Power Hour Optometry

Corneal reshaping is probably the most profitable thing an OD can do - yet very few doctors offer this to their patients. Learn how you can add this life changing modality to your practice from Nick Despotidis, OD - the OD corneal reshaping practice building guru!

Are you ready for ICD 10 and Meaningful Use 2? Industry expert Dr. Ian Lane tells you all you need to be prepared, where to go for information and some other great tips to be prepared for this VERY important looming change.

When is the right time to hire a consultant for your practice? What should you look for in a consultant and how does their program work? Learn this and more on this important episode. MVP athletes use coaches. Should you?

The eight biggest doctor alliances and buying groups join the show. Learn about the COGS savings, education and preparing for Obamacare on this very important special 1.5 hour episode!

If a sales rep leaves behind a pen or post-it notes on Monday, and for whatever reason you start prescribing more of their drug on Tuesday, are you in violation of this new regulation? Are you required to keep track of how much the lunch with your contact lens rep costs and if you don’t, is there a penalty? What if the lunch was $9 vs. $20? What if that lunch is a buffet at your state meeting and during that meeting, you walk through an exhibit hall and pick up a pen. Is that a problem? The Sunshine Act is addressed by two industry veterans from Alcon and Vistakon. Even if you do something as seemingly benign as attend an industry sponsored CE event, you should listen to this show to learn about this important new law.

What's the straight story about prescribing supplements for your patients? Which ones should you use, are they safe, what if patients are already taking something else? Get answers to these and other questions as experts from Zeavision and Macuhealth discuss and debate the topic.

Veterinarians and OD's have much more in common than you might think. Both complain about too many schools graduating too many doctors, undervaluing services, interference from Internet sellers and a host of other striking similarities. Join Clint Lewis, President of Zoetis (formerly Pfizer Animal Health) as he discusses how vets are dealing with these challenges and Gary relates it all to an OD's world.

EyeFinity President Steve Baker gives and EHR update and discusses the cloud, meaningful use 1 and 2, the intersection of EHR with social media and other important topics. He's joined by Dr. Ryan Wineinger, a practicing OD and consultant for EyeFinity EHR.

What are the biggest challenges and opportunities facing new OD's? Hear our special "Live from Vision Expo West, Las Vegas!" show. Special guests are new OD's, students, married OD's, and special industry guests from Essilor, VSP and Vision One.

Dr. Art Epstein talks optometric politics and gives an insightful opinion about our future. He also answers questions about if he thinks there are too many OD schools, talks about Obamacare and his view on vision care plans.

Are you liable if a patient refuses dilation? What's the best way to avoid an insurance company audit? Do HIPAA regulations allow you to email your patients? Optometrist/Attorney Craig Steinberg joins the show and answers these questions as well many others from our listeners.

Why do female OD's make less than their male OD counterparts? Are male OD's greater risk takers than female OD's? Hear Maureen Cavanagh give her opinions about the gender gap in optometry. Maureen is the President of Nassau Lens and an experienced industry veteran. She offers up some very interesting insights on this important topic.

Google glass in a contact lens? Accommodating contact lenses for presbyopia? Glaucoma drops in a contact lens? PhD, polymer chemist and engineer Lynn Winterton joins the show to discuss these and other innovations in contact lenses. He's the holder of 54 US contact lens related patents so he's got a great handle on where contact lens technology is headed!

EyeMed's John Lahr, OD, Liz DiGiandomenico (President) and Greg Hare talk about their new business model and answer your questions about the new contract, why they are sending reminders to get an eye exam to your patients, billing medical vs. vision and lots of other important topics.

WellPoint/1-800-Contacts joins the show. Richard Hom, OD, and Vision Services President Jeff Spahr discuss coordination of care and the 1-800 benefit for WellPoint members.

Think About Your Eyes - should you participate? Learn about the research and results behind the program and decide for yourself. It's arguably the biggest direct to consumer marketing campaign in eye care. Should you be a part of it?

The HIPAA Police really ARE coming! Healthcare attorney Susan Orr joins the show and talks about what you need to know to protect yourself from what could literally put you out of business with a stroke of the pen. Can you text your patients? Send them postcards? Use a sign in sheet? Do you have to lock up patient files? Tune in and find out.

Learn how to make your office green. CEO of MODO frames, Pierre Fay, discusses techniques you can use to make your practice green, the size of the green market and why being green is a great way to position your practice.

If you have any pictures on your website or Facebook page, you HAVE to listen to this episode. Intellectual property attorney Jim Astrachan discusses the proper way to use images on your site (including using pictures of patients or staff), safeguards to avoid violating copyright laws when playing music in your office, legal issues around practice names as well as lots of other GREAT information!

NFL Coach, Bill Davis, Defensive Coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles shares his secrets for building a great team, dealing with "irreplaceable" Prima Donnas and lots of other useful information you can use to build YOUR All Pro team!

Gary shares his special technique for selling second pairs of glasses, to about 30% of your patients - with NO discounts! Hear very easy to use by step directions to instantly increase your bottom line!

Cloud EHR and tech experts, Drs. Kim Castleberry and Lorie Lippiatt share their thoughts about the advantages to doctors, staff and patients of cloud based EHR's and unveil some brand new technology.

Dr. Jerome Sherman joins the show and talks about OCT's, VEP's, ERG's, genetic testing and some very humbling OD related lawsuits. There is GREAT information for every doctor on this episode!

Alcon Vice President and General Manager, Jim Murphy joins the show and talks about why the contact lens market is flat and what doctors can do to change that. He also discusses the technology in Alcon's new Dailies Total One contact lens as well as a new model in contact lens pricing.

What's the difference between a satisfied patient and a loyal one? Find out on "Open Mic Night" - a special tribute show where our listeners become our guests!

Luxottica President, Andrea Dorigo talks about some of the changes he's made at the company, leadership, competition and OneSight. Listen in for some great perspective, including his answer to, "How should private OD's compete with Lenscrafters?"

AllAboutVision.com co-founder, Ron Walker joines the show and discusses how patients search for eye care related information online and how your practice can benefit.

Walt Mayo, OD and computer guru joins the show. Walt talks about his favorite cloud based back ups, operating systems, cell phones, anti-virus programs and lots more. There's great information for anyone with a computer!

RevolutionEHR and Crystal Practice Management discuss meaningful use, cloud vs. server based software, customer service and support, data conversion and many other important topics. They also answer the question, "Why would I buy your software instead of the other guys?"

Matt Geller, a fourth year SUNY Optometry student joins the show. Matt is the founder of OptometryStudents.com. As a "plugged in and e-wired" OD student, he'll share his unique perspectives on all things OD student related.

Learn about Obamacare, ACA's and ACO's during the live broadcast from the Vision Source Exchange!

Professor Brien Holden joins the show calling in live from Australia. Brien discusses things like updates with myopia control contact lenses, bifocals, daily disposables, worldwide usage of contact lenses, and optometry in developing countries. Also, in a style that is uniquely his, he answers the question, "With all the research and development being done by the big contact lens companies, why aren’t contact lenses perfect?"

Doctors can collect more than $3,000 and sometimes up to $6,000 per patient. It’s safe, it works, it is rarely covered by insurance, and a technician can do a lot of the work. There is little cost of goods involved, yet very few doctors perform vision therapy in their practices. Why is that? The old school thinking of, "it’s voodoo" no longer applies since there are numerous well done studies that support the efficacy of VT, and tens of thousands success stories exist. With all that said, why do so few practices offer VT to their patients?Barry Tannen, OD, FCOVD has a huge and wildly profitable VT practice in New Jersey. He teaches practice management at SUNY Optometry and has consulted with other doctors on how to manage a thriving VT practice. Join Barry as he tackles the "why don’t more docs do VT" question, as well as offering great advice for those who DO already have VT as a part of their practices.

Marge Axelrad from Vision Monday joins the show! As an editor and "industry insider," Marge shares her views and experience on current trends and challenges affecting OD practices. Tune in for what will be a very unique perspective on the day to day issues facing your practice!

Dr. Alan Homestead, the Yoda of optometric billing and coding, discusses some of the best ways to survive an audit, common "gotchas" and gives some great tips to instantly boost your practice's bottom line.

Listen to our first show recorded outside of the studio, live from the exhibit hall at Vision Expo East! The topis is transitioning practices from sellers to buyers. Bob Schlutz from Vision One Credit Union discusses the nuances of how a smooth financial transaction of this magnitude should happen. Also, Dr. Howard Purcell from Essilor talks about how younger doctors can transition into private practice.

SEO, SMO, Web 2.0, Google +, Google Place, Facebook, Pinterest, Yelp - it's overwhelming UNTIL Jason Daniels talks about it and explains it in easy to understand English! Jason is an experienced web guru from Eyecarepro and has vast experience helping OD's navigate the online world. Great show!

Known for their unique approach to customer service being a great place to work, John Wolske, Cultural Evangelist from Zappos joins the show.

David Friedfeld, the president of ClearVision Optical, the well known frame company, joins our show. While ClearVision is indeed a large company David has some great entrepreneurial insights that you’ll definitely want to hear. The company’s long legacy of being family owned will resonate with many of our listeners. David shares his unique thoughts on everything from where the industry is headed, frame inventorying and merchandising, real and perceived differences between designer brand frames, how private docs can compete with Internet eyeglasses as well as lots of other great information.

Glenn Ellisor, OD the founder of Vision Source and Walt West, OD join The Power Hour! Vision Source is optometry's oldest and biggest doctor alliance. With thousands of members, what makes Vision Source special and why do doctors join? Why not just join a buying group or negotiate pricing deals on your own? Why not just attend trade shows and local meetings for education and camaraderie? Hear what Glen and Walt predict for the future of the industry and why they think doctors will struggle if they do NOT join an alliance. Tune in to next weeks' show for some thought provoking discussion!

Industry veteran and special guest, Angel Alvarez, the CEO of ABB Optical Group, joins the show. He'll be giving his very insightful and thought provoking ideas on creative ways OD's can stay profitable and competitive. As a the leading distributor in the US (and having recently merged with ODG), Angel has a keen vested interest in the health, success and viability of private practice. Hear his answer to the question, "Knowing what you know, if you were a private OD, what would YOU do to ensure your survival and maximal profitability?

How does your practice confirm appointments, reach out to patients for things like recall and practice announcements? How do you manage and generate positive online reviews? The two industry leaders in this category discuss the importance of communicating with patients in our wired world and how their individual offerings compare. It's a great discussion from 4patientcare and DemandForce!

Can a practice survive without vision care plans? Cary Herzberg, OD, joins The Power Hour! Cary made the conscious decision to not accept ANY vision plans and lived to have a vibrant, healthy and profitable specialty contact lens practice. Learn the steps he took to make what many of us only dream about, his reality!

The President of VSP Vision Care, Jim McGrann, joins us and answers questions about decreasing reimbursements, Eyeconic, corporate out of network providers and a slew of other hot topics. Things heat up on the show so make sure to listen to it in its entirety!

Drs. Alan Glazier, Nathan Bonilla–Warford and Justin Bazan, three social media experts in their own right, discuss, debate and argue the merits of things like Yelp, Facebook and Google+ as well as whether you even need a web page at all and how to handle negative online reviews.

"Blow up the Benchmarks" and shake things up for the new year. Gary Gerber discusses his 5 top ways to positively disrupt the way your practice runs to ensure you have a more profitable year.

LensCrafter founder, Dean Butler discusses the history of the company, where the industry is headed now and how OD's can compete with the Internet and our new economy.

Buying Group or Doctor Alliance? Which is better for your practice? Listen to Mark Feder, OD (CEO of IDOC) and Michael Block (President of Block Buying Group) share their views and opinions.

Howard Purcell, OD, Senior VP at Essilor, shares his thoughts about the future of the profession and goes in depth discussing technology in the dispensary and online eyeglasses.

An eye exam from a kiosk? Bart Foster, CEO & Founder of SoloHealth is our guest and he'll be discussing his company's technology which is scheduled to be deployed in nearly 1,200 WalMart stores!