimagine healthcare and remove the silos between providers and disciplines. Technology can help us do that.

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Dr. Daniel Kraft outlined some of the implications mobile technology has on eyecare practices and the medical industry.

Dr. Daniel Kraft, the keynote speaker, explained that we can only make these things happen by embracing technology. The proliferation and ubiquity of mobile devices and the unique and specialized apps that are developed for them will be a benefit to healthcare. Soon we will see healthcare providers prescribing apps in addition to, or in place of, medications. Apps like a mobile EKG can monitor heartrate, a pedometer can record the number of steps taken in a day and measure exercise, and mobile diagnostic equipment that plugs into the mobile device can measure all manner of diagnostic medical information. All of which can send data back to the healthcare professional for review.

This sounds like fanciful stuff, but the technology is available today. As you can imagine this flood of data will be overwhelming, so it will be increasingly important to be able to sort and visualize changes in measurements over time. Dashboards that can sift through and display data visually will become more important as more data pours in.

FOCUS 2012 Panel

The FOCUS 2012 panel discussed technologies that practices could leverage today.

Not everything at FOCUS 2012 was reminiscent of an H. G. Wells novel. The next segment was a lively panel discussion about using technology in the eyecare practice. The panel consisted of Warren Meyers, Nikki Iravani, OD, and Ryan Wineinger, OD. The panel covered many topics, but the questions focused on leveraging social media. Some titbits of advice on social media included the following:

  • Focus on a few, select social media outlets. Don’t try to hit them all.
  • Solicit your patients for reviews on Yelp and Google Places.
  • Don’t delete unfavorable reviews. Potential patients are looking for authentic information about your practice and will turn away if they sense that the reviews all came from your friends and family.
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Attendees were also given hand-on demonstrations of mobile apps that are available to patients and practices today.

Finally, attendees were given an opportunity to test EyeXam and otto, two new mobile technologies that you and your patients can use today.

If you know someone who attended the event, ask them about it. We hope to see you at FOCUS 2013. In the meantime, swing by the Eyefinity booth at VEW.

Filed under: Eyefinity, FOCUS 2012, mobile technology | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Ask the Expert Classes on Meaningful Use

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Webmaster

Today’s blog article is written by Shari H.  Shari is an OfficeMate Implementation Consultant working remotely in North Carolina.

Eyefinity offers a wide variety of resources to help you successfully complete and attest to meaningful use using OfficeMate/ExamWRITER. For example, our Meaningful Use Starter Kit includes short videos, check lists, and instructions that describe each measure, any exclusion, and how to complete the measure. But sometimes you need additional advice, or perhaps your practice is in a peculiar situation regarding meaningful use. If you feel like you could use additional guidance, we have a class for you!

We’ll be offering a special meaningful use edition of our Ask the Expert classes. There will be three sessions available on the following dates and times:

  • Friday, August 31, 2012 at 10 a.m. ET
  • Wednesday, September 12, 2012 at 3 p.m. ET
  • Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 10 am ET

The Meaningful Use Ask the Experts class will answer your questions on what you need to do to meet the requirements for attestation in 2012. The presenters of this class have taught hundreds of ECPs to successfully demonstrate meaningful use to collect thousands of dollars in payments with OfficeMate/ExamWRITER.

The Ask the Expert series has been very successful in helping our clients answer specific questions in all areas of the program such as examinations, billing, and inventory. We know that you have questions. These classes give you a chance to ask them and speak one on one with an expert. Many clients have attended these sessions just to listen to what other clients are asking. This is your time, your forum, your questions.

This special class was created to take the scariness out of attestation. Doctors and practice managers will benefit greatly from attending one of the scheduled meaningful use sessions. The class has been scheduled with your convenience in mind. 24 hour advanced registration is all that is needed. You may submit up to three questions upon registration. The format will be an open forum (45 minute to 1-hour sessions).  If no questions have been submitted the presenters will review the meaningful use resources available.

Register for an Ask the Expert—Meaningful Use session:

  1. Go to officemate.webex.com.
  2. Click the Training Center tab.
  3. Click the Daily tab.
  4. Use the calendar within the Daily tab to move to your desired session date.
  5. Click the Register link on the right side of the session in which you want to enroll.
  6. Enter your contact Information.
  7. Click Register.

We hope that you will take advantage of this Ask the Expert class on meaningful use. As always, we welcome your feedback

Filed under: Education, meaningful use | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Previewing Vision Expo West

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Webmaster

Today’s post comes from Kevin Kane, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing:

Kevin Kane, EVP of Sales and Marketing

I’m really excited about my first Vision Expo event as part of the Eyefinity team. We’re eager to meet with you and hear your views regarding some of the evolving dynamics confronting the eyecare industry and sharing how Eyefinity programs, products, and services can benefit and grow your practice. Even if you’re already using an Eyefinity product, we have a lot more to share with you this year.

If you’re planning on heading to Vision Expo West next week, I encourage you to visit Eyefinity in booth #14064 and let us show you how you can increase your revenue by 10% or more annually with Eyefinity products and services. If you’re already within the Eyefinity fold, we’ll show you how to build on your existing Eyefinity practice management system to take your practice to the next level.

This is your opportunity to experience all Eyefinity has to offer. Attend free, daily theater presentations in the booth, participate in demos with knowledgeable members of our team, and attend our Power Session on increasing your revenue in the VSP Global® booth. Learn how the tools available to you can generate real income and real savings to your practice in attracting more new patients, reducing no shows, keeping money you have earned in the practice, and reducing the burden on the office staff. These are sound ideas that are not hard to implement and that work!

Eyefinity has been hard at work developing and enhancing our product portfolio with you in mind. Patient management just got easier with eWebExtra™/OfficeMate® integration, enabling your patients to schedule appointments online and download forms from youreWebExtra website prior to their appointments.

We also have a cutting edge and highly successful mobile app called EyeXam, one of the most popular health-related apps available. We’ll even be previewing some new enhancements coming to our most popular practice solution, OfficeMate/ExamWRITER®.

You also won’t wan to miss taking advantage of these great show specials*:

  • Order the latest version of OfficeMate/ExamWRITER v10 or an ExamWRITER upgrade to your existing OfficeMate license, and receive 20% off new license fees on software purchases.
  • Order ePrescribing and have your set-up fees waived (a $200 value). 0% financing program (cannot be combined with 20% off license fee or ePrescribing offer).
  • Sign up for eWebExtra and get free website setup services and an eStore, an online extension of your dispensary.
  • Sign up for EyeXam and receive exclusive show pricing.

*Valid only on orders placed at Vision Expo West.

We’ll see you at VEW!

Filed under: eBuy, EMRs, eStore, Optometry, private practice, product news, Uncategorized, Vision Expo, VSP | Leave a Comment »

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