| Viewpoint from the Co-Editor |

Every team member contributes to the success of the practice

Like a championship team, a practice must cooperate to succeed.

Bruce Maller, Co-Editor

When I write the “Viewpoint” column for Ophthalmic Professional, I always look forward to receiving the editorial hotsheet. Basically, the hotsheet is like the starting lineup at a baseball game — it tells me the articles that will appear in the upcoming issue. I often use it to find a theme to discuss in my column.

This issue offers a great lineup of feature articles on revenue, diagnostics, cultural excellence, EHR, nutrition, HIPAA, leadership, volunteerism, and customer service.

That’s a varied and deep lineup. So, what is my theme? The word that comes to my mind when I put all the hotsheet buzzwords together is “contribute.” Every person in a practice has the opportunity (really a mandate) to contribute on a professional level to make a practice efficient and profitable as well as to enhance the patient experience. Today’s successful practice needs to be a well-oiled conglomeration of trained and committed individuals who, as a group, possess detailed knowledge on a vast number of difficult and complex topics.

Again like a baseball team, the contribution of every member is important to the overall success. When patients first call, they set in motion a series of actions requiring the contribution of every team member. To provide the best patient care possible, every team member must to be ready to demonstrate expertise and take lead roles when necessary. They need to be ready to contribute.

Inside this issue are topics of interest for everyone. I encourage every member of a practice to thumb through this issue to find information and tips to help maximize the overall success of the practice.

I’d like to recommend the feature article on cultural excellence, which features Asheville Eye Associates, the second of our cover contest winners. In the article, Denise Fridl, COT, and Robert Wiggins, Jr., MD, do a great job explaining how practice initiatives such as continuous quality improvement, PQRS and EHR, can improve quality and cost-effective care. Congratulations! OP

Mr. Maller is the founder and president of BSM Consulting, which provides business management solutions to hospitals, ambulatory care facilities, medical trade associations, physicians, health care personnel, pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers across the globe.