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VisionWeb’s home page shows
users various options from product ordering to claims processing,
order tracking and training info.
NEW YORK—Each of the optical industry’s big Internet B-to-B portals offers a range of services which bring e-connectivity to practices’ management systems, insurance claims’ processing and suppliers’ systems to facilitate product ordering.

The merger of OfficeMate and Eyefinity “enables the web ‘front end’ to be the OfficeMater/ExamWriter solution for practices,” pointed out Eyefinity’s president, Jim McGrann.

 

Eyefinity’s eBuy enables users to order a full range of spectacle lenses and contact lenses. ECPs can order from many frame catalogues on the site—some 200 eyewear collections from a range of companies are available on Eyefinity.

In addition, capabilities like eBuy, eLab and the expanding section, eLearn, offer many other options for eyecare practices and optical retailers.

Input from a team of eyecare practices is helping Eyefinity prepare a significant expansion for eLearn, McGrann reported. “We are developing a series of training programs that span everything from helping new staff members get trained on the basics of optics and eyewear all the way through the business management of the practice. A number of our doctors are using it already and we expect to ramp up this dashboard later this year to provide a full suite of eLearn programs.”

 
The ECP’s sign-in page on
Eyefinity provides easy access to eINSURANCE, eLab, eBuy, eLearn and all the features of the site.
Eyefinity’s eBuy features promotions and training seminars from a growing roster of frame supplier partners which can be run directly through the system. The site also features its popular Top Sellers report and a “My Dispensed” feature which enables users to see the frames they’ve dispensed, facilitating ordering and reordering decisions.

The latest enhancement to OfficeMate/ExamWriter, the 8.5 version, will be introduced later this month at Vision Expo. Among its many new features, 8.5 will bring in electronic remittance advice and a patient “Out of Pocket” calculator.

Stated McGrann, “We encourage doctors to be the ‘CEO’ of their practice; increasingly they can start to see the value
of e-connectivity to all aspects and associates in their practice.”

VisionWeb continues to increase its functionality and programs as well, via close to 1,000 supplier locations and a range of features within product ordering and insurance claims processing as well as education.

 

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VisionWeb just launched a new
contact lens ordering engine which
clarifies the ordering process

VisionWeb recently introduced a refreshed “user interface” as part of its contact lens ordering service for VisionWeb members. Similar to VisionWeb’s spectacle lens and frame engines, the contact lens engine displays unique product catalogs for each contact lens supplier. A new advanced search feature allows users to look for contact lenses based on several categories including lens type, manufacturer, color, series, wear schedule, pack, and UPC. When the product is found, users have the choice to order lenses one product at a time, or to order multiple products using the new Grid View feature.

In addition, the new contact lens engine offers a Fast Order feature, which allows users to scan the UPC barcode of a contact lens product and automatically add the product to their Item List. This timesaving feature will make it easy for users to order products to fill their in-house stock.

All selected products are stored in an Item List, or shopping cart, until the order is complete, making it easy to place a single bundled order for multiple products to a supplier. Bundling orders like this is more efficient and saves the eyecare provider in shipping charges. When ordering contact lenses on VisionWeb, users have the ability to ship the order to the office, or directly to the patient. Patients benefit by receiving their annual supply of contact lenses direct to their door without having to come back to the office.

VisionWeb’s insurance subscription business saw a 30 percent increase last year, according to president and CEO Ken Engelhart. “We have an exclusive arrangement in the eyecare space with Emdeon, one of the largest clearinghouses in the U.S. for processing claims. (Emdeon was formerly known as WebMD, but the company split out the consumer brand “WebMD” from the B-to-B brand, “Emdeon.”)

VisionWeb members have access to this which helps them manage the whole process for a large range of commercial and government plans. Said Engelhart, “It includes real-time eligibility and authorization and claims status and ERA, electronic remittance advice, all of which helps doctors get reimbursed sooner.”

And, noted Jessica Clark, VisionWeb’s director of marketing and business development, “We are not just passing business through to Emdeon, rather, we add value to the clearinghouse product with our extensive training/hand-holding and issue resolution process.”

Clark said, “We’re also getting ready to launch a new sweepstakes to encourage members to take advantage of ordering from multiple suppliers. The new ‘Money Madness’ program, which will launch April 5, will offer the chance for registered VW users to win weekly and two grand prizes in American
Express gift cards and supplier credits,” she said. ■ —Marge Axelrad