In May, patients and potential patients heard about the importance of annual comprehensive eye examinations and the need to protect their eyes from harmful UV light during Healthy Vision Month. Springtime also brings on symptoms of ocular allergies, and people often confuse these symptoms for infections and dry eye. These awareness campaigns provide opportunities to educate your current patients as well as attract new ones.

So what can we do to utilize healthy, timely and important messages throughout the year?

• Talk to patients about new developments. For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Theravision soft disposable lenses from ACUVUE in March 2022. The lens is infused with an ophthalmic antihistamine. The advent of new drug delivery systems has finally arrived and will significantly improve our ability to take care of our patients. A nasal spray, brand name Tyrvaya, was recently FDA-approved for the treatment of dry eye. And Dextenza, an intracanalicular plug loaded with corticosteroid has been released for post-operative care and will soon be approved for treating other ocular inflammation. While many patients may not fully appreciate the science, they understand the value their ECP brings to them by being aware of current technology.

• Be aware of how wearable technology continues to evolve in general health care, and know that our patients welcome our advice on how these technologies fit into ocular and general health care. Fitbit and Garmin are among the many digital health companies that recently released next-generation heart rate and activity monitors. Apple, always a leader in technology, continues to deliver sophisticated health and wellness-related data to wearers who want to track their heart rate, blood pressure, fall risks and more. Finally, consumers can monitor ovulation cycles, sleep patterns and even how their baby is feeling through these amazing devices.

• Note how quickly wearable diagnostic technology in eye care is evolving. Devices are now available to perform threshold visual fields, dark adaptometry and color vision testing interactively, with more on the way. In this competitive, dynamic field, keeping up for the benefit of our patients is essential.

We’re excited about how wearable technology may impact the delivery of eye care services in the very near future. Stay tuned to SNAPP’s website and make sure to look for these vendor partners at SNAPP’s National Meeting in September.

Please take this quick, two-question poll on technology. We’d also love to hear from you if you have a story to share.

OD learns not only what his KPIs mean but also how he can impact them through SNAPP MasterMinds program

As a relative newcomer to Pearle Vision, Anthony Perry, OD, says that being able to learn from businesspeople who have travelled the same road is extremely helpful. Dr. Perry began the franchise process in 2013 by converting a corporate location in Nashville, Tennessee, to a franchise. Three years later, in August 2016, he opened a new Pearle Vision Eye Care Center in Clarksville, Tennessee. “Both had their challenges, but the corporate conversion already had patients and a cash flow. In comparison, a cold start can be brutal for a while,” he says.

Dr. Perry

That’s when he knew he needed input on the business side. He joined a group called ProfitMastery, an organization that helps business owners in various industries dive deeper into the understanding of revenue, profitability and expenses. So when he heard that SNAPP was starting a SnappGroupMasterminds study group, he signed up. “In optometry school, we didn’t learn the business aspects. We were taught how to take care of patients, but we didn’t learn how to take care of ourselves and our businesses. From an analytical perspective, I was a little lost.”

SnappGroupMasterminds has been meeting virtually and will meet in person during Optometry’s Meeting in Chicago in June for some intensive discussions. “This group holds me accountable for the key productivity indicators (KPIs) that I should be measuring,” he says. He appreciates the perspectives his colleagues bring; even though group members are from all over the country, they share the experience of being in a Pearle Vision setting.

Dr. Perry says that he learned he had been making some smart decisions; many of his KPIs were in a solid range. “I knew that I needed to measure these, but I didn’t know how to evaluate them or how to measure the impact of changes. I happened to be on the correct path, so it’s great to be lucky. But I also want to be smart,” he says.

One business adage says that “what you measure, improves.” Simply the act of watching a metric and monitoring when it goes up or down brings more attention to that KPI. But now he knows more about why these statistics are important and how he can exact more control.

Dr. Perry encourages other Licensed Operators to enroll in the next SnappGroupMasterminds event. Mining the data from a practice management system carries a bit of a learning curve, but it does eventually become second nature. “If you are interested in learning how to service your investment in your business and yourself better and are willing to get out of your comfort zone, the time commitment is absolutely worthwhile,” he says.

It’s no crime to join the gang at the experiential Mob Museum in Las Vegas for a SNAPP Group dinner during the national meeting. The entire meeting is designed to promote business principles that benefit SNAPP members. Visit snappgroup.org for the recently updated landing page and all latest updates on the agenda for the 2022 National Meeting at Harrah’s in Las Vegas, Nevada, from Sept. 14‑16.

Attendees will receive COPE CE, as well as information on ocular nutritional supplementation, technology and much more. Check back often as speaker and course confirmations are announced.

But mark your calendars now because it’s going to be a great meeting.

Have you ever gotten an email from a boss saying something cryptic like “We need to talk”? You may immediately begin to worry. Are you in trouble? Are you getting fired?

Why would employees’ minds go there? It might be because they’re not clear on what could get them into trouble at work and they don’t feel safe. Vague, out-of-the-blue messages are seldom a good idea. They put people on edge, inclining them to assume the worst when their manager reaches out without any context. Surprise terminations encourage everyone to adopt that belief and incentivize a culture of fear.

Terminations should never be a complete surprise. Yes, at-will employment allows an employer to terminate employment for any reason or no reason at all (as long as it’s not an illegal reason), but please don’t fire someone for any reason or no reason at all.

Clear rules and consistent practices are your friends here. Inform employees what’s expected of them and what could result in their dismissal—the employee handbook is a good place to do this. Enforce your rules consistently, not willy-nilly. If you let employees get away with policy violations, but then suddenly switch to strict enforcement, you’ll only create confusion and fear. You don’t need to follow the same process for every kind of offense—some behaviors may warrant immediate termination, for example. But don’t bend the rules for some employees and not others.

A coaching culture can also be your friend, especially with employees who are struggling to perform to expectations. If managers regularly work with employees on improving their performance and enhancing their skills, they’re in a good position to spot signs early on that a struggling employee may be more successful and happier doing something else. In some cases, good coaching means guiding an employee out of the organization. A loss is a loss, but guiding employees toward more suitable work elsewhere is usually much smoother and less disruptive than an involuntary termination. Plus, they leave with goodwill toward you. In situations where termination is the right call, if managers have had conversations with employees ahead of time about the consequences for failing to improve, they’ll have softened the blow when it eventually comes.

Lastly, don’t hide bad financials from employees. If business is slow and a layoff is possible, employees need to know so they can make informed financial decisions and contingency plans. They’ll be extra angry if they feel they’ve been lied to or misled. In an age where companies go viral on the internet for poorly conducting layoffs, it’s in your interest to be transparent and honest.

All three subvariants appear to be spreading more quickly than BA.2 and are creating their own COVID-19 waves. Click here for more information.

The app uses a near-infrared camera, which is built into newer smartphones for facial recognition, along with a regular selfie camera to track how a person’s pupil changes in size. These pupil measurements could be used to assess a person’s cognitive condition. Read more here.

Parents increasingly expressed concerns about the amount of time their children were spending on digital devices, and these concerns impacted the way they managed screen time. Read the full story here.

Getty Images photo credits—baby: SrdjanPav; COVID-19: KATERYNA_KON_SCIENCE_PHOTO_LIBRARY; health eye and eye closeup: PeopleImages; child on tablet: Complexio; and robotic eye: Yuichiro_Chino