UNCASVILLE, Conn.—More than 150 independent optometrists and their staff joined in the 6th annual IDOC National Meeting held here at Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino last month. Attendees shared business development ideas and learned more about their practices’ needs via 50 IDOC vendor partners.

Kim Walters, OD (l) and Tara Parnell, OD took notes during a lecture.
Scot Morris, OD enthusiastically lectures on Electronic Health Records.
The IDOC 2010 meeting theme was “Becoming the CEO of Your Practice.” Stated Mark Feder, OD, president and CEO of IDOC, “As independents it is important to recognize that the success of our practices comes not only from our knowledge of optometry, but also from our ability to run our business.”

Mark Feder, OD, IDOC CEO, (c) with
speakers, Jay Binkowitz (l) and Neil
Gailmard, OD (r).

Neil Gailmard launched the CEO session with an informative lecture, “Become the CEO of Your Practice: Manage the People, Process, and Expense,” followed by five workshops for the attending doctors: “Perfecting the Medical Model,” “Hiring, Training and Retaining Staff,” “Making Contact Lenses Profitable,” “Effective Sales and Marketing” and “How to Operate Your Optical Effectively.” These workshops were led by Terry Bonds, OD, Gary Gerber, OD, Neil Gailmard, OD, MBA and Jay Binkowitz, optometric consultant.

Additionally, Scot Morris, OD spoke on Electronic Health Records and John Rumpakis, OD provided an advanced Billing and Coding Session. For the remainder of the conference,
there were 12 workshops.