A New Look for Foresight in 2021
This year, we are bringing you Foresight, news for and about eye care professionals who work in or have independent practices in Walmart and Sam’s Club in a new format. The issues will come to you via link every two months. They will continue to feature stories about optometrists who have had success in some aspect of business or practice, sharing their best practice strategies to help others achieve similar success or spur new ideas. We’d love to hear what you think of the new format!
|
The Practice Location Giving Me a Huge Boost in Building My Patient Base By Michael Vaske, OD, Vaske Vision Care in Parker, Colorado  Marketing an optometric practice can be a challenge, especially when you have a limited budget, as most private practice optometrists do. With so much at stake in getting the word out about your practice, it’s a huge boost when, just by virtue of your location, you have an instant way to attract new patients. That’s the very advantage I have as an optometrist next to a Walmart store. My practice sees a steady stream of new patients without even having an advertising budget! Having an independent sublease inside one of the most well-known stores in the country enables me to be in a highly visible, easily accessible location for people in need of eye care. Read more. |
Set Up a Practice for Success, Then Hope for the Best
As was the case for most of the planet, Travis Johnson, OD, FAAO, found his world coming to a screeching halt in March 2020. While his independent practice inside a Walmart, Music City Eye Care, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, never had to close completely, drastic changes were made to their daily practice life.
They made the decision to follow Walmart’s corporate lead and decreased their daily hours to four hours a day from 10 until 2 from April until August. The office was open for emergency and medical care and some primary care. “We were able to take care of patients with glaucoma and diabetes and for foreign body removal,” says Dr. Johnson. Being one of the few nonemergency health care providers who was able to safely stay open kept the office busy. “Coming to a doctor’s office that was sanitized felt fairly safe to patients,” Dr. Johnson says. “We had a very low no-show rate.” Read more. 
|
Daily Disposable Contact Lens Option Gains Appeal SPONSORED BY ALCON Water gradient technology in PRECISION1® contact lenses provide all-day comfort
As more people learn and work at home, spending hours on their digital devices, he is prescribing PRECISION1® daily disposable contact lenses to even more of his patients, he says. “Eyeglasses wearers tell me that they’re frustrated with their lenses steaming up,” he says. Read more. |
Doug Hinson, OD, who with his wife Heather Hinson, OD, have private practices inside Walmart in Racine and Franklin, Wisconsin, are strong advocates for daily disposable contact lenses. “My patients who wear one-day lenses are happy; they’re getting great comfort, vision and a healthy wearing experience,” he says. That’s why he and his four children, now grown, all wear one-day lenses. “When they were younger, I liked knowing that they were putting on a fresh pair of lenses each time that they wore them,” he says. And for the one who broke three pairs of eyeglasses in a matter of days, a switch to contact lenses made sense.PRECISION1® for Astigmatism Is Now Available
Studies show that toric contact lenses provide better visual acuity than spherical lenses even for those with low-to-moderate astigmatism.1-3 PRECISION1® contact lenses are born from the Water Gradient Technology of DAILIES TOTAL1® and feature SMARTSURFACE® Technology, a microthin layer of moisture at the lens surface that exceeds 80% water.4 PRECISION1® sphere and toric lenses are now widely available in the U.S. to meet the needs of daily disposable contact lens patients.
| See product instructions for complete wear, care and safety information. |  |
REFERENCES: 1. Tsubota K, Nakamori K. Dry eyes and video display terminals. N Engl J Med. 1993;328:583. 2. Craig JP, Willcox MDP, Argueso P, et al. The TFOS international workshop on contact lens discomfort: Report of the contact lens interactions with the tear film subcommittee. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2013;54:TFOS123-TFOS156. 3. Alcon data on file, 2018. 4. Richdale K, Bernsten DA, Mack CJ, Merchea MM, Barr JT. Visual acuity with spherical and toric soft contact lenses in low- to moderate-astigmatic eyes. Optom Vis Sci. 2007;84;969-975. 5. Moody K, Hickson-Curran S. Fitting low astigmats with a soft toric contact lens. Contact Lens Spectrum. November 2001. 6. Bernsten D, Bickle K, Cox S et al. The effect of toric versus spherical contact lenses on vision and eyestrain in astigmatic patients. Presented at American Academy of Optometry Annual Meeting; October 7-10, 2015. New Orleans, LA. E-abstract 150047. © 2021 Alcon Inc. 01/21 US-PR1-VCL-2100011
|
Keeping the Heart in Mind
Discussion on ocular nutrition can help patients’ ocular and overall health
There was no shortage of information on nutrition. One of the most compelling studies came from an Australian study that said that eating one orange a day reduces the risk of macular degeneration by 60 percent. Finding the interconnectedness of it all is part of what motivates Dr. Clemmons. “Everything is connected to your vascular health—your heart, brain and eyes,” she says. “If people keep their blood pressure healthy, it can help prevent eye disease.” She acknowledges the role of genes in heart and vascular health, but she maintains that “lifestyle trumps the hereditary.” Read more. |
For Melonie Clemmons, OD, the journey to educate herself and others on nutrition stems from a personal place. “I had always been pretty healthy, but when I had my child seven years ago, it triggered some autoimmune diseases,” she says. “I would start a medication, and it would make me feel worse.” Frustrated with the options presented to her, Dr. Clemmons turned to nutrition. “I wondered how much our nutrition affects the eye,” she says. When she found great personal success, “The diet changed my life and I needed to share that information.”
Patient Success is Practice Success
SPONSORED BY BAUSCH + LOMB
Bausch + Lomb ULTRA® Multifocal for Astigmatism is the lens that is designed for success. In a recent survey of 219 eye care professionals (ECPs), the lens got high marks across the board. In one highlight, 99 percent of ECPs agreed that the lens is easy to fit.1 In addition, 95 percent agreed that the lens allows them to fit patients who have previously dropped out of contact lenses.2 Hear what your peers have to say at MyUltraSuccess.com.
REFERENCES 1. Results of an online survey with Eye Care Professionals who completed an evaluation program for Bausch + Lomb ULTRA® Multifocal for Astigmatism contact lenses (n=219). Survey results include Eye Care Professionals who strongly agreed, agreed, or slightly agreed (on a 6-point agreement scale) with the surveyed statement, with a margin of error ±1.5%. 2. Results of an online survey with Eye Care Professionals who completed an evaluation program for Bausch + Lomb ULTRA® Multifocal for Astigmatism contact lenses (n=219). Survey results include Eye Care Professionals who strongly agreed, agreed, or slightly agreed (on a 6-point agreement scale) with the surveyed statement, with a margin of error ±2.8%. Bausch + Lomb ULTRA is a trademark of Bausch & Lomb Incorporated or its affiliates. ©2021 Bausch & Lomb Incorporated or its affiliates. UMT.0020.USA.21
|
March Happenings
There are several eye health awareness campaigns occurring in March.
|