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LAS VEGAS—Technology impacting the optical environment seems to be moving faster than we can keep up with it. Ultimately, though, it comes down to what it's always been about, improving the customer experience.
In a continuing series of live events, VM LIVE's two-hour "Digitizing the Store" hosted hundreds of multichannel optical retailers and other industry executives to help make sense of the latest technologies. Held Wednesday, Sept. 17, at The Venetian Las Vegas, the session consisted of leading optical retailers discussing how they use technology to improve the patient experience while streamlining their own practices' operations. The event's sponsors, Adlens and ABS, briefly made their own presentations.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
(L to R) Con Ward, OD and Russ Tolar of Eyecarecenter met up with with Sue Downes of MyEyeDr arriving for VM LIVE.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
(L to R) Mike Ferrara and Christine Fraser of Adlens, a VM LIVE sponsor, with VM LIVE speaker Eric Anderson, LensCrafters, and Adlens' Dave Eichelberger.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Jean-Philippe Sayag (l) and Fabian Bruneau of ACEP/ABS Smart Mirror, which was a sponsor of VM LIVE.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Kaiser Permanente's Melanie Poon, Susy Yu, OD (front) with Jeffrey Leach and Ovais Vaid (rear).
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
VM LIVE speakers (l to r) Eric Anderson, LensCrafters, Jonathan Rosin, MD, Rosin Eyecare, Richard Edlow, OD, Katzen Eye Group and author and millennial expert Jeff Fromm.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
PECAA's Doug Martin (l) and Brad Smith, OD.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
VM LIVE sponsor, ABS's Jean-Philippe Sayag (l) with CareCredit's Randy Baldwin.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
VSP Global's Jon Schuller (l) and David Carr.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Casandra Barrett and Camille Tyler of Grand Rapids Ophthalmology enjoyed VM LIVE.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Carl Zeiss Vision's David Buchanan and Cheryl Vescio.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
SVS Vision's Ken Stann and Lisa Stann.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
TSO, Inc.'s John Marvin (l) with The Buffington Company's C. Edward Buffington.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Williams Group's Gilan Cockrell (l) with Eye Solutions Technologies' Valerie Manso.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Mindshare's Kristin Peralta and Chris Franco.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
CooperVision's Tom Nicholson (l) and Joel Kamp.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Signet Armorlite's Lynne Roberts and Brian Glass.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Kaiser Permanente's Jeffrey Leach (l) and William Axe.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Luxottica Retail's Christina Rudzinski and Michael Akahoshi.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
VM LIVE speakers Richard Edlow, OD, Katzen Eye Group (l) and Jonathan Rosin, MD, Rosin Eyecare.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
U.S. Vision's Lynn Romana and Chad Graham confer about the program before the start of the event.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Antoine Amiel, New Look Eyewear (l) meets up with Vision Monday's Andrew Karp.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Vision Monday's Marge Axelrad with National Vision's Reade Fahs.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Leo Maccanna of Ocuco before the start of the event.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Shamir's Nir Shmuel and Mark Becker arriving for VM LIVE.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Penn Moody, OD (l) takes a break with Opternative's Aaron Dallek.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
(L to R) Amanda Booth, ClearVision Optical with Sheryl Nelson, Eye Contact and Stephannie Keller, MyEyeStore.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Essilor's Janelle Routhier, OD and Howard Purcell, OD.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
The audience listens intently to Jonathan Rosin, MD of Rosin Eyecare, as he talks about enhancing the patient experience.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Panelists Richard Edlow, OD, Jonathan Rosin, MD and Eric Anderson field questions from the audience during the Q&A portion of the program.
VM LIVE: 'Digitizing the Store' »
Author and millennial expert Jeff Fromm informed the audience about the "New Definitions of Brand Value. "
Opened with a welcome by Jobson CEO Marc Ferrara, the session began with Marge Axelrad, Vision Monday's senior VP/editorial director, who said that the "emergence of digital technologies is a tremendous equalizer."
The speaker presentations began with Jeff Fromm, author of "Marketing to Millennials" and president of FutureCast. Millennials, roughly characterized as those born between the late 1970s and early 2000s, are approaching the parenting age, a market shift to look out for, according to Fromm.
VM LIVE speakers (l to r) Eric Anderson, LensCrafters, Jonathan Rosin, MD, Rosin Eyecare, Richard Edlow, OD, Katzen Eye Group and author and millennial expert Jeff Fromm.
Price alone is no longer the driving factor, according to Fromm. Functional, emotional and participation benefits are key, and businesses need to be aware of and leverage this emergence of "participation economy." He also identified three tech trends brands and businesses should look out for: geo-location, useful wearables and interactive shopping.
Graeme MacKenzie, OD, of Adlens followed, discussing the company's new Focuss eyeglasses, which he said offer four times more viewing area than traditional PALs and will be on sale in the U.S. at the end of this month through a partnership with LensCrafters.
Richard Edlow, OD, president of Katzen Eye Group then shared examples of how his vertically integrated, multidisciplinary eyecare practice uses technology to provide better patient care while reducing costs. Among the technologies his practice has implemented to improve care while saving money are Brevium patient reactivation software, resulting in $2.6 million in revenue over a four-year period; MyEyeStore, which enables the practice to fulfill contact lens reorders online at a cost of forty cents per transaction compared with over $5 for reorders performed in-office; and a software program that fills last minute cancellations.
Jonathan Rosin, MD, co-owner of Rosin Eyecare, followed the theme of the afternoon stating that "it's all about the patient experience." Developing a web-based training program enabled his practice to create a team that is expert on products. After his dispensers take the program, which consists of 38 chapters, he's seen a significant decrease in remakes, and patient satisfaction is way up.
Fabian Bruneau and Jean-Phillipe Sayag, then represented the session's other sponsor, ABS. They described six new apps the company is introducing at the show—Smart Look, Smart Mirror, VP Fit, Vision Test, IR Tech, and an app for use on Google Glass.
The many technologies already being implemented at LensCrafters were then discussed by Eric Anderson, president and general manager of LensCrafters. These include tablets in use by all LensCrafters associates, customer relationship management software, and the AccuExam and AccuFit devices for testing patients' vision and fitting their eyewear.