On this last show of 2017, and as the Power Hour closes in on half a million downloads, Gary recaps 2017’s most listened to shows along with his own top five favorites!

With all the rapid changes going on in optometry, is a residency still necessary?  2015 graduate Dr. Kevin Cornwell joins the show talking about his experiences and viewpoints on the benefits of a residency as well as his thoughts about OD’s practicing in the prison system.  Tune in for this very interesting perspective on this episode of the Power Hour!

Try as we may, things still occasionally go awry in a practice.  What you do after that happens can be the difference between losing a patient, their family and all their friends – or making them lifetime practice cheerleaders.  Learn Gary’s view on service recovery in your practice and what you should do when things don’t quite go as planned.

What is often talked about, easy to calculate and rarely used?  That would be "chair costs."  This week, Gary discusses exactly what the terminology means, how to calculate yours and what to do with the numbers you get.  If you want to learn what GOPPAR and RevPAR mean, and how they affect your practice, and what they've got to do with chair costs - you'll want to tune in to this episode!

In what will probably be the shortest episode ever, Gary reveals the atomic powered tool the every entrepreneur has, and never uses.  It’s one of those “I can’t believe it was this obvious and staring me in the face all the time” things that you WILL be able to use right after the show.  Short, to the point and powerful – on this episode of the Power Hour!

Listen to this episode for an entertaining discussion with Gary and Brian as they talk about the difference between UK and US optometry.  Opticians scope of care, OD education, UK practitioners emphasis on glasses and being ahead of the curve in contact lenses are discussed along with differences health insurance systems and the state of the industry.  Brian also talks about his important work with the BCLA, his fun presentation style and . . .  shoes (listen for details!)

Managed vision care, telemedicine, online shopping for eyeglasses or contact lenses... are these things that will hurt or help your practice? The answers and discussion may surprise you when you listen to this episode of the Power Hour!

Private Equity is getting more and more involved in optometry.  What is private equity, why are they so interested in eyecare, and is private equity something you should look at for your own practice?  Jeff Fronterhouse and Bret Davis, two experts in private equity, join Gary on this episode of the Power Hour!

During a staff training session you tell your optician, “When you sell AR lenses, say X.”
We’ve all tried training our staff this way, and whether “X” is effective or not, invariably we have trouble making it stick. Is the problem “X” or the way we’re training and teaching our staff?
Frank Pigneri, Sr. Manager of Customer Training and Development at Essilor is the guest on our show. He discusses some of the finer points of optical training, what should be included in a good training program, when to do it, how to make it stick as well as a host of other great topics related to staff education.

You practice in an area that is very conservative. Your long time trusted, well known receptionist who had brown hair yesterday, shows up with purple hair today. What should you do? What can you do?
Your optician shows up with a therapy dog. Your insurance biller is afraid of dogs. Now what?
Attorney Julia Goldman is the guest on the Power Hour.  

We have all watched kids scroll through life, with their rapid-fire thumbs and a six-second attention span. Physician and filmmaker Delaney Ruston saw that with her own kids and learned that the average kid spends 6.5 hours a day looking at screens. She wondered about the impact of all this time and about the friction occurring in homes and schools around negotiating screen time—friction she knew all too well.

Years of scientific research and intensive study of real-world applications have led to incredible breakthroughs in the way businesses large and small identify and hire top talent in their fields. Optimize Hire, a leading Internet-based pre-employment testing company focused on helping organizations hire better, joins Local Eye Site on this episode of the Power Hour to discuss this important topic.  

The CDC, in close collaboration with industry partners, has organized Contact Lens Health Week as a strategy to increase public awareness and promote healthy contact lens wear and care.  Jennifer Cope, MD, MPH from the CDC and  Joseph P. Shovlin, O.D., F.A.A.O., the President, American Academy of Optometry, join the Power Hour to discuss the fourth annual Contact Lens Health Week. This year’s campaign theme is “healthy habits mean healthy eyes” with a focus on encouraging youth to start healthy habits early, for healthy eyes later. Increased awareness about the importance of proper contact lens hygiene can encourage contact lens wearers to adopt healthy habits that can reduce their chances of getting an eye infection. 

Five years ago the first Power Hour episode discussed the future of optometry. What's has and hasn't come true since that show? The dialogue will probably surprise you!

It’s as constant and inescapable as gravity.  Yet, most of us only focus on the downside of the 80-20 rule and don’t look at how it can actually help our practices.  That changes on this episode of the Power Hour when Gary discusses how this powerful principle can help you build your practice.  Marketing, staffing, accounts receivable, and scheduling are but a few of the areas that can be improved once you understand how to leverage this natural law.

While Google Glass “1.0” certainly had enough challenges that prevented it from becoming mainstream in optometry, other companies (including Google) haven’t stopped developing new and better products.  Listen to this episode of the Power Hour as we bring back industry expert David Friedfeld, the president of ClearVision and Dr. Richard Clompus, the VP of Communications for PogoTec and we visit the current state of wearable eyewear and how it can work in your practice.

What’s the secret number of dollars that should trigger you to start thinking, “I need help and need to hire an associate?” Does such a number even exist?
Regardless, when the time comes and you decide to bring an associate into your practice, how should you do it? On the next episode of the Power Hour, Gary discusses the nuances and best practices to bringing on an associate doctor. When you should do it, how to it and why you should (or shouldn’t) consider it.
Like all the practice building topics discussed on the show, you can expect this discussion to be thought provoking with very different information you’re likely to hear anywhere else!

Listen to this episode as we discuss the current state of telemedicine, what Smart Vision Labs (www.smartvisionlabs.com) has learned since their last appearance and why they have re-released their latest device. Two of the newest clinical studies will be discussed on the show. Smart Vision believes OD’s can work well with them instead of having an adversarial relationship and welcomes your calls on the show. So, is it really an eye exam in an iPhone or something else? Tune in and find out!

Treehouse Eyes opened about a year ago.  Founded by Dr. Gary Gerber and industry veteran Matt Oerding, with two centers already open in the DC area, Matt and Gary discuss how and why the company launched, what the results have been so far and what their future expansions plans are.

Erik Lilligren from Eyecarevideo.tv joins the show and talks about why and how practices can effectively use video in their practices.  Learn the tips and tricks the pros use to promote your practice and make you stand out from the crowd!  An overlooked medium, and often used poorly, video can be a great tool to position your practice, especially in crowded markets.

Whether it’s Google ad words, boosting a Facebook post, or a recall snail mail postcard – the basics of marketing still apply.  Ignore any of these and your attempts are sure to fail.  Use all of them and you’re sure to succeed.  Gary covers all you need to know about this important topic on this episode of the Power Hour.

Two weeks ago, the Vice President of Operations for the Power Practice, Paul Ferraro, was our guest on the show.  Paul discussed the first steps in recruiting top talent – job posts, telephone screening, etc.  Tune in to this episode of the Power Hour as the discussion continues.  Topics include the actual in person interview – questions, flow, structure, working interviews, the onboarding process, staff retention and why staff members really leave and an array of other important topics.

Tune in to this episode of the Power Hour when Gary invites listeners to share their most “off the wall” customer service tricks and tips.  He also brings many of the strategies he used in his own practice as well as those of very successful practices from around the country.

Harvard Business Review estimates that 80 percent of turnover is due to bad hiring decisions. The consequences of a wrong hire can go beyond turnover costs.  Listen to this episode of the Power Hour to learn how you can minimize the “bad hire” occurrence, on your way to building a happy and productive staff.  

We surveyed ODs to find out!  Learn which ODs are the happiest, what makes them unhappy, and what you can do to increase your own professional satisfaction. Tune in to the Power Hour to hear Gary discuss this interesting topic with Dr. Bethany Fishbein.  

Continuing and building on last weeks’ episode on how to elevate your customer service, Gary discusses innovative techniques to empower your staff.  Tune in to this episode of the Power Hour for strategies that allow your staff to help you, are welcomed by them, last beyond one office meeting and immediately add to your bottom line.

What can optometrists learn from the latest United Airlines customer service debacle?  A LOT!  Tune in to this episode of the Power Hour where Gary discusses great ways to amp up your customer service, a simple technique to measure it, and what to do when things go horribly wrong – which at some point, they absolutely will!

There’s more to cutting costs than squeezing your sales reps for better deals.  Gary discusses his top five ways so add to your practice’s bottom line on this episode of the Power Hour.

Do you look forward to office meetings, or do you dread them and then ultimately cancel them?  Tune in to this episode of the Power Hour where Gary discusses new ways to effectively and efficiently hold staff meetings that are productive and add to your practice’s bottom line.

Decreasing revenues with increasing expenses and regulations, online eyeglass selling, “generic” contact lenses and online refraction – to name just a few things – are going to fundamentally change and possibly eliminate optometry as we know it.  Gary talks about why that’s a GOOD thing and how you can leverage the tsunami of change NOW to position your practice for whatever the future holds.  Tune in to this thought provoking episode of the Power Hour!

Vision by Design, the country’s best meeting on myopia control is right around the corner. Get a snapshot of myopia control in general and the meeting in particular from Dr. Paul Levine, President of the American Academy of Orthokeratology and Myopia Control.
Paul gets listeners up-to-date on what’s new in myopia control and talk about why it’s important for your practice.

Drs. Mark Rosner and Debby Feinberg are back on the show to discuss some of the latest work they’ve been doing with minute amounts of prism.  On the previous show they discussed how they have had literally life changing results for their patients by carefully prescribing minute amounts of prism.  Get caught up on some of their latest work on this  episode of the Power Hour.

Mike Hundert is the current Chairman of The Vision Council, as well as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Creative Officer of De Rigo Rem, part of the world's fourth largest provider of eyewear.  Mike joins Gary for a discussion on the Power Hour to give his thoughts on what is arguably the biggest merger – ever - in the eyecare industry, and how it will affect consumers, other frame and lens manufacturers and your practice.  Don't miss this thought provoking and interesting episode.

On last week's show, Gary talked about successful strategies to externally market your practice.  This week, the show focuses on internal marketing.  Learn to turn last week's prospects into patients, who then become practice evangelists on this informative and entertaining episode of the Power Hour.

Gary rolls up his sleeves and gets into a discussion about some innovative external marketing strategies you should be using at your practice.  What works, what doesn’t, how to budget and plan your marketing and how to create compelling campaigns are all topics to be covered on this show.  

Inventory is a major expense for a practice yet one that rarely gets any attention beyond – “There’s a hole on the board – I guess we need to fill it with something.”  On this episode of the Power Hour, Gary takes your calls and shares easy strategies to help you control what for most practices, is arguably the biggest potential profit generator – or potential profit loser – in a practice.

Reuters news and other historically reliable news sources recently reported a proposed merger between Essilor and Luxottica.  Howard Purcell, O.D., F.A.A.O., DIPL., Senior Vice President of Customer Development at Essilor, joins a special news breaking edition of the Power Hour.  Callers speak to Howard and learn about how this breaking news will affect the industry.

A recent landmark court case for a New York Yoga Studio may have far reaching consequences on how doctors pay their associates.  The concept of Independent Contractors and how they can work in your practice is the topic of the next episode of the Power Hour.  Join attorney Elizabeth Harlan who argued the case on behalf of the Yoga Studio, that their employees were indeed independent contractors.  It’s an important topic for any doctor who has an associate or might hire one in the future!

On the first Power Hour of the year, Gary talks about starting at step one of practice team building: hiring a great team.  Hear some great strategies you can use the next time you need to hire someone – which as you’ll hear on the show – might not be as far off into the future as you might think!  If you’re a new practice owner or a seasoned veteran, you’ll get a lot of benefit by listening to this first episode of 2017!