There are a lot of questions you need to ask yourself before planning to open a new practice. The most important one is ‘Why?’
Why would an optometrist want to take on such a difficult feat after years of schooling, residencies, and a myriad of other sacrifices? For Dr. Angelina Gavel-Rukha in New Britain, CT, it was about freedom and the ability to make changes, updates and improvements as needed without waiting for approval from others.
Dr. Rukha believes that with your own practice, you have control of your fate and are independently responsible for your success. Having your own practice allows you to experience new levels of pride in your services and products while also fulfilling your unique vision to serve both your patients and your staff. “There is also the freedom to have the exact work—life balance you want, allowing for more quality time with family and friends,” said Dr. Rukha, owner and founder of Rukha Eye Care.
After identifying the ‘why,’ it’s critical to learn ‘how.’
Changing software can shift the trajectory of your practice’s future, how it operates, and propel you forward. But having the right guidance is key to ensuring you and your team have a positive experience while doing so.
At Eyefinity we understand that learning new software is no easy feat. That’s why we’ve created a fun, efficient, and effective blended-learning experience with the Eyefinity Learning Center.
With a dedicated implementation team throughout your Onboarding journey, your practice will have a support system you can count on and so much more.
One Size Doesn’t Fit All
What works for one practice may not work for yours and that’s okay. Working directly with our implementation team, we’ll create a customized Education Plan designed around your practice’s needs. You’ll also walk-through software setup and utilization training with a team of software experts, many of whom are life-long eyecare professionals and know how to help you build efficient workflows that make sense for your team.
We’re with you Every Step of the Way
Over the years, we’ve found that the key to successful software implementation is ongoing education and accessible resources to help keep you on track. With all the tools you need to thrive, you can count on ongoing support after go-live for successful adoption.
Continuous Education to Further Hone Your Skills
Along with a library full of on demand video tutorials, our Compass Webinar Series, peer-to-peer training opportunities, and Eyefinity Education Conferences, we have a variety of additional training options available for all skill levels and practice roles.
Ready to start your journey with Eyefinity? Click here to download our exclusive “Guide for Selecting the Best Optometric Software” and watch the Conquering Change webinar narrated by Eyefinity’s Director of Education, Rebecca Johnson, CPOT.
In 2003 electronic prescribing (ePrescribing) was introduced as a cheaper, more convenient, and safer way to prescribe medication. It has become an integral part in providing quality care and now several states including Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, and New York have implemented ePrescribe mandates. California and Michigan are next.
So, what does this mean for my practice?
Starting October 1, 2021, for Michigan and January 1, 2022, for California, optometrists, ophthalmologists and other prescribers will be required to send all medication prescriptions electronically. If your practice is currently using paper medication prescriptions, they will no longer meet the Michigan and California Pharmacy Law requirements.
As the eye care industry continues to evolve, we are seeing a shift from traditional paper workflows to smart technology and automation. Whether you are practicing in a state immediately affected by this new mandate or not, we recommend you check your state guidelines. You may need to adjust your office procedures or secure new software in order to comply with these new ePrescribe mandates soon.
How do I comply with ePrescribe mandates using Eyefinity EHR?
We understand how important regulatory compliance is to you and your patients. That’s why Eyefinity EHR has built-in ePrescribe capabilities to help you effortlessly comply with these new mandates. With Eyefinity EHR and a dedicated iPad app, you can effectively manage patients’ prescriptions anywhere, anytime, on any device connected to the internet. Already an Eyefinity EHR user? Click here to learn more.
Why should I prescribe medication electronically?
While it is important for regulatory compliance, ePrescribing also has a few extra benefits for optometry practices:
Securely access patient medication history and receive alerts for potential drug interactions and allergies the patient may have, in real time.
Save patients money with the ability to find and suggest available coupons, while increasing the transparency they have into their out-of-pocket cost.
Make the most informed decision for your patient’s treatment plan with the ability to see what other providers are prescribing with Grand Rounds Medication Assist.
Take the guesswork out of handwritten prescriptions, reduce potential errors and the need for prescription clarifications at the pharmacy.
We understand staying on top of the latest regulations affecting the eyecare industry is no easy feat. That’s why with Eyefinity EHR you can do everything listed above and more, so you can easily comply without any disruptions to your workflow.
Interested in Eyefinity’s cloud-based software? Click here to learn more or call our Account Executives at 1.800.269.3666 option 2.
Four years ago, in July 2017, Megan Douglas joined EYEcenter Optometric as their full-time Marketing Director. Since her arrival, she has managed all marketing and communication for EYEcenter Optometric, a five-location optometry office spread across the Sacramento region in California.
Megan focused her marketing efforts on raising brand awareness, bringing in new business, and retaining customers in the community. “The first few years were a lot of trial and error to see what would resonate with our customers,” she recounts. Their tactics included attending public events, advertising at schools and retirement homes, digital and print advertising, direct mail campaigns, and social media marketing.
Her commitment to elevate EYEcenter Optometric has helped Meghan and the team take a holistic approach to marketing. “It was beneficial that the practice had available resources and foresight for a full-time role dedicated to marketing efforts. Having someone spend time paying attention to messaging and developing our patient communications is huge.”
Megan has worked to create and implement a strong brand identity, relevant content, and regular performance tracking and reporting for the EYEcenter Optometric Team. “They have given me a great deal of trust and have empowered me to do what’s right for the business.” Megan coordinates and meets with her team regularly. “Open lines of communication with management has been crucial; we have worked hard to make sure everyone is on the same page,” she says.
How long is it supposed to take to feel comfortable using optometric practice technology? That was the question Dr. Magdalena Saint-Louis was grappling with since opening her practice in 2018. Dr. Saint-Louis has been an optometrist for over 10 years in South Florida. However, when she opened her own private practice, Real Vision Center, she did not anticipate an 18-month long learning curve with software she thought at the time was the “right” fit for her practice.
In June 2020, Dr. Saint-Louis decided it was time to make a change and began the transition from her original cloud system to Eyefinity’s cloud-based software. Eyefinity Practice Management and Eyefinity EHR are designed to help optometrists grow their business, save time, and increase revenue, which Dr. Saint-Louis has experienced firsthand.
Dr. Saint-Louis said, “I wish I’d know about Eyefinity’s cloud-based software earlier because I would’ve opened my practice with it from the beginning!”
There’s a saying that time waits for no one. Well, neither do disasters like a global pandemic, an earthquake, or a cyber-attack. They strike without an announcement, destroying infrastructure that housed paper records, wiping out or stealing patient data, all while rendering your practice inaccessible for an unspecified amount of time.
Now that may sound dark, but it’s a reality that many businesses have faced, especially in the last year. Uncontrollable events like those listed above, magnify the need for your practice to have an IT Disaster Recovery Plan as well as a trusted software partner—like Eyefinity—to keep your data safe and your practice functioning, even in the worst of times.
What Is an IT Disaster Recovery Plan?
An IT Disaster Recovery Plan is a documented policy or process designed to assist your practice in response to a natural or man-made disaster, protect patient and company information, and promote recovery.
It explains what actions your practice must take before, during, and after a disaster, so that your entire team can stay on the same page. An IT Disaster Recovery Plan should address both natural and man-made disasters such as hacking or equipment failure.
Do I need an IT Recovery Plan?
Private practices are especially vulnerable to cyber and ransomware attacks because many lack dedicated IT staff or adequate computer/network capabilities. This makes them easy targets for email or phishing scams, password breaches, or server attacks.
While disasters are rare and unpredictable, the cost of not having a plan can cast a wide net of consequences. Some of the risks include:
Complete loss of data
Business interruption
Loss of patients
Damaged reputation
Business failure
Can your practice handle any of these risks? If the answer is no, then it’s essential for your practice to build a plan.
How Do I Make an IT Recovery Plan?
Creating an IT Recovery Plan involves considering many “what if” situations and assessing your practice’s vulnerabilities. Before you start making your plan, it’s important to take a step back and evaluate your current systems. Are you using the latest antivirus software and workstations? Do you have multiple copies of your paper files or is your data automatically backed-up to the cloud? When was the last time you upgraded your server?
Having a secure practice means that you are keeping up with updates, equipment upgrades, and ensuring you are frequently backing-up your data. It’s important to be proactive in protecting your practice, but should you ever run into trouble, a basic IT disaster recovery plan should help get you back up and running as quickly as possible. Some of the essential steps include:
Assessing damage: Determine if data was compromised and if so what type (passwords, credit card numbers etc.)
Responding immediately: Change all logins and passwords. Determine if banking information was taken and outline steps to notify financial institutions.
Advising customers, suppliers and anyone else affected: Notify patients and others as soon as you are aware of a breach or disaster through an email, updating your website, or posting a flyer. Provide details of what data was breached, what your practice is doing to rectify the breach, and any actions they need to take.
Performing an audit to determine the scope and vulnerabilities If there is a cyber-attack, determine the source of the breach and any criminal activity that may have occurred.
How Does Eyefinity Protect Your Data?
Unfortunately, disasters do happen. The good news is that Eyefinity is your proactive partner in data security, taking all the necessary steps to reduce risk. With Eyefinity’s cloud-based software you can rely on:
Unlimited cloud data storage on Amazon Web Services that ensures you can securely access your data anywhere, anytime.
24/7 monitoring so that all security patches are covered, greatly reducing the potential for a breach.
Automatic security and regulatory updates, so you always have the latest anti-virus software on Eyefinity EHR and Eyefinity Practice Management.
A sophisticated data backup and recovery process, so if you ever need to recover from a disaster, you can do so as quickly as possible.
Eyefinity EHR’s ENAC Accreditation that recognizes that our software is secure, can maintain data confidentially, and follows industry-established standards and HIPAA regulations.
Disaster prevention is one of the reasons why we are one of the most widely used practice management and electronic health records provider—we give you the tools to get back to mitigate risk and recovery faster.
Interested in learning more about what Eyefinity has to offer? Click here or contact our Account Executives by emailing sales@eyefinity.com or calling 800.269.3666, option 2.
We’ve all experienced contacting a business’ support team, only to enter a maze of pressing buttons and unanswered support chats, ending up with more questions than answers and a lot of frustration. This is not customer care.
At Eyefinity®, we understand what quality customer care looks like. It is a well-coordinated and thought-out support system focused on getting you the help you need as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Our dedicated Customer Care team provides multiple support channels to help your practice succeed including:
This past year, your practice had to overcome a lot and now you may find yourself wearing multiple hats in order to keep things up and running. With new and innovative technologies on the market, now is the time to consider how technology can play a bigger role in supporting your practice and streamlining critical day-to-day tasks.
Eyefinity® Practice Management is designed to help your practice reach your full potential by automating the manual work for you, so you can continue to provide uninterrupted care. With a cloud-based practice management system, you’ll be able to simplify billing, efficiently manage orders, easily connect with patients, and offer online appointment scheduling.
As the only optometric software in the eye care industry with a direct connection to VSP, practices using Eyefinity’s cloud-based software can leverage our exclusive VSP integrations to increase practice productivity.
If 2020 taught us anything, it is to prepare for everything. From a global pandemic to record-setting hurricanes and wildfires, the year saw it all. Not knowing how 2020 would have unfolded, one practice was glad they moved to Eyefinity Practice Management and Eyefinity EHR software. Learn more about how having a disaster plan in place and investing in cloud-based software not only saved the practice money and time but provided the practice owners some much-needed relief during a stressful year.
If you’ve ever researched the differences between server-based and cloud-based software and come up confused, we totally understand. Throw into the mix third-party cloud-hosting and that’s when things really get perplexing. Let’s start by answering the question in simple terms. In a nutshell, server-based, cloud-hosted, and cloud-based refer to how you access your software. The real question, however, is what’s the best choice in today’s environment?
With an unlimited amount of information available online, it can be hard to determine which type of software is right for your practice. We’re going to break down the differences between server-based, cloud-hosted, and cloud-based, so you’ll have a solid understanding of which solution will meet your needs.
