Blessings and Opportunities

Welcome to the September issue of Modern Optometry! Fall is such an exciting time, filled with the back-to-school bustle and, of course, conference season! There are numerous upcoming meetings, from Vision Expo West in Las Vegas to the American Academy of Optometry annual meeting in New Orleans, which are some of our favorites. We are most excited for our second MOD Live meeting in Nashville, which has already grown from last year. Unfortunately, by the time you read this editorial, the meeting will have already passed. If you were able to attend, thank you and we hope you enjoyed it! If you weren’t able to make it, we encourage you to plan on attending next year! MOD Live is truly a unique and exciting meeting with a focus on innovation and OD/MD collaboration, including business perspectives. From education to networking to fun, MOD Live has it all, and we can’t wait for next year’s event!

Let’s switch gears to talk about our modern profession, which is full of blessings and opportunities. As primary eye care providers, we find pleasure in helping our patients see better and feel better, but sometimes in doing so, we need to address ocular and/or systemic conditions they may have—for better or worse. With these blessings, we enjoy and appreciate a great quality of life, both personally and professionally. As awesome and rewarding as our optometric profession is, there will always be the occasional struggles or glitches in our daily practice, such as employee turnover, health care finances, and unsatisfied patients. The question is: How do you address and respond to these different pain points to minimize the effect it can have on your practice?

In this issue of Modern Optometry, we cover the business aspects of optometry to take your practice to the next level. As you read these articles, we want to challenge you to implement some of the pearls provided. Additional points to consider: Are you tracking your numbers? How do you measure patient satisfaction? What are your conversion rates with new technology? In any business, metrics are extremely important, and we need to measure and analyze all aspects of our practice. If you don’t measure it, how can it improve?

Let’s take a sneak peek into the articles in this issue. Have you heard of Lean Six Sigma? Dennis McCafferty, MBA, shares pearls to improve efficiency and profitability in your practice. No matter the size or maturity (new vs established) of your practice, Mr. McCafferty will review aspects of your practice flow that may have been overlooked. If you need tips for branding and promoting your office, check out our roundtable discussion with Ryan Cazares, OD; Hardeep Kataria, OD FAAO; Scott Moscow, OD; and Jennifer Wademan, OD. In this day and age of social media, our contributors provide pearls on attracting new patients as well as keeping existing ones. Need a refresher on coding and billing? Thomas R. Cheezum, OD, CPC, COPC, is a certified professional coder who provides his insights on documentation and coding, which is crucial to accurately billing patient encounters and boosting your profitability. Lastly, there are continuous innovations in technology that improve patient care. Christopher Lopez, OD, will review some newer technologies that advance patient care while improving profitability. Remember, health care is a business, and as long as we always put our patients’ needs first, profitability will follow.

We really hope you enjoy this issue! If you have any pearls or insights that you would like to contribute, please feel free to reach out to us at modernOD@bmctoday.com. We’d love for you to get involved!

Best Regards,
Walt Whitley