Practice Management

San Francisco-A practice-to-patient communication service from Smile Reminder helps vision-care providers communicate directly with patients by automatically sending text or e-mail messages.

San Francisco-Bausch & Lomb Storz Ophthalmic Instruments recently launched two new continuing education programs available at www.StorzOphthalmicCE.com. Participants will receive contact hours approved by the Certification Board for Sterile Processing and Distribution Inc., the International Association for Healthcare Central Service Material Management, and the Texas Nurses Association.

San Francisco-If you had a very ill patient, you would examine his or her vital signs frequently. The same holds true when the "patient" is the U.S. economy, said John B. Pinto, of the ophthalmic practice management consulting firm J. Pinto & Associates.

iScience Interventional has launched a new surgeon support Web site, called iForum, that can be viewed at www.iforummd.com, according to a release issued by the company.

In a response to the current economic woes plaguing the United States, CareCredit has reduced the interest rate on its 24-month, no-interest plan by 50% through the end of this month, said the company in a prepared statement.

Physicians can receive a 2% bonus for e-prescribing and participating in the Physician's Quality Reporting Initiative, adding up to a potential 4% bonus to participating doctors in 2009. This year, program participation is not mandatory, but in 2012, physicians will be penalized –1% for not e-prescribing.

Federal regulators have judged the first phase of the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program a success, but the controversial plan promises potential headaches for physicians as it goes forward. In response to the initial success, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced in October its plan to expand the program to a dozen new states in the first quarter of 2009. By January 2010, all 50 states will be in RAC's crosshairs.

The Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology announced in a prepared statement that it has received approval for a separate occupational classification, ophthalmic medical technician, from the U.S. Bureau of Labor's 2010 Standard Occupational Classification committee.

This is the personal experience of electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) implementation presented by Cindy Maddox, MD, FACS, director of glaucoma services and vice chairwoman at the New England Eye Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston and member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology's health policy committee.

Pfizer will disclose publicly its compensation of U.S. health-care professionals for consulting, speaking engagements, and clinical trials by early next year on the company’s Web site, according to a prepared statement from the company.

Contact lens practices are probably feeling the effects of more and more patients simply taking their prescriptions and buying their lenses on the Internet. But, if contact lens fitting is a valuable service that you offer and you want to improve your productivity and profitability, then you might want to make a few changes. Using the Internet to send email updates to patients, ordering supplies online, and giving patients the option to purchase on your Web store will make a big difference in your practice.

Ophthalmologists are well acquainted with the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT), but many ophthalmologists are only familiar with CPT's "Category I" codes. It is important for ophthalmologists to understand code Category III, since many eye-care services have appeared or will appear in this category.

Everyone is given a special talent, which, if developed, can allow them to perform their talent really well. This explains why there are great singers, superb artists or musicians, and gifted mechanics, to name a few professions. Those talents often are limited to that particular setting, however; they are not always transferable into another area.

After 2 years, the federal government's voluntary Competitive Acquisition Program has been put on hold as of January.

This is the time of year that my administrator asks me: "So, where are we going in the new year? What I have finally come to learn is that instead of asking, "Where are we going?" it is more valuable to ask, "Where have we been?"

Amid adding partners, opening new offices, and managing unprecedented growth, Mid Atlantic Retina turned to a consulting firm (Advantage Administration Inc.) to develop a strategic plan for the ensuing years.

Most physicians micromanage when a problem occurs in the office, instantly analyzing the issue and announcing the changes they want colleagues and staff to make. However, employees on the front line in factories, doctors' offices, etc., have more information, and often can come up with better solutions than the "all-knowing" manager. Delegation helps employees learn from the problem-solving experience, and that makes them more valuable.

The recent developments in 2008 have left many of us with less wealth than we had just a year ago. The purpose of this article is to highlight a few tactics for regaining some of your lost wealth.

Skillful physician-patient communication is paramount to successful prevention and management of dissatisfied LASIK patients.

A national prospective study is being planned to evaluate post-LASIK quality of life outcomes in a clinical setting. The trial is being coordinated by representatives from the FDA, the National Eye Institute (NEI), the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and it will be executed in accordance with the rules governing FDA and NEI clinical trials.

Some speculate that the current economic crisis is a result of financial institutions' misplaced optimism and trust in their companies. Ophthalmologists, who run practices, departments, divisions, etc., have to strike the right balance between sharing and recognizing the realities of whatever problems organizations face, and express the confidence that they can be overcome if the right things are done.

Vision Research Center (VRC), an online research site where experts in the ophthalmic community and patients can share their experiences and opinions concerning technology and therapies, has launched, according to a prepared statement.

Alcon Inc. has launched an online educational resource for people who have cataracts, and their caregivers.

Open enrollment for Medicare Part D drug plans began Nov. 15 and will continue through Dec. 31.

In the workplace, employee relations can be improved by giving and receiving positive strokes, having adult-to-adult transactions more often, and getting rid of unproductive competitiveness.

We're to the point that medical care for our children is a discretionary item, less of a priority than digital cable. Blurry vision from a cataract is something that can be dealt with next year or whenever the economy sorts itself out. While it may be impossible to peer into the future, it increasingly appears that accessing medical care may not be the recession-proof priority for Americans that it has been in the past.

Once you get employees to realize that their success or failure ultimately is up to them, the pressure is off you as a manager. The pressure is squarely in the place it needs to be: on the employees. Your only job then becomes augmenting their growth with the tools they need to be the hardest-working technicians you ever will have.

Determining the optimal size for an optical dispensary will allow the practice to obtain the highest return on investment and return on assets. The optimal size can be calculated in one of two ways. The first is to determine the number of dollars each square foot of space can generate. The second method is to calculate the percentage of total practice revenues the dispensary represents. Whichever method is used, remember the general rule for dispensary size: "bigger is better."