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April 2012 EWOphthalmology Business 61 In order to capture the attention of the younger generation for LASIK services especially, his practice real- ized that social media is vital. "We have a blog that we update 5-6 days a week; we're on Facebook and we do a lot of advertising that way. A lot of people are liking us, and it's neat to see the way that's growing; it's kind of a fun thing, too," he said. David Gosiengfiao, M.D., Makati Medical Center, Makati City, Philippines, whose practice is also in the midst of incorporating EHR, said social networking has been helpful, though in a less formal way. Even though his practice has a Facebook page, Dr. Gosiengfiao said, "Formal social networking is a little scary for patients; we ask our pa- tients to post on their Facebook pages, 'Thanks to Dr. Gosiengfiao,' and their friends read that and want to come [to the practice]." The push for change According to Dr. Snow, the number one reason for incorporating EHR into his practice was the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. Adding other capabilities such as online pa- tient check-in was to aid in patient flow and to hopefully increase the number of patients, he said. In a similar vein, Dr. Boone said, "It's a direction we were going in, but it certainly gave us the push that if we were going to do it, we'd better do it now because we can at least get some of the money we're going to spend on it from government incen- tives." It was the same for Dr. Sterrer's practice. However, the government in- centives aren't enough for some to switch to EHR. Abraham Sleem, M.D., Cataract Cornea and Laser Eye Care, Albany, N.Y., said, "I'm trying to stay away from EMR as much as possible. I feel EMR is only going to slow down my practice, not make it smoother, and I have not yet found that perfect EMR that I'm willing to shell out big bucks for." He continued, "I'm going to stick to paper even if it means taking a percent deduction. I feel like that percent deduction is a lot less than it would cost me to acquire EHR and a lot less than the losses that I would To view the latest issue of Ophthalmology Business eZine, scan the QR code with your smartphone Keeping patients compliant with the MaculaTester app P.8 An ASCRS Publication • Can you see what I'm saying? • Using celebrity endorsements • Backdoor Roth IRA • Keeping patients compliant with the MaculaTester app • At the pinnacle of peril • Making great hiring decisions • EHR isn't just for government compliance AT THE PINNACLE OF PERIL: DISABILITY INSURANCE P.10 MAKING GREAT HIRING DECISIONS P.14 eZINE TM February 2012 www.OphthalmologyBusiness.org February 2012 eZine content incur from the amount of slowdown that EHR would induce in the prac- tice." EW Editors' note: The doctors mentioned do not have any financial interests related to this article. Contact information Boone: 559-627-9393, drboone@visaliaeyecare.com Gosiengfiao: 63-2-382-7251, drgosh@yahoo.com Sleem: 347-782-3120, abesleem@gmail.com Snow: 520-955-1000, ksnow@bdpec.com Sterrer: 207-773-4607, jsterrer@eyecaremed.com or go to www.ophthalmologybusiness.org AVOIDING PHYSICIAN BURNOUT P.16 GOING SOLO P.12 RETIREMENT DONE RIGHT PART II P.8 eZINE TM November 2011 www.OphthalmologyBusiness.org 10 questions every physician should answer before making an alternative investment P.27 An ASCRS Publication