Issue 26 June 27, 2014

In This Edition

Issue 26


The Gazette
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Contact Vision Source® at 888-558-2020 or [email protected]


Top Story

Look for Your 2014 Member Survey

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At Vision Source®, it is imperative that we deliver superior member satisfaction and valuable solutions. In that spirit, we are looking forward once again to 'hearing from you' as we ask that on July 15, 2014, you complete the 2014 Annual Member Survey. The survey is designed so that you can provide us helpful feedback on how we can improve, deliver what you are seeking, learn more about what you like, dislike and need in your practice. Our ultimate objective is to deliver more value to you.

Why is it important? We will take your feedback and integrate it into our 2015 business plan so that everyone at the Vision Source® Member Support Center and in the field can be equipped with the tools and services required to meet your needs better. In 2013, you provided great feedback, such as highlighting the need for us to focus on local, regional and national managed care strategies, asking us to tailor The Exchange to be more interactive and to offer CE. You requested an increased focus on e-strategy offerings and social media assistance. Thanks to your feedback, we were able to focus our energy on your priorities and have developed managed care relationships and new patient channels in an ever-growing number of markets across the country; we provided 8 hours of CE at The Exchange in Boston, reduced the number of vendor presentations and increased the number of breakout learning labs. We also launched new state-of-the-art member websites that integrate social media components and mysocialpractice.com auto blogging tools. We could not have done this without your feedback, and we appreciate your excellent suggestions.

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Does your input matter? Your voice absolutely matters! Whether you are new to Vision Source® or have been here for years, it's very important that we hear from each one of you. The data will be collected, and we will summarize the findings of the survey as we did last year.

How do you take it? The survey will be available from Tuesday, July 15, 2014, until Tuesday, July 29, 2014, and should take about 15 minutes to complete. I look forward to sharing the aggregate results with you, and we will inform you of our key initiatives as we head into 2015. I would like to encourage all of you to take the survey and respond as quickly and as thoroughly as possible.

We are committed to delivering the value and service that you expect and are counting on your guidance to help make us better.

Thanks for taking the time to complete the survey on July 15, 2014, and have a great summer and balance of the year in 2014.

Be well,
Jim Greenwood
President and CEO
Vision Source®

  Breaking News

Vision Source® Announces Advisory Board

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Vision Source® has named seven leading optometrists to sit on a newly formed Vision Source® Administrator Advisory Board. The Vision Source® Administrator organization is comprised of 170 local leaders and represents a unique component of the Company's value proposition.

Vision Source President and CEO, Jim Greenwood commented, "At Vision Source®, it is our mission to enrich lives by enabling independent optometrists to reach their full potential. One of the key factors in the success of Vision Source members is the leadership provided by the Administrators who serve at the local level. The healthcare delivery systems of the future are currently being designed and built in local markets, and as such Vision Source members are beginning to realize new opportunities for growth due to the abilities and actions of our Administrators."

The following Vision Source® members have accepted the invitation: Dr. Dori Carlson of Grafton, N.D., Dr. Mario Gutierrez of San Antonio; Dr. Brett Hagen from Spokane, Wash.; Dr. April Jasper of West Palm Beach, Fla.; Dr. Pete Kehoe of Galesburg, Ill.; Dr. Amir Khoshnevis of Charlotte, N.C. and Dr. William Strickland of Oxford, Miss.

Click here for the full press release.

Premiere Practice Program Update

Vision Source® and its vendors are committed to compliance with Sunshine Act, Pharma and AdvaMed guidelines. To ensure member, vendor and company compliance, the Premier Practice program has been discontinued. Vendor rebates to members from Essilor, Marchon and CooperVision will continue and amounts remain unchanged; however, you will not be required to display the Premier Practice stand.

To ensure compliance with Pharma guidelines, the Alcon component of the previous Premier Practice program will be modified. Complete information on the modifications can be found in the Vendor News Section or the Alcon Vendor Page on the Member Intranet.

May Royalty Payment Form

As you receive your Royalty Payment Form for the month of May, you will notice a "0" on line G – Royalty Fee Due for May 2014. This was a printing error; it does not mean there is $0 royalty due for May 2014. Please disregard the "0" on line G, and calculate your fee using the royalty percentage included on line F of the Royalty Payment Form. We at the Member Support Center apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

  ICD-10 Coding Challenge

How Would You Code This Case?

Take advantage of these regular ICD-10 challenges to bolster your understanding of the new coding system to take effect in 2015. Your financial future depends on understanding how to use these new codes.

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Case #9

55 YO WM

  • CC: vision is slightly blurry
  • HPI: both eyes, at near, ongoing, glasses help
  • Medical Hx: unremarkable
  • Ocular Hx: unremarkable
  • External: unremarkable
  • Internal: remnant of hyaloid vasculature in vitreous OD & OS

How would you code this case using the ICD-10 Code Set? Email your answer to [email protected]. You will automatically receive an acknowledgement and the correcting coding for the case.


  Fresh Day™ and Fresh 30™ Success Stories

Patients Appreciate the Affordability

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"I continue to be impressed by the Fresh Day™ family of daily disposable contact lenses. The pricing of the sphere lens allows me to refit patients into a superior product with little to no changes to their bottom line. The multifocal is a home run. My success rate is very high and most patients achieve great vision with no more than one change in prescription. The Fresh Day™ for Astigmatism lens is a great option as well, and I am very excited for the upcoming launch of -1.75D and -2.25D cylinder powers."

– Dr. Michael Rebarchik of West Lewes, Del.

  Words from our Vendors

In this section, you will find the latest offers and promotions from Vision Source® vendors. For more details, log in at visionsource.com and view the vendor book.

Important Announcements from Johnson & Johnson Vision Care

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Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., is committed to strengthening its partnership with prescribers, addressing patient needs with a relevant and differentiated ACUVUE® Brand Portfolio, and leading the industry as the preferred solutions partner for your practice. Starting on July 1, ACUVUE® OASYS® Brand Contact Lenses six-month supply pack (12 lenses per box) will launch, and a new unilateral pricing policy will launch for a variety of brands this summer. See the vendor book or click on the announcement at right for more information.

Patient Rebate Program from Essilor Has Impressive Results

In the first month of the Xperio UV™ Patient Rebate Program, practices that have been involved in the program have been outperforming those that are not. Sign up now at xperiouv.com/visionsource.

Also, the enrollment period for the Power of 3 Event is ending June 30, so there are few more days where you can enroll at powerof3event.com and get your Unique ID from your Essilor brand sales consultant.

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As of mid-June

  • 1,250 Vision Source practices are enrolled
  • Vision Source practices have shown up on the ECP Locator almost 29,000 times, with practices showing up on the locator an average of 57 times!
  • 6,178 Vision Source patients have submitted a rebate form

Are you earning the most you can with the Definity Rewards Rebate Program? Check out the flyer for a reminder on which products are eligible.

Get Your Vision Source® Supplies and Marketing Materials

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Office Depot provides a variety of solutions and services for Vision Source® practices through its Business Solutions website or retail stores. Office Depot and Vision Source® have developed a competitively priced list of everyday items, such as paper supplies, toner, branded marketing materials, as well as furniture, janitorial supplies and technology. Contact the Office Depot national account representative Teri Mims at 832-477-6433 or [email protected]. Or visit the personalized marketing portal at visionsource.myp3portal.com. For printing questions, contact Tim Gwinn at [email protected].

Office Depot is pleased to announce that Dr. Robert Dittoe in New Lexington, Ohio, (pictured above right) won the $500 iTunes Gift Card.

For a complete overview of our products and the WebStore, a downloadable pdf can be found here.

  Around Vision Source®


  Marketing

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Back-To-School Is Almost Here

While it seems summer has just begun, it's not too early to begin preparing for the back-to-school season. To help inform your patients and your community of the need for comprehensive eye health exams for school-age children, we've prepared the following.

You can also order customized flyers, counter cards and posters from FedEx Office or Office Depot through links to their sites on your Member Intranet.

  Member Services

Care for the Person, Not Just the Patient

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"One of my patients took several weeks to come in to pick up her eyeglasses. When she came in she looked much thinner and told me she had suddenly fallen sick and was in the middle of undergoing several operations. The next day, I noticed that I couldn't stop worrying about her. So I called a local florist and had them deliver flowers to her home. I just wanted to show her that Primary Eye Care cares more about her than just her eyes."

– Becca Bridges of Primary Eye Care, Brentwood, Tenn.

How has The Gold Standard book helped you raise the bar? Send us an email at [email protected].

New Website Simplifies Check-in; Easy to Customize

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"Our new Avelient website is a wonderful thing. The best part is that patients can fill out their medical history online and send it directly into our practice management system. We can collect medications, lifestyle information and chief complaint before they visit, which makes check-in easy. We've also found easy to add custom content like our 'Hall of Frames' and patients are loving the shopping cart."

– Susan Murphy, Practice Manager, Alderwood Vision Source®, Lynwood, Wash.


  Practice Development

Trusted Colleague: Focus on Service; The Rest Will Follow

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This is the fifth installment in our Trusted Colleagues series—profiles of high-performing offices that exemplify the best practices of Vision Source® membership—networking with colleagues at local meetings and The Exchange, engaging with elite vendors and delivering the gold standard of patient care.

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In the Vision Source® spirit of collegiality, these members have also agreed to answer any questions you may have about their experience and included their email addresses.

Our Trusted Colleague for this edition is Janet Block, OD, from Atascocita, Texas. Click here to read her story.

Considering Selling?

Walt West, OD, FAAO, vice president of practice development for Vision Source®, has authored an article for Vision Source® practices detailing today's selling environment. Titled, Seller Beware, Dr. West points out why an offer that sounds good initially may have some hidden pitfalls. He details the rise of aggregators, entities that buy optometric practices and may hire the OD to work there, but the financial deals behind these arrangements can be shaky, as the OD often needs to accept greater financial risk than in an outright sale. Learn more about how aggregators use balloon notes and how to protect yourself. If you're thinking of selling your practice, take the time to read this important article.

Vision Source® offers resources for buyers and sellers of practices. Click here, log in as a member, click the Practice Management button and go to Practice Transitions. Or contact Dr. West at [email protected] for individual consultations.

Contact Lens SpringBoard Helps Build Practice

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The Vision Source® exclusive Contact Lens SpringBoard Program has already helped improve the contact lens sales of more than 100 participating members by an average of 31 percent. These participants have learned to

  • Increase overall contact lens sales
  • Convert patients to daily disposable lenses
  • Increase sales of annual contact lens supplies and
  • Decrease the number of patients walking with their Rx.

"The practices dedicated to this project not only realized a gain in their clinical expertise and confidence in fitting daily disposable contact lenses, but they also increased profitability and success with the sale of annual CL supplies."
– Dr. Gina Wesley of Medina, Minn.

"The SpringBoard project proved to be beneficial for every employee in our office. It worked to increase our overall sales of annual contact lens supplies and aided employees/doctors to become more comfortable having conversations about the savings and benefits of purchasing a year's supply."
– Dr. Gordon A. Price of Scituate Harbor, Mass.

Now individual offices can participate for free and on their own schedules. Register by Oct. 1, 2014, and receive

  • A marketing kit with the materials you need to maximize contact lens sales success
  • A Training and Activity Guide with step-by-step instructions for becoming a contact lens center of excellence
  • A recorded webinar to share with your staff

Register by clicking here to start your practice on the way to increased contact lens success.

The Practices of Distinction Tour Moves To Midwest

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The Vision Source® Practices of Distinction tour swings into the Midwest in July and early August. This six-hour program (luncheon included) features tips and tactics to help transform your office into a practice of distinction and includes 3 hours of COPE-approved CE. Here's a look at the featured presentations:

  • Health Care Reform, "The Good News for Your Practice"
  • Profit, Patients, and Free Time, "How You Can Get More"
  • Proven Strategies to Increase Contact Lens and Optical Profit

Midwest dates and locations for the Practices of Distinction tour are:

  • July 16 – Howell, Mich.
  • July 29 – Columbus, Ohio
  • July 30 – Indianapolis, Ind.
  • July 31 – Bloomington, Ill.

Here's what your colleagues are saying about the 2014 Practices of Distinction program and speaker April Jasper, OD, FAAO:

Dr. April Jasper is a fabulous speaker and an inspiration for those of us who struggle with the constant life/work balance and our attempt to excel doing it all! I would highly recommend spending time with her!

It's wonderful to have a colleague like Dr. Jasper who can get you to think about how you can still raise the bar—even when you think your office runs very well and you have nothing more to learn. I enjoyed the program today and would definitely recommend it.

I love to hear another doctor say "This is what we do in my practice, and this is what works." I loved Dr. Jasper's presentation.

For complete information on all cities, venues, agenda and to register, visit practicesofdistinction.com.

  Vision Source® Member News

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Recognitions

Three Vision Source® doctors were recognized in Vision Monday's Doctors of Distinction feature. Congratulations to Dr. Bobby Christensen, Dr. Greg Aker and Dr. Peter Cass. Click here to see the story in the digital edition of Vision Monday.

  Your Feedback Counts

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Please take a moment to answer this two-question survey—even if you've done so before. It provides us the feedback to improve The Gazette.



©Vision Source L.P. 2014. All Rights Reserved.