Practice Perspectives: Empower Your Practice with Education  

Efficiency, team building, revenue—these are essentials for any thriving eye care practice. One optometrist found a way to enhance all three in one place: Eyefinity Education Conferences.

Learn how Jennifer Mallinger, O.D. of Mallinger Family Eye Care in Las Vegas, Nevada leverages the power of education to up-level her team and enrich her practice.

“The number one thing is that it's going to make you more efficient with the software,” said Dr. Mallinger. “You're going to be faster and you’re going to make more revenue because you learn new ways to bill. Those are huge benefits. And—this is really important to me—it was a great bonding experience for my staff. It made them feel important. We went to a conference, and we learned something.”

But how could so much value come from just a few days at an education conference?

Eyefinity Learning hosts a diverse collection of education events throughout the year. Focus Conferences provide a deep dive on specific topics like billing or medical exams—perfect for staff looking for specialized training. Connect Conferences offer a broad range of courses and allow attendees to customize their schedule. Education conferences not only make growing your staff’s skills easier—they offer a unique way to connect outside the office and network with peers.

“We make it fun and exciting! It’s totally a team-building experience,” said Dr. Mallinger. “Just the fact that you’re going on an airplane or you’re taking a big drive—the whole experience is so fun.” On one occasion, Dr. Mallinger even rented a limo for her staff so they could drive around Chicago to sightsee and look for fun spots to visit. Eyefinity Education Conferences take place in a variety of exciting locations that offer great opportunities for your team to bond. The human component is integral to a successful business; having a great time together not only strengthens connections but can boost staff retention.

“Yes, it costs money to shut down the office, but ask anyone at the conference on the last day, ‘Did you learn something?’ and they will say yes! We’re all like, yes, yes, yes,” Dr. Mallinger said. “We learned so much and would do it again.”

Education Conferences also create the perfect atmosphere for peer-to-peer networking. “We always make sure to talk to other practices to learn how they do things and discover tips or tricks—just finding out that new one little thing, it's always worth it.” By bringing Eyefinity Encompass™  users together in one place, attendees are exposed to individuals with varying degrees of experience, different workflows, and from practices of multiple types and sizes.

Eyefinity educators have decades of industry experience and know what it takes to run a successful practice. Their knowledge and supportive nature are key to helping attendees learn new skills. It’s common for attendees to have multiple “aha” moments per conference—moments where a lightbulb goes off and they learn a game-changing tip.

So, how many times should a practice attend an Education Conference?

According to Dr. Mallinger, repeat visits are incredibly valuable. “I've been to five conferences, and sometimes my colleagues will ask, ‘Why do you come to so many?’ You would normally think it was because of new staff but it wasn’t—I brought the same staff five times. We always learn something new.”

Every visit to a conference offers the opportunity to learn new tips and tricks. Sometimes, the smallest details can make a huge difference. “One year we learned one or two tricks that made us an extra couple thousand dollars. We didn't even know about these functions before,” she said. At an Eyefinity Education Conference, you'll walk through every step of the exam documentation process to ensure you're not leaving money on the table.

Personalized, practice-specific assistance is another perk of Eyefinity’s Education Conferences. If you’re looking for answers to certain questions, Encompass expert instructors are more than happy to help. “We show up with at least 20 to 50 questions. That's my goal. And we get all those questions answered,” Dr. Mallinger said.

Helping your practice thrive is much easier to do when you have the knowledge, training, and tactics to make your staff feel confident and motivated. That’s why Encompass sets you up for success from the start with customized onboarding to fit the needs of your team. Eyefinity Education Conferences offer a key opportunity to build on that onboarding and leverage your cutting-edge cloud-based software to achieve your goals.

Eyefinity Education Conferences are designed to help staff at every level improve their Eyefinity Encompass skills. To meet the learning needs of all users, Eyefinity offers these education events:

• Connect: Get connected to your Encompass software (and peers) with a full lineup of courses! Phernell Walker, MBA, ABOM, VP of Optometric Relations, will deliver the keynote and teach a course with COPE and ABO CE credit. You’ll also be able to select the courses you want to attend during Day 2.
• Focus: Master your software with focused training on specific topics. We’ll spotlight topics to help you improve workflow efficiency and save you time. Each Focus conference offers an exciting new topic.

Continue Your Learning Journey!