Photo credit: Getty Images New investment for company with ownership of eyecare practices. April 24, 2024 EyeCare Partners LLC, a provider of clinically integrated eyecare, announced it closed a private debt exchange with holders of a majority of its existing term loans, the company announced in a press release posted to Business Wire. In addition, the EyeCare Partners said it plans to launch a public debt exchange offer to remaining lenders, which is expected to further benefit the company through incremental debt discount capture and debt service flexibility. The completed transaction sign ..read more

Photo credit: Getty Images Tools to support promotion of your myopia management services. April 24, 2024 Myopia Awareness Week 2024 is set for May 13-19, and Review of Myopia Management and Brien Holden Vision Institute (BHVI) have officially launched the website for the week-long event. The two main components of the website are the ECP Toolkit and the ECP Clinical Resources, both of which are valuable for practitioners during Myopia Awareness Week and beyond. The ECP Toolkit features a variety of promotional resources for practitioners to show their support of Myopia Awareness Week online ..read more

Photo credit: Getty Images Enacting a protocol to prevent a common method of cyberattack. By Stuart Oberman, Esq. April 24, 2024 Phishing, in which a fraudulent e-mail is sent to an individual or organization to get that person or group to reveal private information, threatens all businesses, including healthcare practices. Here is what you should know, and do, to mitigate this risk to your patient’s private information and to your practice. What’s at Stake for Your Practice? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) settled its first-ever investiga ..read more

Mattei with Julie Helmus, OD, independent practice owner, Helmus Optometry, consultant and CE Lecturer, at Business Builder: Pathways to Success for Modern ECPs presented by Mattei’s company, Akrinos, in NYC March 14, 2024. Part 2 of a two-part series on sustaining cash flow during a consumer spending slowdown. Click HERE to read part 1. By Erich H. Mattei, MBA April 24, 2024 Patients coming into your office these days may be less likely to spend money than they were a year ago. According to a recent Wall Street Journal survey of business and academic economists, recession is highly unlikely ..read more

Eye Specialists of Mid-Florida’s Auburndale office. The practice, which has eight offices, considers ABB Optical Group a critical business partner. An indispensable industry business partner in patient satisfaction and practice growth Sponsored Content By Traci Smith April 24, 2024 When you have an industry business partner that makes it easy for you to wow patients, you stick with them. That’s what we found in ABB Optical Group. Here are the details on how this invaluable resource transformed what we can do for patients in our 8-location, 240-team member practice. A Wide Spectrum of High-Qu ..read more

Two of Dr. Whipple’s support staff members participate in training in one of his two offices. Dr. Whipple says the contact-lens sales training delivered at the beginning of this was a success, but will need to be repeated. Teaching staff a new way of approaching CL sales By Ian G. Whipple, OD April 24, 2024 Staff training is a critical element of any new sales initiative in your office. Here is how we trained our employees to help us provide better service to contact lens patients, and, in the process, greatly increase sales. Specifically, I introduced new training and sales strategies as a ..read more

A group of New York state optometrists gather to advocate for the profession and patients on Capitol Hill. All photos courtesy of AOA. Recap of an important day for professional advocacy for ODs. More than 500 optometrists and students gathered for the American Optometric Association’s AOA on Capitol Hill event on April 15 and 16 to advocate for the profession, according to reporting in Women in Optometry. AOA President Ronald Benner, OD, of Laurel, Mont., says that this is one of the largest groups ever assembled for the event. Dr. Benner, who hands the leadership gavel to Stephen Reed, OD ..read more

Dr. Aworunse with her nephew. Dr. Aworunse says a few key conversations can change parents’ perspective for the better on the value of eyecare, and enable and OD to better care for young patients and grow their practice. By Feyi Aworunse, OD, FAAO August 17, 2022 Engaging parents about children’s vision and eye health can increase awareness about pediatric eye exams and create the opportunity to grow your patient base. This is especially true if your current patients do not realize that your scope of practice includes caring for children. Being in a practice that serves a primarily adult pop ..read more

By Barbra Dey, BSc Optom, COE June 29, 2022 Practices are already facing significant challenges from optical chains and online retailers. Low reimbursements from managed care, along with requirements to sell specific products and use specified labs, can be the final straw for some practices. For that reason, many independent practices are successfully pivoting away from a dependence on managed care. Here’s how to do it so your patients and profitability are not adversely affected. Ask Yourself These Initial Questions What is your mission or value statement? Does seeing a high volume of patien ..read more

Photo credit: Getty Images AI technology to transform how you interact with EHR. April 17, 2024 Barti announced the launch of artificial intelligence (AI) ambient listening and transcription technology in its EHR product to enable hands-free charting for optometrists. Barti says its electronic health records (EHR) and practice management platform is “the first in the optometry industry to deploy native AI-assisted charting.” The introduction of AI into patient charts sets a new standard for efficiency with provider documentation, which currently consumes almost 50 percent of an eyecare provi ..read more