Eyeworld

125 September 2016 EW MEETING REPORTER which involves ODs referring their patients to the surgeons at the prac- tice when they've taken them as far as they can. The Integrated Eyecare Group allows primary care physicians to access a premier network of eyecare professionals. It has the potential for significant savings and improved patient outcomes and quality care, Ms. Burke said. Meanwhile, the practice's "Looking Forward ... Giving Back" program is a way to provide required charitable care with impact. Community engagement is another key factor in marketing, and Ms. Burke said it's important to take the time and encourage key members of your staff to get involved in the community. The target audience is both current and prospective patients, she said. The key to community engagement is to be where your patients are, and be very strategic about partnerships you choose, she added. William Rich III, MD, Fairfax, Virginia, presented "Surviving the SGR Fix Bill: APMs or MIPS?" The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) legislation was the bill that repealed the sustainable growth rate (SGR), Dr. Rich said. It had market your practice. This requires thought and planning, getting cre- ative with your strategy, and being part of health care at a different level than ever before. Ms. Burke described four strategies: an OD referral network, an Integrated Eyecare Group, the "Looking Forward … Giving Back" program, and community engage- ment. Knowing your target audience in all of these aspects is extremely important. If you take one thing away to- day, Ms. Burke said, it's that your pa- tients are your best ambassadors. For this reason, it could be extremely beneficial to capture patient testimo- nials and share them across the web, she said. This is a small investment that can have big results. Ms. Burke offered a few key tips when doing patient testimonials. If you're doing a video for Facebook, she recommended that it should be in the range of 45 to 90 seconds in length. Photos are important, she said, because 10% of people remem- ber what they hear or read 3 days later, but that jumps to 65% if there is a relevant image with the post. Less is more, Ms. Burke said, adding that people only read 20% of the text on an average webpage. She then discussed the strategies specific to Virginia Eye Consultants. The first is an OD referral network, continued on page 126 View videos from WIO 2016: EWrePlay.org Bita Esmaeli, MD, discusses her work with cancer patients, including those with excessive tearing.

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