Everyone enjoys sunny days, especially those of us who have experienced a rather cold and snowy winter. Sunshine can boost our moods, and while most patients understand the importance of protecting their skin from the sun, as many as 94 percent of patients aren’t aware of the negative impact the sun’s UV rays can have on their eyes.

If the weather in your area is beginning to warm up, now’s the time to remind your patients about the ways sunlight can harm their eyes, especially if they don’t use proper protection. Whether during an exam or in your patient newsletters, below are some facts about the eyes and sun you should be sharing with your patients.

UV damage accumulates over time. In many instances, this damage is irreversible. The eyes are the only internal tissue that can be directly exposed to UV rays. Just because it’s cloudy doesn’t mean sunglasses aren’t necessary. According to an infographic shared by Essilor, 40 percent of UV exposure happens when you aren’t in full sunlight. Between 5 and 10 percent of skin cancer cases are found on the eyelids. Too much UV exposure can lead to a number of eye problems, such …

The 2014 World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC2014) will take place in Tokyo, Japan this year from April 2-6. Considered by 200,000 ophthalmologists around the world as THE event to attend, WOC2014 will feature world-renowned speakers and exhibitors showcasing the latest devices and technology in the ophthalmic industry.

As Optos is at the cutting edge of technology with our optomap® Ultra-widefield retinal imaging (UWF) devices, we are thrilled to be exhibiting and speaking at this event! We would like to invite everyone attending the event to stop by our booth, E-52, or attend our seminar to learn more about our technology. At our booth, we will be showing our 200Tx, Daytona, 200Dx, OCT, OptosChart ELITE and AP300 devices.

The seminar will offer insight into the importance of and growing role of UWF imaging in modern ophthalmology. Several international speakers will be sharing their experience and research using the latest UWF retinal imaging technology. This lunch seminar will take place on Friday, April 4 at 12:15 pm in room 24 at Imperial Hotel.

Make plans now to join us at WOC2014! We look forward to meeting you there and sharing more information on our optomap® UWF retinal imaging devices …

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have long been used by individuals looking to keep up with family and friends. But as we shared last year, these social sites can be a great tool for eye care practices as well. They can be used as a free marketing tool to share your expertise and demonstrate the customer service your practice is known for.  Pinterest is another social site that, according to Augustin L. Gonzalez, OD, can be used to market your practice in a unique way.

Dr. Gonzalez shared with Healio that because Pinterest is “primarily a visually driven medium,” eye care practices can use to their advantage in a number of ways. Some of his examples for ways Pinterest can be used to market a practice include the following:

– Show pictures of new frames and sunglasses, as well as new instruments and technologies you’ve brought into your practice. For instance, if you’ve recently purchased a Daytona® for your practice, post a picture of it and give your followers a short synopsis of what the device does. – Share testimonials, therapies your practice prescribes on a routine basis and patient success stories. – Showcase images of …

There are many medical conditions that require frequent and thorough exams. Patients with diabetes, for example, must be closely monitored by doctors to ensure they are using the proper amounts of insulin each day. However, as diabetics have an increased risk of developing eye diseases, it’s important to make sure your diabetic patients understand their risk and the need for routine eye exams.

Aside from the obvious risk of developing diabetic retinopathy, the American Optometric Association shares that diabetic patients face a risk that is 40 percent greater than those who do not have diabetes of developing glaucoma. They are 60 percent more likely of developing cataracts than individuals without diabetics. While diabetics may realize they face a greater risk of these conditions, what many aren’t aware of is that some signs and symptoms of these diseases are nearly invisible to them until the disease is in an advanced stage.

In order to catch diabetic eye diseases before they begin to cause irreparable damage, or prevent further damage from occurring, patients must understand the importance of comprehensive routine eye exams. Tina MacDonald, O.D. and Certified Diabetes Educator, says diabetic patients should have an exam at least once a …

Your patients are likely to understand the importance of adding certain vitamins, minerals and other nutrients to their diets to help keep their bodies healthy. However, some may not realize the impact their diet has on the health of their eyes. But as All About Vision recently reported, the results of a new Swedish study revealed that adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet can help reduce the risk of cataracts in women.

The study, conducted by the Institute of Environmental Medicine at the Karolinska Institute, observed over 30,000 women above the age of 49 for almost seven years. They were specifically monitored for signs and symptoms of cataracts and were given a questionnaire so researchers could learn about their individual diets. Rather than singling out antioxidants like vitamins C and E and other nutrients like lycopene, researchers “used a measure of total antioxidant values in foods, which takes into account how nutrients work together.”

Researchers divided the women into five groups ranging from greatest antioxidant intake to least antioxidant intake. Women that took in the most antioxidants faced a risk of developing cataracts that was about 13 percent less than those with the lowest intake of …

As we’ve shared in many previous blog posts, Optos’ UWF retinal imaging technology can differentiate your practice from the rest, providing the “wow” factor patients are searching for. However, the “wow” factor isn’t the only thing to consider when determining if UWF retinal imaging is right for your practice.

Optometric Management once discussed the topic of UWF retinal imaging with doctors who were new to the technology, as well as those who adopted the technology early on. They shared the following factors to help determine if UWF retinal imaging was the right choice for their practice.

Dilation: Conventional technology requires a patient’s eyes be dilated in order to examine the retina, which patients see as an inconvenience. Others have difficulties continuing to look in a certain direction during the exam for reasons such as age or disability, which can cause exams to produce less than ideal results. All practitioners that spoke with Optometric Management reported that using optomap® with its nonmydriatic option to capture images of patients’ retinas produced better results in exams that were also quick and comfortable. Patient Education: Dr. David R. Frazee, a practitioner in Texas, says optomap® images help him better “explain how the …

We’ve previously shared that electronic health records can help improve the relationship you have with your patients, as well as the patient’s overall experience. In addition to the benefits electronic health records can provide in doctor-patient relationships, they can also help improve the workflow in your practice.

While transitioning to electronic health records, or EHRs, isn’t the easiest process to go through, Ophthalmology Business shares that carefully considering your practice’s workflow as you’re choosing and integrating an EHR system into your practice is a must. The article says that in order to avoid common issues that come along with EHR systems, such as turning your back to a patient while reviewing the records or entering new information, a practice should consider set up and staffing, among other points, to help improve the workflow when an EHR is implemented.

Set Up – The way your practice is set up can certainly affect your practice’s workflow. Ophthalmology Business suggests first looking at the exam lane to see what improvements should be made. Remove any items that shouldn’t be there and add what should be included to improve workflow, such as computers that will be easily accessible for inputting notes from …

The Optos® ultra-widefield (UWF) scanning laser ophthalmoscope was first introduced at Duke University Eye Center as a part of its comprehensive eye care services in September 2006. Over the past seven years, the practice observed a number of benefits the device added to its services, including improved image quality and increased field of view. In one case of dry AMD, the technology helped illustrate “the unique value of (UWF) fluorescein angiography by Optos” in patients suffering from AMD.

A female patient was diagnosed with dry AMD 1.5 years earlier with nuclear sclerotic cataracts in both of her eyes. At a routine appointment, the exam revealed a change in the patient’s visual acuity since her previous exam six months earlier. Her visual acuity was now 20/100 in the right eye and 20/40 in the left, with an Intraocular Pressure (IOP) of 15 and 18 in the right and left eyes, respectively.

Practitioners used the UWF scanning laser ophthalmoscope from Optos to gather clear images of this patient’s retinas even though she had rather dense cataracts. This used to be a challenge with traditional equipment like mydriatic white-light cameras, however, with the red-green laser functionality, there was “less scatter as …

Good communication between practitioners and their patients is essential. Patients are entrusting their vision and eye health to their doctors and they need to feel comfortable with the information that they are receiving and how they are receiving it. Unfortunately, there are practitioners across all types of medicine that have patients who are unhappy with the way they communicate them.

Effective communication between practitioners and patients can be difficult, especially when trying to explain medical terminology in understandable terms. There are also other practitioners that simply need a bit of help in developing a better bedside manner with their patients. Experts recently shared with Ophthalmology Business that when practitioners work on their communication skills, as well as their body language, it can make all the difference in a patient’s experience.

A few tips to help you improve your communication skills and body language, as outlined in Ophthalmology Business, include the following:

– Provide empathetic care – Listen to your patients and ensure that you understand their concerns. Dr. John Banja advises matching your behavior to the emotional atmosphere at hand. – Give patients your undivided attention – Put away your charts or notes for the exam …

With getting in shape and working toward a healthier self as a top choice for New Year’s resolutions, it’s highly likely that some of your patients decided to get in shape for 2014. Things seem easy for the first week or so, but as we settle back into post-holiday routines, it’s quite easy to let these good intentions fall to the wayside. What many need is an incentive to keep them motivated in their pursuit of a healthier life, so it’s the perfect time to remind patients that regular exercise will not only make them look and feel good, but will also help keep their eyes in shape as well.

Whether it’s through reminders during an exam, your practice’s newsletter or posts on your Facebook page, here are a few things to share with your patients that they may not know about.

– Exercise helps improve circulation throughout the body, and improved circulation in the tissues of the eyes can help remove certain toxins. – Regular exercise can also reduce intraocular pressure, which aids in the prevention of glaucoma. – Engaging in physical activity can also help lower one’s risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). One study of 3,800 people revealed that …