8 minute read
NEG conference preview
from Vision Now May 2021
by Vision Now
Get with the programme
THIS YEAR’S NEG CONFERENCE, TITLED ‘TOOLS FOR SUCCESS’, WILL BE THE MOST VARIED PROGRAMME EVER PUT TOGETHER –WITH WORLD CLASS SPEAKERS AND CONTENT THAT WILL IMPACT EVERY NEG MEMBER ACROSS THE COUNTRY
“Having not been able to meet up with other NEG members since June 2019, the conference will offer a great opportunity to catch up with like-minded professionals to discuss the business and clinical elements of independent practice,” said Phil Mullins, NEG operations director. “Being held at the DeVere Staverton Estate Hotel, near Daventry on the 26 and 27 September, we look forward to welcoming you to a Covid-safe event in a great location, with the following great programme.”
2pm: ‘The post pandemic practice’ by Andy Clark
Andy Clark from Practice Building and the NEG Business Club will lead this interactive workshop illustrating how to significantly boost the lifetime value of patients to the business. He will highlight the importance of bespoke planned eyecare and situational dispensing when coupled with actively inviting patients back more frequently, and at more opportunistic times.
Andy will go on to reveal the power of encouraging the patient to return to the practice when they want to, not only when their eye examination is due, highlighting how this increases their willingness to purchase more. He will also demonstrate how to successfully recommend more products and make the most out of the opportunities presented by offering affordable eyewear. “The aim is to increase profitability by working smarter not harder, with the added benefit of boosting job satisfaction,” says Andy. Andy Clark returned to university after qualifying as an optometrist to study business, before building two large practices of his own. He is an accomplished presenter and passionate about training and development that creates long-lasting changes. This passion helped him win a National Training Award for his Optometrist Development Programme, and he was cowinner of an Optician Award for the Dry Eye Project. Andy founded Practice Building in 2010. Since then, he and his team have been working very closely with hundreds of independent practice owners helping them to build secure and profitable practices.
4pm: Coffee break
4:20pm: ‘Myopia and its management: it’s all a bit of a blur!’ by Andy Sanders (CET)
Myopia is a significant global public health and socioeconomic problem and has been steadily increasing in recent decades. It is estimated that by 2050, around 50 per cent of the world’s population will be myopic. In this talk, Andy will explore the latest insights related to the proposed mechanisms that drive myopia, the consequences of myopia, as well as management interventions and their reported efficacy.
Andy Sanders is a qualified dispensing optician (DO) with more than 37 years’ experience in manufacturing and technical dispensing optics. He has worked for large chains, smaller regional groups and independent High Street practice. He is professional services director for Hoya Lens UK, responsible for in-house company training as well as creating and delivering seminars on lens products, prescription and task analysis. Andy was a regular lecturer and tutor at Hoya’s European facility in Budapest, and is currently chair of the Optical Suppliers Association’s Standards Panel and Lens Focus Group.
MONDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 8am: Registration, tea and coffee in the exhibition hall
9am: ‘Menicon’s myopia control system in full Bloom’ by Josie Barlow
In this lecture, Josie will look at the prevalence of myopia and discuss the current treatment options for myopia management and introduce Menicon Bloom – a complete and comprehensive system to treat myopia progression. Menicon Bloom uses on-label products, care systems, protocols and software allowing the practitioner to monitor and communicate with the patient –improving treatment outcomes and compliance. Josie will also explore how offering myopia managment treatments can enhance and build a practice, and create long-term patients while reducing the risk of drop-out.
Josie is a qualified DO and contact lens optician (CLO), with more than 30 years’ experience in both independent and multiple practice. For more than 15 years, she has worked for contact lens manufacturers, and has developed and delivered CET and other lectures on a wide range of contact lens corrections. She specialises in complex lens fitting, advising peers in this area. Josie has conducted lectures to optometrists, CLOs and DOs, and facilitated CET-accredited workshops at industry meetings and manufacturer facilities.
10am: ‘The in-betweeners: closing the gap between primary and secondary care’ by Sarah Farrant
Sarah will present a practical guide and discussion around ‘why I continue to bother carrying out additional services in practice’. She will look at some business models to dispel the myths that it doesn’t add profit to your business, but rather look at how you can engineer additional services to be a building block for your business. “It’s these elements of care that the HES wants to move out to the community and practices can build real patient loyalty,” says Sarah.
Optometrist Sarah Farrant is a leading expert in therapeutics and dry eye management, representing the UK as an ambassador for the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society. She sits on the executive board of the British Contact Lens Association (BCLA), and was on the council of the College of Optometrists for 12 years. She is chair of Somerset LOC and has been instrumental in improving access to a nationally recognised level of local eyecare. She is also a keen international lecturer and a consultant for a number of global companies.
11am: Coffee break
11:30: ‘Contact lenses. The ‘must-have’ in modern optometry practice’ by Brian Tompkins
Brian’s talk will explain how his practice has integrated care plans for all eyecare, and moved contact lenses into a fee earning process to gain new patients and engender loyalty in existing patients. Brian explains: “Optometry has changed irrevocably in the last year due to Covid –but it needed to change. Practices were closed for months on end, and the standard income stream of PAYG fees, spectacle frames and spectacle lenses were not available to maintain income. Many practices have realised that a steady consistent income stream is the only way to survive now, in normal life and any future lockdowns.
“The essential commodity we should be using is care,” continues Brian. “Proper fees, open and honest pricing and charging properly for our time so patients understand how practices run. Contact lenses demand constant and continued care and, as such, lead the way in explaining the fee structure model. Whether disposable, re-useable, specialist or therapeutic, all patients need our professional time on a continued basis.”
Brian Tompkins is an award-winning independent practitioner and a past president of the BCLA. He is extremely proactive in fitting all types of contact lenses to any age and prescription, and is keen on imaging and video capture for enhanced patient education. He lectures internationally on business, imaging technology, dry eye and contact lens topics, all based on real-life experience in the consulting room. Evangelically, he has been trying to spread the concept of charging proper fees and business development following the implementation of a Care Plan System in his own practice many years ago.
12:30pm: Lunch
2pm: ‘Never going back: how Covid19 has changed work for good’ by Peter Thomson
In his presentation, Peter Thomson will discuss how the way we work has evolved during the 21st century as a result of digital technology and social change. He says: “The pandemic has acted as a catalyst to accelerate this change with enforced home working and innovative uses of technology. This has had a fundamental impact on work organisation and how we live. We are never going back to the rigid, office-based work patterns but are moving to a more flexible, hybrid model. Leaders will have to adapt their management style to accommodate the expectations of the workforce of the future.” Peter Thomson has written many articles and blogs about the evolution of new working practices and spoken at numerous conferences on the subject. His current interest is in agile, self-managing organisations. His interest in the future of work started when he was Northern Europe personnel director for Digital Equipment, a pioneering user of technology for teleworking. When he left Digital, Peter became a visiting fellow at Henley Business School where he studied the changing patterns of work and the leadership implications of these trends. At the same time he formed Wisework, a leading consultancy in the field of smart working. In 2011 Peter teamed up with Alison Maitland to write Future Work. His most recent book is the title of his presentation. He is director of the Future Work Forum think tank.
3pm: Coffee
3:30pm: ‘Where and when should I give nutritional advice: that pragmatic approach’ by Meena Puar (CET)
“Optical professionals need to ensure that they can identify risk factors in a patient’s history and lifestyle that warrant further discussion with regards to selfcare, such as smoking, family history and so on,” says Meena. In her lecture, Meena will present a pragmatic approach to nutritional advice, using fictional patient case scenarios to demonstrate the key learning points. For each one, peer-reviewed evidence is presented to give a balanced pragmatic conclusion.
Meena Puar is an optometrist and DO. She is sales and education lead for Thea UK and offers training and education around dry eye, blepharitis and Demodex. She has also written several clinical articles around topics like dry eye, glaucoma and presbyopia. She has previously worked for Johnson & Johnson Vision and CooperVision as a professional services consultant. She has a keen interest in contact lenses and in June 2017 became a fellow of the BCLA. She has also been involved in glaucoma and diabetic screening programmes, which has meant working closely with local hospital eye services.
Register your place at www.negconference.co.uk and follow the registration link. We look forward to seeing you there.
