LEADING OFF
TIPS, TRENDS & NEWS YOU CAN USE
O.D. OFFERS THREE STEPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL PRACTICE WEBSITE
Last year, I built a beautiful website for my practice, Oakland Vision Center. It costs me $8 a month and has ushered in a new patient demographic..
Here’s how I did it.
1. I focused on my goal.
My website is a glossy brochure to catch a fish. Period. I did not include an “eye glossary” on the website because patients can search Google for that. The site mentions nothing about a 20% discount off a second pair sold. The reason: Patients can purchase their eyewear from an online retailer, often for less anytime. My goal was to create a website that: 1) gets patients’ attention with beautiful pictures (more later); 2) prominently displays the address, hours of operation and phone number; and 3) allows online scheduling. The beautiful pictures are the hook. The location, etc. are the line. The online scheduler is the sinker. That’s how to catch a fish.
Check out oaklandvisioncenter.com.
2. I included eye-catching images
We sell clarity all day. Make sure your website does too. Only use high-resolution, beautiful, eye-catching images. (The pun is intended.) A great place to get gorgeous reasonably priced images is the Internet. You can purchase royalty-free stock photos with a mouse click. Just type, “stock photos” in your search engine.
3. I dropped my “website guy”
Why take the do-it-yourself approach? A website needs constant edits, changes and updates. The most annoying thing is to have to email your “website guy” for a simple change, only to have to wait a couple of days, then get sent a bill for something you could have done yourself. I made the Oakland Vision Center website in about 24 hours for just $8 using a do-it-yourself website builder. Simply type, “create website” in your search engine, and you’re off! It literally took me a few hours to create my practice’s website. ■
Dr. Tanya N. Gill, O.D., is the owner of Oakland Vision Center Optometry located at 1960 Broadway, Oakland, Calif.
WHERE TO DINE AT SECO
Kirk L. Smick, O.D., F.A.A.O., Morrow, Ga.
Optometrists throughout the country are getting ready for their annual pilgrimage to Atlanta for SECO, long considered one of the finest clinical optometry meetings in the country. This pilgrimage includes phone calls to me from several of my friends and colleagues asking me where to dine. The cardinal rule of dining in Atlanta is that reservations are a must!
HERE IS A LIST OF MY FAVORITE PLACES TO DINE:
• Italian: Antica Posta, Pricci, Sotto Sotto
• Upscale: Bacchanalia and Eugenes
• French: Le Bilboquet, Bistro Niko, 4th and Swift and Aria
• Steak: Bones, Chops and New York Prime
• Seafood: Chops Lobster Bar and Kyma
Enjoy Atlanta and enjoy SECO. And did I mention that reservations are a must? ■
PROGRAMMABLE ELECTRONIC GLASSES IMPROVE VISION IN AMBLYOPIC CHILDREN, STUDY REVEALS
Results of a U.S. trial on programmable electronic glasses as a treatment for amblyopia show that the eyewear helps improve vision in children just as well as eye patching. The glasses combine vision correction and occlusion, with the occluding portion switching from clear to opaque every 30 seconds via an LCD display.
“Anything efficacious that helps replace patching is welcome, and the eyewear and principles used in this study hold promise,” explains pediatric optometrist Leonard Press. “My concern is how practical it will prove to be for children to wear these special glasses for four hours per day as was done in the study. As we know, positive results in a study under very controlled conditions don’t always pan out in clinical practice.”
Amblyz eyewear combines vision correction and occlusion.
In the trial, 33 subjects with amblyopia between age 3 and 8 who wore standard glasses were assigned to wear either a patch two hours a day or the programmable electronic glasses for four hours a day. After three months of treatment, both groups showed equal improvement, as they gained two lines of vision. The FDA has approved the glasses, which retail for roughly $450.
The trial, “A Randomized Trial of Amblyz Liquid Crystal Occlusion Glasses vs. Traditional Patching for Treatment of Moderate Unilateral Amblyopia in Children,” was presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s annual meeting. ■
Research Notes
• First-born children are more likely to have myopia vs. younger siblings, reveals the Oct. 8 online version of “JAMA Ophthalmology.” The researchers believe this is due to parents spending less time on educational activities with younger siblings, essentially protecting them from myopia ■
• Patients who have binocular glaucomatous visual field loss may be able to drive safely because they increase their visual scanning during viewing in a virtual reality environment, shows the November issue of “Optometry & Vision Science.” ■
• Exogenous L-DOPA appears to protect against AMD, reveals Oct. 30’s “American Journal of Medicine.” As GPR143 is the only known L-DOPA receptor, it may be a good target for combatting AMD ■
• Falling is the No. 1 cause of eye injuries, reveals research presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s annual meeting. Falls accounted for more than 8,425 hospitalizations through 10 years. Fighting came in second with almost 8,000 hospitalizations ■
• Low-dose atropine (0.01%) used nightly for five years significantly slowed myopia progress in children and had less side effects than higher dosages, reveals research presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s annual meeting ■
• Cacicol, a regenerative drop, appears to speed healing and relieve eye pain, light sensitivity and burning post corneal crosslinking in keratoconus patients, reveals “A New Matrix Therapy Agent (CACICOL20) for Faster Corneal Healing Following Epi-off Crosslinking With Ultraviolet A and Riboflavin (PA067)” presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s annual meeting. Cacicol has not yet received FDA approval ■
• Dropless cataract therapy, which eliminates or decreases the need for multiple drops post procedure, and, thus, can increase patient compliance, can save Medicare and Medicaid more than $7 billion through the next 10 years and $1.4 billion for out-of-pocket costs for copayments, says the CSIE report, “Analysis of the Economic Impacts of Dropless Cataract Therapy on Medicare, Medicaid, State Governments, and Patient Costs,” partially sponsored by Imprimis Pharmaceuticals ■
• Triple therapy (reduced-fluence photodynamic therapy with verteporfin, intravitreal bevacizumab and intravitreal dexamethasone) with 20mg of oral zeaxanthin daily, appears to further decrease the required triple combination therapy cycle for subfoveal choroidal neovascularization patients and may reduce the risk of CNV development in the other eye, says November’s “International Journal of Retina and Vitreous.” ■
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