News from the AOA's Blog

By Jill J. Luebbert, CPOT

America has long been known as the melting pot of cultures. The amalgamation of the cultures has given the United States its unique perspective and flavor, making our communities unlike any other place in the world. Our multicultural communities bring a variety of foods, fashion, religion, and convictions into our society and into our eye care practices. Read the rest of this entry ?

Coming this summer from the AOA Paraoptometric Section: “Communicating with Hispanic Patients” (paraoptometric staff guide booklet). For more multicultural diversity resources, visit www.aoa.org/x12961.xml.

By Joan Abney, manager, Paraoptometric Section

More than half of the workers in the United States are minorities. Optometric practices should understand diversity in the workplace will increase significantly in the coming years. Successful practices recognize the need for action now and have a willingness to spend resources on managing diversity in the workplace.

Diversity is not only about preventing unfair discrimination and improving equality, but also about valuing differences and inclusion. It involves how people perceive themselves and how they perceive others, which affects their interactions.

Diversity exists in the workplace because people experience a group identity through their gender, race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, physical abilities, beliefs, fashion, and even diet. The workplace environment should facilitate looking beyond surface appearances to find the common humanity of each individual and the talents he or she brings to the organization. Read the rest of this entry ?

By Joan V. Abney, manager, Paraoptometric Section

A patient walks through your office door taking off his sunglasses; during pre-testing, a patient discusses her golf game; a patient’s case history states he is employed with a construction company. Does your office team recognize these are just a few of the “sun indicators” that provide opportunities to educate patients about eye protection from ultraviolet (UV) rays as well as significantly increase your practice’s bottom line? Read the rest of this entry ?

By Donna Suter, practice management consultant and business coach

If there is one secret to success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from his angle as well as your own. – Henry Ford

Henry Ford saw that flexibility in understanding others is perhaps the most important stepping stone to success. While you may be an expert at analyzing the data collected during an eye health exam and identifying disease, how adept are you at recognizing the four basic personality styles? Read the rest of this entry ?

As lens designs and the manufacturing processes improve, keeping up with the latest technologies can be daunting. Although freeform technology has been out for some time, evaluating the options on the market today can be confusing. The AOA Paraoptometric Section’s newest education module, Introduction to Freeform®, is designed to outline elements in lens design and manufacture, as well as review the fitting and verification techniques, and how to best position and present designs to personalize patient’s visual needs. Read the rest of this entry ?

While your office has purchased the Certified Paraoptometric (CPO) study guide and flash cards, your paraoptometric staff have studied hard and feel they have a grip on the material covered on the CPO certification examination, it’s normal for them to feel nervous and anxious before taking a test. Most everyone does. A touch of nervous anticipation can be beneficial to help keep one at peak performance while taking the examination.  Read the rest of this entry ?

The office opens in a half hour, the appointment schedule is filled to the max, and two employees have called in sick. This could be an office manager’s nightmare, or an opportunity for staff to unite and utilize all their abilities. Office managers need to prepare for times when planned or unexpected “under staffing” may occur.   Read the rest of this entry ?

The Paraoptometric Section of the AOA is seeking nominations for the 2012 Community Service Award. The award is given to the paraoptometric who demonstrates a commitment to helping improve his or her community and a dedication to the profession of paraoptometry. Read the rest of this entry ?

We live in a world that is ever-changing. According to futurist Faith Popcorn, change will continue to accelerate as much in the next 10 years as it has in the last 50, and as much again in the five years after that. According to this theory, if one lives another 15 years, he or she will actually live through 100 years of change. Are practitioners and staff prepared to handle such rapid changes? Read the rest of this entry ?

 The AOA’s Commission on Paraoptometric Certification (CPC) announced the appointment of Darlene Leuschke, CPC administrator, to the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) as an administrative reviewer.

She will be responsible for reviewing NCCA accreditation applications from certifying organizations for their certification program(s) against NCCA Standards for the Accreditation of Certification Programs. Read the rest of this entry ?