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Dr. Neil Gailmard, contributing editor and member of the Optometric Management Editorial Advisory Board, shares his valuable tricks of the trade in a weekly e-newsletter. Delivered free to your inbox each Wednesday, Management Tip of the Week offers unique and insightful practice management tips from one of the industry's most respected O.D.s.

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Article NumberArticle DateArticle Title
#520) February 15, 2012 How is Your Daily Disposable Percentage?
#519) February 8, 2012 The Two Biggest Mistakes ECPs Make in Selling
#518) February 1, 2012 Six Reasons to Buy Your Glasses at "Our Practice"
#517) January 25, 2012 Preventing Rx Walkouts
#516) January 18, 2012 Measuring Other Practice Benchmarks
#515) January 11, 2012 Easy Method to Measure Rx Capture Rates
#514) January 4, 2012 Contact Lens Practice: Your Key to Profitability
#513) December 28, 2011 The Customer Service Culture for 2012
#512) December 14, 2011 Goal Setting for the New Year
#511) December 7, 2011 Attention Mid-Career Docs: An Associate Can Boost Your Practice
#510) November 30, 2011 Get More from your Recall System
#509) November 23, 2011 Follow-up on "No Girls Day"
#508) November 16, 2011 No Girls Day
#507) November 9, 2011 A Quick Way to Increase Appointments
#506) November 2, 2011 Free Wi-Fi in Your Reception Area
#505) October 26, 2011 Opening Practical: An Overview of Practice Growth
#504) October 19, 2011 Opening Practical: Monthly Expenses
#503) October 12, 2011 Opening Practical, Part 2
#502) October 5, 2011 Opening Cold and Practical
#501) September 28, 2011 How is your dispensing process?
#500) September 21, 2011 Thanks for reading! More to come!
#499) September 14, 2011 Your patients want to buy their contacts from your practice!
#498) September 7, 2011 Does your practice have a Director of Marketing?
#497) August 31, 2011 Pretend Your Services and Products Are Free
#496) August 24, 2011 What aren’t you delegating?
#495) August 17, 2011 More on increasing your patient demand
#494) August 10, 2011 Groupon and Other Daily Deal Sites
#493) August 3, 2011 How many staff members?
#492) July 27, 2011 Not enough patient demand? How to make a huge impact
#491) July 20, 2011 Doctors: Observe in Optical
#490) July 13, 2011 When the Patient Is Not Always Right
#489) July 6, 2011 Raising fees: Why it’s important even with vision plans
#488) June 29, 2011 Optical Dispensing Instruments
#487) June 22, 2011 Reducing No Shows
#486) June 15, 2011 A New Twist on Attracting Referrals from Primary Care MDs
#485) June 8, 2011 Four Common Breaks in Customer Service
#484) June 1, 2011 More on Office Managers
#483) May 25, 2011 Develop a "Center for Macular Health" Within Your Practice
#482) May 18, 2011 Why You Need a True Office Manager
#481) May 11, 2011 Questions and Objections about Scribes
#480) May 4, 2011 Scribes Dramatically Increase Contact Lens Profitability
#479) April 27, 2011 A Guide to Adding Scribes to Your Practice
#478) April 20, 2011 One Technician from Start to Finish
#477) April 13, 2011 How to Use the Second Exam Room
#476) April 6, 2011 Conduct Your Own Audit of Contact Lens Fees
#475) March 30, 2011 The Future of Optical
#474) March 23, 2011 Master the Fundamentals
#473) March 16, 2011 Personal Experiences Yield Practice Improvements
#472) March 9, 2011 Is your staff resistant to change?
#471) March 2, 2011 Time to Get Serious with Patient Email and Texting
#470) February 23, 2011 Increasing Your Profitability with Vision Plans, Part 3
#469) February 16, 2011 Increasing Your Profitability with Vision Plans, Part 2
#468) February 9, 2011 Increasing Your Profitability with Vision Plans, Part 1
#467) February 2, 2011 Quality vs. Price in Your Practice
#466) January 26, 2011 A Busier Practice, Part 4: Telephone Recall
#465) January 19, 2011 A Busier Practice, Part 3: Facebook
#464) January 12, 2011 A Busier Practice, Part 2: Community Involvement
#463) January 5, 2011 Making Your Practice Busier
#462) December 29, 2010 Your Strategy for Greater Profit: Answer One Question
#461) December 15, 2010 Quick - Can you name your top three competitive advantages?
#460) December 8, 2010 Your Practice Positioning
#459) December 1, 2010 How to Change Negative Behavior of Staff Members
#458) November 24, 2010 Showcase Photochromic Lenses in Your Practice
#457) November 17, 2010 Your Office Procedure Manual
#456) November 10, 2010 Whose wants and needs?
#455) November 3, 2010 Maximizing Profitability in Your Contact Lens Practice
#454) October 27, 2010 Take the first step to success: delegate now!
#453) October 20, 2010 Delegation: The Usual Excuses
#452) October 13, 2010 Extra Staff Hours: Who Should Control?
#451) October 6, 2010 Increasing Sales of One-Year Supplies of Contact Lenses
#450) September 29, 2010 Recapturing Your Contact Lens Rxs
#449) September 22, 2010 Even if you don't do low vision…
#448) September 15, 2010 Work on your business; not in your business.
#447) September 8, 2010 Have you looked at your reception area magazines?
#446) September 1, 2010 Lowering Optical Prices to Prevent Rx Walkout
#445) August 25, 2010 Short-term Strategies to Increase Patient Demand
#444) August 18, 2010 Have you met with your CPA lately?
#443) August 11, 2010 A Tip for Staff Only: What Do You Sell?
#442) August 4, 2010 Hardware That Makes EMR Easier
#441) July 28, 2010 Solve Your EMR Problems with Scribes
#440) July 21, 2010 The Patient's Point of View
#439) July 14, 2010 The Call Center Concept
#438) July 7, 2010 The Appointment Manager Concept
#437) June 30, 2010 Multiple Offices
#436) June 23, 2010 Employee Theft
#435) June 16, 2010 Who should present optional screening tests?
#434) June 9, 2010 Optometrists with Little Interest in Optical
#433) June 2, 2010 Managing Patients Who Want It for Free
#432) May 26, 2010 A How-to Guide to Instruments That Pay for Themselves
#431) May 19, 2010 Customer Service: Why is it so elusive?
#430) May 12, 2010 Could you be providing too much patient education?
#429) May 5, 2010 Using Email for Patient Communication
#428) April 28, 2010 Managing Your Practice While Away From the Office
#427) April 21, 2010 Practical Tips for Implementing Electronic Medical Records
#426) April 14, 2010 Finding the Right Office Manager
#425) April 7, 2010 Delegation: Your First Step to Practice Growth
#424) March 31, 2010 Industry Reps Giving Presentations to Staff
#423) March 24, 2010 Upgrading Your Practice Website, Part 2
#422) March 17, 2010 Upgrading Your Practice Website
#421) March 10, 2010 Patient Handouts
#420) March 3, 2010 Financial Aspects of In-Office Optical Labs
#419) February 24, 2010 Response to Contact Lens Tip
#418) February 17, 2010 Dramatically Increasing Your Contact Lens Productivity
#417) February 10, 2010 A Separate P&L for Your Optical
#416) February 3, 2010 What do you say at dispensing?
#415) January 27, 2010 Adding a New Specialty
#414) January 20, 2010 Form Your Own Frame Advisory Committee
#413) January 13, 2010 Optometric Job Opportunities
#412) January 6, 2010 Advice for new optometry grads
#411) December 30, 2009 Is a larger practice better?
#410) December 16, 2009 Transition of Doctor Duties
#409) December 9, 2009 Act As You Mean to Go
#408) December 2, 2009 Do you ever speak to your staff about sales?
#407) November 25, 2009 More on No Shows
#406) November 18, 2009 Five Ways to Increase Profitability
#405) November 11, 2009 No Shows: A Culture Defining Moment
#404) November 4, 2009 Should you recommend new glasses even if the Rx did not change?
#403) October 28, 2009 Competing with Internet Contact Lens Vendors
#402) October 21, 2009 New Challenges: Glasses on the Internet
#401) October 14, 2009 Staff Meetings 101: The When, Why and How
#400) October 7, 2009 Differences in Revenue Production among Associate ODs
#399) September 30, 2009 Delegating Contact Lens Follow-ups
#398) September 23, 2009 Preventing Patient Accounts Receivable
#397) September 16, 2009 Collecting Patient Accounts Receivable
#396) September 9, 2009 Two Subtle Red Flags
#395) September 2, 2009 The back-to-school rush is over - now what?
#394) August 26, 2009 Should you charge for dilation?
#393) August 19, 2009 Should you charge for a refraction?
#392) August 12, 2009 What if you raised your fees and nobody cared?
#391) August 5, 2009 Staff Use of Cell Phones
#390) July 29, 2009 Keeping the New Doctor Busy
#389) July 22, 2009 Promoting Photochromic Lenses
#388) July 15, 2009 Employee Benefits: Staff Education
#387) July 8, 2009 Employee Benefits: Eye Care Services and Products
#386) July 1, 2009 Employee Benefits: Paid Time Off
#385) June 24, 2009 The Economy: Laying Off Staff?
#384) June 17, 2009 Employee Benefits Part 2: Health Insurance
#383) June 10, 2009 Employee Benefits
#382) June 3, 2009 Tips for Firing Staff
#381) May 27, 2009 Tips for Hiring Staff
#380) May 20, 2009 The Secret Benefit of Scribes
#379) May 13, 2009 Who sets the staff work schedule?
#378) May 6, 2009 Help with Staff Issues
#377) April 29, 2009 Instruments, Part 2
#376) April 22, 2009 Instruments That Pay, Directly or Indirectly
#375) April 15, 2009 Emergency Office Visits
#374) April 8, 2009 Is office space limiting your growth?
#373) April 1, 2009 Budget Frames
#372) March 25, 2009 Cancel the Glasses!
#371) March 18, 2009 A Hard Look at Your Eyeglass Warranty
#370) March 11, 2009 Not busy enough? Look within.
#369) March 4, 2009 Frame Price Labels
#368) February 25, 2009 Contact Lens Patient Conundrums
#367) February 18, 2009 More on TOS Discounts
#366) February 11, 2009 Accounts Receivable
#365) February 4, 2009 Practice Management Grand Rounds
#364) January 28, 2009 Complaints about Fees and Medical Billing
#363) January 21, 2009 Seeing the Good in Vision Plans
#362) January 14, 2009 Office Calendar 2009
#361) January 7, 2009 Planning for 2009
#360) December 31, 2008 Keeping Payroll Costs Down
#359) December 17, 2008 A Patient Handout for Internet Eyeglasses
#358) December 10, 2008 Internet Eyeglasses
#357) December 3, 2008 Staff: Too Many or Too Few
#356) November 26, 2008 Can You Prosper in a Down Economy?
#355) November 19, 2008 Contact Lens Advancements: When to Recommend
#354) November 12, 2008 Patient Surveys
#353) November 5, 2008 How do you know if your practice is exceptional?
#352) October 29, 2008 Some Thoughts on Staff Meetings
#351) October 22, 2008 Staff relationships: how chummy should you be?
#350) October 15, 2008 How much patient education is enough?
#349) October 8, 2008 Readers Respond: Tips for Attracting New Patients
#348) October 1, 2008 Deal or No Deal
#347) September 24, 2008 Attracting New Patients
#346) September 17, 2008 A Clean Office
#345) September 10, 2008 Patient Waiting Time
#344) September 3, 2008 The Front Desk
#343) August 27, 2008 The Initial Phone Call
#342) August 20, 2008 Influence Point Analysis
#341) August 13, 2008 Is the customer always right? Where do we draw the line?
#340) August 6, 2008 Service Recovery
#339) July 30, 2008 More on Practice Culture
#338) July 23, 2008 Back to Basics: Prevention of Common Service Problems
#337) July 16, 2008 A Review of Marketing Strategies for Eye Care
#336) July 9, 2008 More Good Questions!
#335) July 2, 2008 Good Question!
#334) June 25, 2008 Exam Room Size and Function
#333) June 18, 2008 An Eye-Opener About Discounts
#332) June 11, 2008 More on Contact Lens Fees
#331) June 4, 2008 The Contact Lens Evaluation Fee
#330) May 28, 2008 Pricing Optical Products: Mistakes Are Costly
#329) May 21, 2008 An Observation About Optometric Education
#328) May 14, 2008 A New Concept: Reduce the Time Patients Spend in Your Office
#327) May 7, 2008 The Exam Room as a Pretest Room
#326) April 30, 2008 A Recall Review
#325) April 23, 2008 For Office Managers Only
#324) April 16, 2008 Balancing Your Cash Drawer
#323) April 9, 2008 Accepting Vision Plans, Part 2
#322) April 2, 2008 When is it smart to accept vision plans?
#321) March 26, 2008 Things You Shouldn't Delegate
#320) March 19, 2008 In-Service Meetings for Staff
#319) March 12, 2008 Optical Remakes
#318) March 5, 2008 Delegation in Contact Lens Practice: The Finer Points
#317) February 27, 2008 Delegation in Contact Lens Practice
#316) February 20, 2008 Host an Organizational Retreat
#315) February 13, 2008 Reinventing Your Organization
#314) February 6, 2008 Start Your Work Day Right
#313) January 30, 2008 Routine Vision Exams vs. Medical Eye Care
#312) January 23, 2008 Lack of Patient Demand: Reasons? Solutions?
#311) January 16, 2008 What stories do your patients tell?
#310) January 9, 2008 Three Major Management Challenges for 2008
#309) January 2, 2008 Trying On Frames That Fit
#308) December 19, 2007 Frame Pricing Strategies
#307) December 12, 2007 Action Steps for Improved Patient Loyalty
#306) December 5, 2007 A Self-Assessment Quiz for Patient Satisfaction
#305) November 28, 2007 What is the secret to success in eye care?
#304) November 21, 2007 Uniforms Help Create Your Practice Image
#303) November 14, 2007 Dilation and Frame Selection
#302) November 7, 2007 A Novel System for Patient Flow
#301) October 31, 2007 How do you know if you're out of date?
#300) October 24, 2007 The Votes Are In for Your Favorite Tip!
#299) October 17, 2007 Contact Lens Services: Expired Rx Issues
#298) October 10, 2007 Contact Lens Services, Part 3
#297) October 3, 2007 Contact Lens Fees, Part 2
#296) September 26, 2007 Contact Lens Fees Are Not Always Simple
#295) September 19, 2007 Practice Websites, Part 2
#294) September 12, 2007 Practice Websites, Part 1
#293) September 5, 2007 Why speed up if you don't have the patients?
#292) August 29, 2007 The Myth About Longer Exam Times
#291) August 22, 2007 Your Office Manual
#290) August 15, 2007 Words Make a Difference
#289) August 8, 2007 Professional Courtesy Discounts
#288) August 1, 2007 Staff Lunch Policies
#287) July 25, 2007 A Single Question that Results in Revenue
#286) July 18, 2007 Holiday Pay Issues
#285) July 11, 2007 Why should NP and EP exam fees be different?
#284) June 27, 2007 TV Glasses
#283) June 20, 2007 Corneal Topography in Contact Lens Practice
#282) June 13, 2007 The Pretesting Bottleneck
#281) June 6, 2007 How many patients per day?
#280) May 30, 2007 Office Design Concepts
#279) May 23, 2007 Fee Increases: Too Little, Too Late
#278) May 16, 2007 Are one-hour glasses dead?
#277) May 9, 2007 Saturday Hours
#276) May 2, 2007 Are Scribes Practical?
#275) April 25, 2007 What Size Frame Inventory?
#274) April 18, 2007 Exit Strategy and Associate ODs
#273) April 11, 2007 Staff Bonus Programs
#272) April 4, 2007 Annual Employment Reviews
#271) March 28, 2007 Preappointing
#270) March 21, 2007 Response to the Ten Misconceptions Expanding on Medical Billing
#269) March 14, 2007 Appointment Schedule on Paper vs. Computer
#268) March 7, 2007 Top Ten Misconceptions in Practice Management
#267) February 28, 2007 Practice Promotion Ideas
#266) February 21, 2007 A New Look at Practice Expense Ratios
#265) February 14, 2007 What To Do If You Are Booked Far In Advance
#264) February 7, 2007 What if you break the patient’s glasses?
#263) January 31, 2007 Private Practice of Optometry Has Bright Future
#262) January 24, 2007 Staffing Ideas When Doctor Takes Vacation
#261) January 17, 2007 Office Design with Staff in Mind
#260) January 10, 2007 Reviewing Your Payment Policy
#259) January 3, 2007 What’s new for you in 2007?
#258) December 27, 2006 Are your contact lens patients getting the best?
#257) December 20, 2006 Happy Holidays!
#256) December 13, 2006 Problem attempted... Not solved
#255) December 6, 2006 Are you making follow-up phone calls?
#254) November 29, 2006 Fee Information at Your Fingertips
#253) November 22, 2006 TVs in the Waiting Area
#252) November 15, 2006 An Idea for Finding Good Staff Members
#251) November 8, 2006 Are you Flexible with Patients?
#250) November 1, 2006 A Sample History Form
#248) October 18, 2006 Analyzing Your Practice: Too Many Forms?
#247) October 11, 2006 Analyzing Your Practice: A Clean Office
#246) October 4, 2006 Analyzing Your Practice: The Front Desk Greeting
#245) September 27, 2006 Should you delegate more even if you’re not that busy?
#244) September 20, 2006 How to Fire an Employee
#243) September 13, 2006 Presenting Contact Lens Fees
#242) September 6, 2006 Staff Cross-training Is Easy
#241) August 30, 2006 Profitability in Contact Lens Practice
#240) August 23, 2006 Could payments fall through the cracks?
#239) August 16, 2006 Need more appointments? Just ask.
#238) August 9, 2006 Is it time for an image makeover?
#237) August 2, 2006 Jump-start Your Practice: Part 3
#236) July 26, 2006 Jump-start Your Practice: Part 2
#235) July 19, 2006 Jump-start Your Practice: Part 1
#234) July 12, 2006 Hiring an Office Manager
#233) July 5, 2006 Office Design Tips
#232) June 28, 2006 Your Office Space
#231) June 21, 2006 Pretesting the Contact Lens Wearer
#230) June 14, 2006 Avoiding Refunds on PAL Non-adapts
#229) June 7, 2006 No Show Fees – A Costly Policy
#228) May 31, 2006 How to Handle Early and Late Arrivers
#227) May 24, 2006 Appointment Scheduling Strategies
#226) May 17, 2006 Can Private Docs Compete With Chain Opticals?
#225) May 10, 2006 Shopping for Clinical Instruments
#224) May 3, 2006 Filling Holes in the Schedule
#223) April 26, 2006 More Thoughts on Pupil Dilation
#222) April 19, 2006 Pupil Dilation: A Tip to Improve Patient Flow
#221) April 12, 2006 Study Groups
#220) April 5, 2006 Bet you can’t answer this one:
How much is an eye exam at your office?
#219) March 29, 2006 Medical Optometry: Is There a Downside?
#218) March 22, 2006 A Guide to Lensometry for Techs
#217) March 15, 2006 Delegation: The Key to Higher Income
#216) March 8, 2006 Saturday Hours
#215) March 1, 2006 Odds Are Good That You’re Understaffed
#214) February 22, 2006 How to Sell Second Pairs
#213) February 15, 2006 Declare a Moratorium on Discounts in your Office!
#212) February 8, 2006 Upscale Frame Lines: Your Market May Surprise You
#211) February 1, 2006 The Contact Lens Training Room: An Outdated Space?
#210) January 25, 2006 Contact Lens Care Products
#209) January 18, 2006 What if your practice is really slow?
#208) January 11, 2006 Staff Motivation
#207) January 4, 2006 Looking Ahead to 2006
#206) December 28, 2005 Improving Flow in Your Existing Office Space
#205) December 21, 2005 Happy Holidays!
#204) December 14, 2005 The Retinal Camera as a Pretest
#203) December 7, 2005 Retinal Cameras: A Lot of Wow! Factor
#202) November 30, 2005 Staff Incentives: How to drop an ineffective program
#201) November 23, 2005 Staff Bonus Programs: Are They Really Effective?
#200) November 16, 2005 The Best of the Tips
#199) November 9, 2005 No-Shows
#198) November 2, 2005 Staff Issues: Useful Benchmarks
#197) October 26, 2005 Dropping a Vision Plan
#196) October 19, 2005 Wish you could raise your fees?
(But vision plans make it ineffective)
#195) October 12, 2005 Staff Issues: Personal Conversations in the Office
#194) October 5, 2005 Staff Issues: Personal Email and Phone Use
#193) September 28, 2005 Using the Internet in Your Practice
#192) September 21, 2005 A Sensitive Subject: Refunds
#191) September 14, 2005 Out to Lunch
#190) September 7, 2005 What’s in a Name?
#189) August 31, 2005 Favorite Phrases for Patient Service
#188) August 24, 2005 The Contact Lens Evaluation Fee
#187) August 17, 2005 Seeing the Big Picture for Higher Profits
#186) August 10, 2005 Competing With Optical Chains
#185) August 3, 2005 Four Trends That Concern Me
#184) July 27, 2005 Staff Uniforms
#183) July 20, 2005 Employees’ Shoes and Office Morale
#182) July 13, 2005 Technician Refraction Lite
#181) July 6, 2005 Communicating in Subjective Refraction
#180) June 29, 2005 Avoiding Staff Burnout
#179) June 22, 2005 More Tips on Scribes
#178) June 15, 2005 Spend 15 Minutes in Your Optical
#177) June 8, 2005 Dropping Payment Plans
#176) June 1, 2005 Avoiding Optometric Burnout
#175) May 25, 2005 Impressing the Contact Lens Candidate
#174) May 18, 2005 Competing for Contact Lens Sales
#173) May 11, 2005 Cutting Your Practice Expenses
#172) May 4, 2005 Defining Your Expense Categories
#171) April 27, 2005 A Pretesting Protocol
#170) April 20, 2005 Selling Non-Rx Sunglasses
#169) April 13, 2005 Who says patients want an eye exam to take a long time?
#168) April 6, 2005 Setting Fees for Routine Eye Care
TOS Discounts and S-Codes
#167) March 30, 2005 Dropping Managed Care Plans, Part 4
Communicating with patients
#166) March 23, 2005 Dropping Managed Care Plans, Part 3
Evaluating vision plans and medical plans
#165) March 16, 2005 Dropping Managed Care Plans, Part 2
Evaluating chair costs, marginal costs and time management
#164) March 9, 2005 Dropping Managed Care Plans, Part 1
The Philosophy of the High Fee Practice
#163) March 2, 2005 Staff Eye Care Benefits
#162) February 23, 2005 Expired Contact Lens Prescriptions
#161) February 16, 2005 Community Service Still Good Advice
#160) February 9, 2005 Staff Turnover and Training
#159) February 2, 2005 The 5-Second Employment Screening
#158) January 26, 2005 Quiet on the subject of delegation?
#157) January 19, 2005 The Delegation Scale
#156) January 12, 2005 Practice Resolutions: The Year of Customer Service
#155) January 5, 2005 What are Your Practice Resolutions for the New Year?
#154) December 29, 2004 The Lost Art of Thank You Notes
#152) December 15, 2004 Patient Records and Forms
#151) December 8, 2004 Glaucoma Flow Sheets
#150) December 1, 2004 Are Contact Lens Service Agreements Still Viable?
#149) November 24, 2004 Restoring Profitability to Your CL Practice
#148) November 17, 2004 What stories are your (former) patients telling about you?
#147) November 10, 2004 Many Reasons for Exam Efficiency
#146) November 3, 2004 Making in-office collections a snap
#145) October 27, 2004 Do you want to put something down on that?
#144) October 20, 2004 Clues that you’re not delegating enough
#143) October 13, 2004 Emergency Symptom List for Front Desk
#142) October 6, 2004 Are your fees for an emergency office visit high enough?
#141) September 29, 2004 Service Clubs and Civic Organizations as Networking Tools
#140) September 22, 2004 A Real World Indoctrination for a New Grad
#139) September 15, 2004 Want to take your practice to the next level?
Consider hiring an associate optometrist.
#138) September 8, 2004 Cell Phones in Your Exam Room
#137) September 1, 2004 What service can you promote?
#136) August 25, 2004 Managing Established Contact Lens Patients:
It’s not just about fixing problems – It’s about upgrading
#135) August 18, 2004 The Contact Lens Evaluation Fee
#134) August 11, 2004 Refraction Tips
#133) August 4, 2004 Proactive Office Hygiene
#132) July 28, 2004 Non-contact tonometers... they get no respect
#131) July 21, 2004 Give Your Practice a Buzz with Technology
#130) July 14, 2004 In-office optical labs offer more benefits than you think
#129) July 7, 2004 Office Design Tips
#128) June 30, 2004 Silent Signal Lights
#127) June 23, 2004 Reusing Patients’ Own Frames
#126) June 16, 2004 An Educational Handout and Waiver for PALs
#125) June 9, 2004 Letter Writing PR Campaign
#124) June 2, 2004 What’s in a name? Actually, quite a lot.
#123) May 26, 2004 Want Good Manners? Could Be a Problem.
#122) May 19, 2004 Office Polices for Remakes and Refunds
#121) May 12, 2004 Patient Satisfaction
#120) May 5, 2004 Have You Talked With Your Staff About Service Recovery?
#119) April 28, 2004 Are you updating your patients’ contact lenses?
#118) April 21, 2004 TV's The Apprentice: Did We Learn Anything?
#117) April 14, 2004 Gross Vs. Net, Part 2
#116) April 7, 2004 The Gross Matters, Too!
#115) March 31, 2004 Converting phone callers to appointments
#114) March 24, 2004 Should You Have an Office Manager?
#113) March 17, 2004 Technicians as Scribes
#112) March 10, 2004 Owning Your Office Building
#111) March 3, 2004 How's Your Office Manual?
#110) February 25, 2004 When You Have to Fire A Patient
#109) February 18, 2004 Marketing to Your Staff: Job Satisfaction
#108) February 11, 2004 What's Your Competitive Advantage?
#107) February 4, 2004 Customer Service in the Real World
#106) January 28, 2004 Building Volume with Internal Marketing
#105) January 21, 2004 Want to build your practice? Do you do Low Vision?
#104) January 14, 2004 Goals for the New Year
#103) January 7, 2004 Practice Data, Part 2
#102) December 30, 2003 Practice Data, Part 1
#101) December 23, 2003 Happy Holidays!
#100) December 17, 2003 The biggest challenge facing optometric practices
#99) December 10, 2003 Are no-shows a problem?
#98) December 3, 2003 The Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act
#97) November 26, 2003 The early and late arriver
#96) November 19, 2003 How long do your patients have to wait?
#95) November 12, 2003 Cross training is a key to efficiency
#94) November 5, 2003 Keeping accounts receivable low
#93) October 29, 2003 Generate interest in contact lenses with a patient seminar
#92) October 22, 2003 Thoughts on bringing in an associate
#91) October 15, 2003 Reactivating patients who have not returned
#90) October 8, 2003 Computers in the Exam Room
#89) October 1, 2003 Answering the question: "Are you an optometrist or an ophthalmologist?"
#88) September 24, 2003 Your Practice Brochure
#87) September 17, 2003 A Few Thoughts on Patient Recall
#86) September 10, 2003 Payroll Costs, Part 2
#85) September 3, 2003 Payroll Costs, Part 1
#84) August 27, 2003 The Power of a Busy Practice
#83) August 20, 2003 Perform a SWOT Analysis on your practice
#82) August 13, 2003 How to introduce change in your practice
#81) August 6, 2003 What has been your experience when visiting a doctor's office?
#80) July 30, 2003 Streamline contact lens procedures to improve profitability
#79) July 23, 2003 Do you have girls working for you?
#78) July 16, 2003 Computerized Acuity Charts
#77) July 9, 2003 A Zero-tolerance Policy on Loose Lenses
#76) July 2, 2003 Reception is a tough job; needs training
#75) June 25, 2003 How to build volume – quickly?
#74) June 18, 2003 Have you sat in your waiting room lately?
#73) June 11, 2003 Are your days not long enough?
#72) June 4, 2003 How clear are your Rx re-make policies?
#71) May 28, 2003 Do your patients know about new developments in contact lenses?
#70) May 21, 2003 Consider the refraction
#69) May 14, 2003 HIPAA Efficiency
#68) May 7, 2003 Setting your practice apart
#67) April 30, 2003 Opened Boxes of Contact Lenses?
#66) April 23, 2003 Your Optical Order Form
#65) April 16, 2003 What can you delegate?
#64) April 9, 2003 Preventing Forgotten Orders
#63) April 2, 2003 Contact Lens Rx Release, Part 2
#62) March 26, 2003 Responding to Requests for a Contact Lens Rx, Part 1
#61) March 19, 2003 Getting Insurance Information Over the Phone
#60) March 12, 2003 Tracking hourly payroll
#59) March 5, 2003 Want to delegate more? Not sure how?
#58) February 26, 2003 Staff uniforms: appearance is important
#57) February 19, 2003 Could be busier? Host an Event.
#56) February 12, 2003 Staying on time for appointments
#55) February 5, 2003 Satisfied patients don't refer their friends...
#54) January 29, 2003 Contact Lens Profitability
#53) January 22, 2003 Don't overlook the eyewear case
#52) January 15, 2003 Frame and Lens Warranties
#51) January 8, 2003 Should you own an optical lab?
#50) January 1, 2003 Elasticity of Demand
#49) December 25, 2002 Happy Holidays!
#48) December 18, 2002 Saturday hours - are they worth it?
#47) December 11, 2002 Are Newsletters Good Marketing?
#46) December 4, 2002 Do you have a crab at the front desk?
#45) November 27, 2002 Additional tests - but no insurance
#44) November 20, 2002 Don't tell me how good you make your goods - tell me how good your goods make me
#43) November 13, 2002 The Law of Contrast - applied to optical
#42) November 6, 2002 Staying on top of problem optical jobs
#41) October 30, 2002 How to store all those trial lenses
#40) October 23, 2002 Contact lens inventory – time to reconsider?
#39) October 16, 2002 Office Hours and Marketing 101
#38) October 9, 2002 Need more patients? Look within and look at Low Vision.
#37) October 2, 2002 Asking for money
#36) September 25, 2002 Prescribing and dispensing more to each patient
#35) September 18, 2002 How many patients per day?
#34) September 11, 2002 Staff Meetings
#33) September 4, 2002 Who inserts diagnostic contacts in your office?
#32) August 28, 2002 Blood Pressure as a Pre-test
#31) August 21, 2002 Ophthalmic Instruments as an Investment
#30) August 14, 2002 Are Your Eyeglass Policies a Secret?
#29) August 7, 2002 Spectacle Rx Walkouts – Part 2
#28) July 31, 2002 Spectacle Rx Walkouts
#27) July 24, 2002 A 10 Point Checklist for Interpersonal Skills
#26) July 17, 2002 Dispensing Eyeglasses: The Intangible Details
#25) July 10, 2002 Dispensing Eyeglasses: The Tangible Details
#24) July 3, 2002 Professional fees
#23) June 26, 2002 Staff Business Cards
#22) June 19, 2002 Informing your patient about contact lens options
#21) June 12, 2002 Employee Compensation Summary
#20) June 5, 2002 How soon can you get here?
#19) May 29, 2002 The Follow-up Phone Call
#18) May 22, 2002 Are you getting the miles?
#17) May 15, 2002 Are you monitoring patient satisfaction?
#16) May 8, 2002 Does each person on your staff have a side job?
#15) May 1, 2002 The Personal Touch: You’re in the News!
#14) April 24, 2002 An idea to increase delegation
#13) April 17, 2002 How does your staff really feel about A/R coatings?
#12) April 10, 2002 What color would you like?
#11) April 3, 2002 Reusing a Patient’s Frame
#10) March 27, 2002 Active Appointment Management
#9) March 20, 2002 Have you sat in your waiting area lately?
#8) March 13, 2002 Controlling Managed Care
#7) March 6, 2002 The NSF Check - Not So Fast
#6) February 27, 2002 It’s Thursday at 11 am; Is Your Front Desk Covered?
#5) February 20, 2002 Taking Staff Training to Another Level
#4) February 13, 2002 Unleash the Telephone Tether
#3) February 6, 2002 Putting Price Tags on Frames
#2) January 30, 2002 Pagers as In-office Signal System
#1) January 23, 2002 Three Key History Questions