About 500 gathered at Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando for The Con-nection IDOC’s 2019 meeting, where attendees celebrated the group’s 20th anniversary, networked, and seasoned practitioners shared their steps for success. These practitioners included Optometric Management contributors: April Jasper (chief optometric editor), Nathan Hayes (Management Tip of the Week contributor) and Steve Vargo (CEO Challenge author).

Their steps for success:

• Ask for online patient reviews. In his session, “Benchmarks for Practice Growth,” Mr. Hayes recommended practices aim to have one or two of their patients per month leave new reviews on popular platforms, such as Google and Yelp. Online word-of-mouth is an effective and affordable way for practices to attract new patients.
• Evaluate the patient’s practice experience. In her session, “Create Distinction and Build Your Practice with New Technologies,” Dr. Jasper discussed the importance of using/offering technology, considering the widespread patient use of VR and drones, among other cutting-edge technology. To assess patient perception of your practice, she suggested having a staff member go through the patient experience and take photos and videos, where appropriate, for staff assessment.
• Write a hiring ad for the job seeker. In his session, “The A to Z of Employing Associate O.D.s,” Dr. Vargo explained the importance of crafting an advertisement for this position, in which the content is written for the job seeker: “Consider what was important to you as, say, a 28-year-old student looking for a job.” OM