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Gifts for a Prosperous Holiday Season
Here's an end-of-year opportunity for you to benefit from my boasting.

FROM THE EXECUTIVE EDITOR, Jim Thomas

'Tis the season for gifts and freebies and I'm not one to rock the sleigh. In fact, looking over the past year, I've found more than a few gifts in the pages of Optometric Management. Space limitations prevent me from mentioning them all, so I offer the list below as a starting point.

Take the wrapping off

1. Greater profits from contact lenses. In February, Dr. Nancy Barr explained the savvy way to introduce contact lens fitting fees into the optometric practice. I've heard the objections over fee increases, but Dr. Barr's success handily overrules them.

2. Expanded scope of practice. Also in February, our Chief Optometric Editor, Walt West, O.D., offered common-sense steps for success in a primary care environment. In October, Dr. West showed how O.D.s can continue to define their roles as primary healthcare providers in light of organized ophthalmology's actions against optometry.

3. A primer for refractive surgery. In the May issue, Brian Marshall, O.D., discussed the various surgical options and created a "refractive procedures" table, which simplifies all the options and suggests the safest plan for each patient's needs and expectations.

4. New equipment. Sorry, OM didn't give away any equipment, but Gary Gerber, O.D., did explain, in six steps, how to tell whether your equipment is obsolete and what to do about it. In the same issue (August), Richard S. Kattouf, O.D., presented the criteria for assessing new equipment.

5. Inside intelligence. OM's September cover article revealed the operations inside of 1-800 Contacts, the largest mail-order contact lens company. Of the hundreds of articles about 1-800 appearing in the optometric press over the years, this is the first written by an editor, Dr. West, who actually visited the contact lens seller's facilities.

6. A regular road trip. In January, OM introduced the "Online Exclusives" section of our Web site. Dr. Steven Butzon revealed in the inaugural article how to make house calls that are both profitable and self-rewarding (search on "House Calls" in the archive section of the site.)

7. The kitchen sink. If this list of six isn't enough, then you can find all of the ideas from all of the articles in OM through the archive button on our Web site.

As with any gift, it's the thought that counts. On behalf of the staff of Optometric Management, please accept our sincerest wishes for a healthy, happy and prosperous holiday season.