Archive : Practice Managment

DALLAS – Jan., 2012 – Essilor of America, the nation’s leading manufacturer of optical lenses, today announced the all-new Xperio® Sunwear Conversation training series for eyecare providers (ECPs). The program, which includes a series of webinars, will provide ECPs with continued training on how to talk with patients about the need for sunwear. Xperio lenses are known among ECPs and their patients to deliver superior UV protection, optics and the industry’s most durable polarized lens, allowing wearers to experience the best vision under the sun. Webinars will be offered to ECPs on Tuesday, Feb. 21 and Wednesday, Feb. 22. Content will include how to demonstrate the benefits of Xperio in an impactful way as well as how Crizal SunShield™ can take Xperio to the next level of comfort and protection for patients. Insights on how to medically prescribe Xperio to patients with medical conditions that can impact pupillary function will also be an integral part of the 2012 program. During each live webinar, participants will have an opportunity to win a computer tablet and Xperio with Crizal SunShield complimentary vouchers by correctly answering questions related to the webinar...

LEWISVILLE, TEXAS, (December, 2011) “This is great! I have learned so much already and we aren’t even halfway through!” noted Dr. Brent Shelley in a text message. Doctors and staffers from Dr. Shelley’s practice were among the 200 people from more than 40 practices that participated in The Business of Eye Care Forum© on Thursday November 10th. “This is by far the largest stand‐alone event for eye care professionals in the history of New Mexico,” exclaimed Eric Irons, Territory Sales Manager for HOYA. He continued, “For practices to shut down on a Thursday, drive three hours and join us here is amazing! These practices are really excited about improving their businesses and their offerings to their patients.” Developed and Produced by Cleinman Performance Partners and exclusively sponsored by The HOYA Free‐Form Company, the Forum is a practice leadership university comprised of five programs designed to help independent eye care practices improve their business and patient care. More than 3,000 people have attended a HOYA sponsored Forum in 2011. “Through our continued support of the Business of Eye Care Forum©, thousands of independent practices have a valuable...

LEWISVILLE, TEXAS, (December, 2011) “Thanks for a great day of education and fun! We appreciate your investment in private practice and newest technologies in lenses. We only offer our patients the best. Thanks for helping us make that possible,” said a post from Snoqualmie Valley Eyecare Associates on HOYA’s FaceBook page. Doctors and staffers from Snoqualmie Valley were among the 226 people from 62 practices that participated in The Business of Eye Care Forum©. Developed and Produced by Cleinman Performance Partners and exclusively sponsored by The HOYA Free‐Form Company, the Forum is a practice leadership university comprised of five programs designed to help independent eye care practices improve their business and patient care. More than 3,000 people have attended a HOYA sponsored Forum in 2011. “Through our continued support of the Business of Eye Care Forum, thousands of independent practices have a valuable resource visiting their back yard,” said Barney Dougher, President of HOYA Vision Care. “Mark Mattison‐Shupnik from Jobson is part of the curriculum. His presentation on the impact of free form and patient benefits is just one example of the amazing...

As an independent eye care professional and business owner you don’t always have time to find the best deals for your business. Good deals may be out there but your customers come first, followed by the responsibilities of your business and if you have a family you don’t want to have to show an ID to get in the door. You can get help finding deals that will increase your profits and give you a wide range of services without spending hours searching for them. Many independent eye care professionals don’t know they can get the same deep discounts on purchases, as the chains and franchises, by purchasing through an optical buying group. There are a number of buying groups available and each has their own deal structure and services; this means you need to compare to be able to make an informed decision. First of all, what is an Optical Buying Group? An Optical Buying Group is a 3rd party billing service that uses the purchasing power of its members to negotiate discounts, which allow its members to compete effectively with the big chains and franchises. Some buying groups may not pass the entire discount back to you, so the percentage of discount offered varies between the buying...

August 30, 2011 (RALEIGH, NC)—Optimize, a selection and hiring company, announce s the launch of a new partnership with t wo leading national buying groups–C&E Vision Buying Group and Vision West. C&E and Vision West have signed on to become Optimize’s exclusive partners among buying groups in the eye care industry, beginning August 2011. With a growing US customer base, Optimize offers a complete hiring solution to help eye care professionals select and hire staff more effectively. Their secret? Optimize offers scient ific assessments including: cognitive ability, motivation, personality, and situational judgment tests created by Dr. Adam Grant, an award-wi nning teacher, researcher, and tenured management professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Chief Consultant at Optimize. To tailor their assessments to eye care jobs, Optimize asked employees at over 100 eye doctor offices across the US to take their assessments and then linked employees’ test scores to their actual performance data including sales revenue and supervisor ratings. Dr. Grant and Optimize found that employees who scored high on the scientific assessments generated,...

Wiley X’s new Blue Print provides eye care professionals with the product knowledge, sales information and specific steps they can follow to expand sales in the important industrial safety market.  Designed to help ECPs build a “bullet-proof” profit center — a take on Wiley X’s ballistic eye protection and military heritage — the Blue Print includes an informative white paper and tri-fold brochure designed to look (not surprisingly) like an industrial blue print. This valuable information is available to ECPs for free, as is the support of Wiley X’s team of safety/sales experts. “There are many factors that negatively impact the bottom line of eye care professionals today — Internet sales, managed care reimbursements and the overall economy among them,” said Wiley X Co-Owner Myles Freeman, Jr.  “As experts in eye safety for a quarter century, we see a growing demand on the horizon for state-of-the-art protection in the American workplace.  We believe that businesses and workers will respond to the availability of comfortable, stylish eyewear that still provides the highest level of protection.  Wiley X glasses deliver this and more, and eye care professionals...

San Clemente, CA. June 1, 2011 C&E Vision Services, Inc., a leading national buying group dedicated to Inspiring Profitable Eye Care Practices™, has announced the introduction of its Social Media Center on the member’s only section of its web site.  The Social Media Center will initially include step by step guides for ECP’s to easily create, grow and be successful using their own Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Blog sites for their practices and to take advantage of Social Check-In sites such as Foursquare, as well as a selection of videos that will enable ECP’s to become more familiar with social media generally.  C&E plans to gradually add content to and update the Social Media Center over time and expects that it will become a “go to” social media resources for ECP’s.  Additionally, the Forum section will provide members the opportunity to ask questions about using social media in their practice and to learn from the sharing of other members’ experiences.  The Forum will be moderated by CESSON 3.0, a leading social media and marketing firm to ensure members have access to professional expertise.  Brad Shapiro, C&E Principal stated that “it is imperative...

Welcome to my first C & E blog posting.  As you know, C & E was founded more than 25 years ago as a buying group and remains one of the leading buying groups in the nation.  Together with my partners, Steve Wagner and Harvey Yamamoto, O.D., we have worked tirelessly to create services and programs to assist you and your colleagues in building successful eye care practices.  I am pleased to report that C&E has evolved into so much more than a billing service.  Our core focus today can be grouped into five key areas: Increasing back-office administrative efficiencies Assisting ECPs to adapt to a changing market Offering services to increase patient revenue & traffic Educating practice and staff Responding to margin compression: saving ECPs $$$ In the coming months, together with my partners and colleagues, we will be highlighting the services offered by C & E in each of these areas and we will be inviting your questions and comments.  The first topic we will address is how C & E plans to assist our members with understanding and integrating social medial tools into your marketing and communication programs.  I believe that...

Retailers are smart to focus their time and energy to encourage impulse buying, it is very lucrative business. Savvy retailers use a number of strategies to encourage impulse buying through attractive displays in strategic locations, pleasant sights, smells and sounds in the store and online through web pages that allow shoppers to browse categories of products,  just to name a few.  Entire marketing research studies detail strategies to encourage impulse buying. Impulse buying is defined as unplanned purchases and can range from the pack of gum you throw in your cart at the grocery store checkout to looking at a new car and driving it off the lot and many purchases in between. Best estimates are that about 40% of consumer spending is impulse buying.  The list of the reasons consumers purchase on impulse are feeling good in the moment, social interaction, finding that truly irresistible bargain and many more. The most significant motivation for impulse buying, which accounts for 88% of the impulse purchases, is that the item is on sale. Whether it is a real or perceived sale, consumers like to get a deal.  The impulse purchase of a sale item may or may not have long term benefits....

NORWALK, Conn.—Vision Expo’s innovative business-focused continuing education program is back again this year with the Visionomics program offering ECPs more than 55 hours of courses on managing for profitability and using technology to grow their business. “The value of the continuing education programs offered at Vision Expo East is what sets it apart from other conferences in the field,” said Kirk Smick, OD, FAAO, chairman of the International Vision Expo Conference Advisory Board. “The programs offered provide individuals and practices innovative business strategies that help maintain and grow their business success.” This year’s show offers more than 60 new and exclusive courses. Visit the Vision Expo website for details on CE credit approved classes including business-oriented ABO and/or COPE approved courses. Also new this year to Expo is the Management & Business Academy (MBA) created by CIBA Vision and Essilor and endorsed by the American Optometric Association (AOA). The acclaimed MBA program utilizes quality content and dynamic speakers and will now be available to all eyecare professionals—and their staff—at the show....

During this special time of the year, the entire staff at C&E would like to say: HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We have seen so many of our patients during this past year lose their jobs, cars & homes.  Of Course these events will eventually trickle down to affect everyone sooner or later.  It is our hope that your patient base remains strong for the remainder of this year and well into 2011. Reflecting back on the year, I have some thoughts that I would like to share with my readers.  Our practice located just east of Los Angeles had a very good year for the most part.  June was practically a dead month but from that point on – it was business as usual.  Having things humming everyday is one of my challenges which I have faced for the past 45 years.  It doesn’t seem to get any easier as the cost of staying in practice just keeps getting more costly.  Why?  We love gadgets and hi-tech equipment and thus our world revolves around machinery and equipment.  That is what keeps us going day in and day out, year after year after year.  The main target of our efforts is our patients.  Our patient base has remained loyal for decades and they are pleased to send us their colleagues...

DULUTH, GA—CIBA Vision’s Academy for Eyecare Excellence has expanded the reach of its professional education programs with three new online learning modules, the company said. “We continue to receive outstanding feedback from ECPs and staff members who are utilizing the Academy for Eyecare Excellence e-learning modules,” said Dwight Akerman, OD, FAAO and director of professional affairs & programs for CIBA Vision North America. “In fact, many ECPs have made these e-learning modules the cornerstone of their non-CE education as well as staff training activities,” he added. According to a statement, more clinical content will be added over the next few months to include modules that cover corneal staining, contact lens induced dry eye and lens care. Additional business and management content will also be added and include patient communication strategies, business simulation exercises and guidance on how to maintain patient loyalty. The modules, 16 in all, cover topics both advanced and basic from multifocal soft lens fitting to ocular anatomy and are separately designated for ECPs and staff members who request flexible learning, an announcement said. Each...

NEW YORK—Jobson ECP Business Services has announced an exclusive contract with Long Island, N.Y.-based Baystone Media to provide a new suite of website building services for eyecare professionals. The new service will be called WEBSightNation. WEBSightNation will provide website creation services that will include: monthly hosting, unlimited pages and pictures, unlimited customer support, music and video capabilities, Google map and directions, over 100 customizable designs and many other features—all for no set-up fee and no contract required. Baystone currently hosts, maintains and supports over 7,500 websites in over 50 different health care fields and product markets, 90 percent of which are in the medical industry. The new agreement is effective immediately. WEBSightNation can be used for brand new web sites and can also be an effective option for expanding and enhancing existing practice websites, the companies said. “Our partnership with Baystone Media is yet another example of Jobson ECP Business Services providing the industry with essential tools that will enable the independent ECP to grow and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace,” said Bill...

In the world of retail, one of the most commonly discussed themes is branding. Branding can define the success of a company, and in the world of eyewear, it can help separate you and your practice from the competition. Branding can be defined as marking your practice to differentiate your business from the competition using a specific attitude reflective of your product or service. In short, branding is your promise to your customer. The basic goal of branding is to communicate what your product or service stands for. An outstanding example of this is Nike. Since the creation of the “Just Do It” campaign, Nike has created a virtual athletic empire. As a result of the billions of dollars spent on advertising and marketing, consumers have an emotional connection to the brand and all it represents. One glance at the famous “swoosh” logo gives customers an image performance and innovation. While similar athletic companies have tried to achieve Nike’s level of success, few have reached their level of success. With Nike’s success as an example, it is easy to see the importance of branding. While it is likely you don’t have the assets Nike possesses, it is still possible for...

San Clemente, CA. August 16, 2010 – C&E Vision Services, the leader in buying group web enhanced technology, is launching a cooperative marketing division called LifeStyle Eyecare Centers.  LifeStyle Eyecare Centers is aimed at assisting the independent eyecare professional in marketing, branding and growing a successful practice.  “Our goal is to provide Independent Eyecare Professionals (IEPs) with the tools and resources that are available to large chains and franchises without the expensive costs or commitments,” said David Carneal, Director of Buying Group Relations for C&E Vision Services. The marketing concept behind LifeStyle Eyecare Centers is to assist IEPs in fitting their patients with frames and lenses to meet each LifeStyle activity they engage in their everyday lives, from hiking to cycling, computer work to hobbies.  “We are offering IEPs a series of turn-key marketing campaigns and point of purchase materials designed to increase sales of additional frames, upgraded lenses and coatings to their patients.   The marketing message is clear, one frame or lens does not provide a LifeStyle solution for all consumer eyecare needs,” states Steve...