Power Hour Optometry

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!

Hurricane Sandy has done her damage. Learn disaster and contingency planning strategies for your practice. It doesn't take a significant weather event to put this plan into place. Tune in to hear how your practice might be at risk.

What are your plans to ensure you grow your practice next year? Learn how to create a budget and marketing plan.

Publisher Frank Giamannco shares his unabashed views on the state of the profession

Well known optician and educator Ed DeGennaro discusses e-optical tools, maximizing opticians in your practice, Internet eyeglasses and more

Dr. Alan Glazier, author of Searchial Marketing, discusses his favorite social media strategies, specifically for optometrists.

Is the Optomap a substitute for dilation? Listen to the sometimes heated debate from your colleagues.

When is the right time to bring in an associate? How do you do it? How do you get that doctor busy without cannabalizing the senior doctor's patients? Listen to this episode of The Power Hour and find out!

All things social media with OD, Social Media guru - Dr. Nathan Bonilla Warford.

Is there life after vision plans? Can a practice survive without vision plans? "Something is better than nothing" might not be the case. Listen to this informative discussion on this weeks' show.

Are we giving away eyeglass sales because of too much emphasis on medical eyecare?

Listen to your colleagues talk about the best and worst marketing projects and ideas they've every tried or thought about.

Staff management is the number one challenge for nearly every optometrist. Hear the thoughts about hiring for personality vs. skill along with lots of other great advice.

Are there too many optometrists? Not enough patients? What's your opinion?

How do you see the future of optometry? Is it so bright that we gotta wear shades, or so dim that we'll all need low vision soon?