Tag: ZONE-SPOTLIGHT-WO

By Alicia Telega, OD—As I moved from Virginia to Pittsburgh, I was planning the cold start of my practice, Shadyside eye Associates. I had considered purchasing a practice or becoming a partner, but I discovered the best financial decision was to start from scratch to make the business my own. I was up and running for $230,000—half of the price that many doctors were asking for existing businesses that needed lots of TLC and updating and did not include the sale of the building. You can do it right, and you don’t have to cut corners.

For most of her life, Anna Hopkins, OD, of Lancaster, Ohio, suffered from migraines. “A health center doctor in college was the first one who mentioned that certain foods might be triggering the migraines. He told me to keep a food diary, but it took me 20 years to figure it out.”

Rosalyn Coleman, OD, found herself in a variety of practice settings in the five years since her 2010 graduation from Southern College of Optometry (SCO), and each experience took her a step closer to starting her own practice. While that wasn’t her original intention coming out school—she thought she might teach at an optometry school—Dr. Coleman ultimately came home to Atlanta to open Envision Therapy, her vision therapy office.

Whitney Hauser, OD, says that specialization is quite natural in practices with multiple doctors. “Ophthalmology mastered this years ago with cornea, retina and glaucoma specialists electing to practice together. Their cohesion doesn’t water down their specialization,” she says. Even solo optometry specialists can survive and thrive, she says, noting that vision therapists, low vision specialists and sports vision doctors can capitalize on their unique offerings.

Ever since Debby Feinberg, OD, started specializing in neurovisual optometry, she’s received questions and inquiries from prospective patients.

By Kimberly K. Friedman, OD, FAAO—‘Tis the season to be jolly…but how do we do that when we are juggling the demands of the office, the family and the holiday season?

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

Christy Hayes, OD, and Kim Folwarski, OD, were friends during their time at University of Missouri-St. Louis College of Optometry, where they began to talk about opening a practice together.

Odees and the make-school-fun approach of Lake Worth Eye School are the brainchild of Trina Lieske, OD. The eye school is now a part of her practice that she initially opened in January 2006, Vision City of Lake Worth, in Lake Worth, Texas. Here’s how the expansion developed.

Juanita Collier, MS, OD, FCOVD, of Cromwell, Connecticut, opened 4D Vision Gym two years ago, after seeing the demand for vision therapy services in her region. In fact, even as a relatively new practice, she says she’s been very busy. New patients are booked two months out. “I’ll do some primary care for family members of patients. However, due to my waiting list, most of my patients are here for the specialty care I provide, not necessarily primary care.”