Monthly Archives: November 2015

Gina Wesley, OD, MS, FAAO of Medina, Minnesota, doesn't just promote Zoria® Boost Mascara with lash intensifying serum, she uses it herself. “It’s a great, go-to everyday mascara. It conditions the lashes, is very good for healthy maintenance and removes easily. It’s been a nice addition to my office and my personal life,” she says.

In the 20 years that Christine W. Sindt, OD, FAAO, director of the contact lens service and clinical associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at University of Iowa, has been working as a contact lens specialist, her views on lid hygiene have evolved, she says.

Kelly Riley, OD, opened her practice cold five years ago in rural Brownfield, Texas. "It was me and one employee" for a while, she recalls. Now she's up to four employees—and a busy patient load. "As we grew, I noticed we were spending a lot of time on the phone. We were calling patients to confirm appointments or to let them know that their eyewear or contact lenses were in. Often, it took multiple calls,” she says.

Janet Mint, OD, had a specific plan when she started her practice cold in 1996. She brought experience from practicing in two ophthalmology offices over the course of 12 years before she set out on her own. “Working in ophthalmology is great,” she says. “You are busy with a lot of patient encounters, and you learn a lot when there are other doctors with whom to discuss cases.” But she says that, in her heart, she knew that she wanted to be independent for the next leg of her career. “I wanted to build equity in a business.”

Rosie Flores, OD, of San Leandro, California, had to give her staff a push to get on board with The Optical Dream^SM when it was first introduced. Now that the staff is in, reaping the rewards and seeing the sales increases, Dr. Flores is telling her Vision Source® colleagues to stop delaying their own implementation.

The decision to buy is based on emotions, says Rebecca Johnson, CPOT, COE, executive director of GPN. When she addressed a packed lunch-and-learn at Vision Expo West, she used her own Tumi backpack as a prime example. Johnson says she loved the look—professional and stylish—and knew that carrying a backpack would not give her the same crick in the neck and shoulder that comes from carrying a heavy purse. But she couldn’t justify the price, she recalls... until the sales representative "made it make sense for me to buy it."

Patients at Progressive Family Eye Care in Plymouth, Michigan, receive reminders to come in for their annual exam and to use their flexible savings dollars before they expire in the months leading to the year's end.

The Bartlesville, Oklahoma, practice that Emily Bussey, OD, purchased in 2010 came with some serious constraints. Even at 1,600 square feet, the practice design was not set up for the busy practice she envisioned.

By Whitney Hauser, OD—Beauty is not a bad word. Here are five ways to accentuate aesthetics and differentiate your practice.