ASOA Membership Testimonials

Over the past 20 years I have had the privileged to attend the ASCRS*ASOA meetings. This has kept me  abreast in my field of ophthalmology.

I have always made a point of attending some sections of the ASOA meeting.  I have found this section to be very informative, inspiring and educational. I hold the members in this group in high esteem. They come across to be a very committed, friendly and sharing group of people.

ASOA has really helped me to be a visionary. Attending some of their marketing and managing talks has helped me enormously to improve the quality of vision and life of my patients. Particularly the baby boomers of the 21st century.

I rose through the ranks to become the practice manager of my office.  First a tech and upward from there. I could not have survived without this membership and the resources of this organization.  Since 2003, when I went to my first meeting, it has been one terrific ride. We all get frustrated by regulations, employees, bosses and ownership. But this group is always there to support you and help you through anything!  I would not be what I am today if not for ASOA.  Maybe that seems cliché, but it's true. I continue to learn so much by having ASOA as a resource (really my main resource) for a whole host of topics. If you manage anything related to ophthalmology, you need an ASOA membership.

ASOA has held a pivotal role throughout my 22-year career in the ophthalmic business.  We are fortunate to have the knowledge and expertise of ASOA at our fingertips.  ASOA provides a solid backbone for our practice. Our membership allows us to concentrate on the daily tasks that keep us beyond busy in our practices, while still having a pulse on what is going on in the industry.  ASOA works endlessly to keep us abreast of the latest happenings in our field.  The fact that ASOA is made up of our colleagues educating and supporting one another, ensures the enrichment of our careers and our ophthalmic offices. I was fortunate, early on, to work under an administrator that realized the value of ASOA and the value of education. When she turned the reigns over to me and retired, I was very prepared for my new role because of our long-term relationship with ASOA. 

I have been on the management side of ophthalmology for over ten years and have consistently leaned on the ASOA, as the leading resource for our industry.  Access to award-winning publications, annual meetings, courses, networking and the listserve have all provided invaluable guidance. One of the most challenging areas for administrators is the isolation we often feel in our work lives.  ASOA's ability to reach into our individual practices and provide the professional support and guidance that we all need has allowed our practice to stay in touch with changes, have access to resources for training and questions and to team with industry leaders to address operational efficiencies.  When evaluating the cost/benefits of different resources, ASOA is by far the leader. I highly encourage every administrator, practice manager and clinic leader to join.

In 1994, I somehow heard about the ASCRS*ASOA Symposium & Congress in Boston and decided to attend. I had been the administrator of our three-man general ophthalmology group since its inception in July of 1986. My husband was one of the partners and I had helped set up the practice, hired the staff (including an administrator) and started up the business. I was trained as a physical therapist and was planning to return to my profession that year, as my youngest child was starting school. Within weeks of opening, the administrator informed me that she was pregnant and I agreed to go in and work in her position until November, when she went on maternity leave. Needless to say, she did not return and I stayed on.

At the 1994 meeting in Boston, I attended a talk by a marketing person who told a story about being hired by St. Francis Hospital in Baltimore and how difficult this task was because the hospital was competing with Johns Hopkins. He decided to market the hospital as the second best hospital in Baltimore and was highly successful doing this.

We are in Miami, where Bascom Palmer (BPEI) is our competitor and constantly being voted Best Eye Hospital in the US News and World Report. Our patients absolutely hated going to BPEI and would implore us not to send them there. We did not however have sub-specialists in private practice at the time. I became convinced that, if we hired sub-specialists, we could provide our patients with the necessary care.  But that we could also keep it in house and prevent our patients from having to go downtown to the unfriendly clinic like atmosphere of BPEI.

I saw an opportunity for "the second-best place" to get eye care in Miami and returned to share the idea with my three doctors. They were excited at the thought and, immediately, we started planning to hire sub-specialists.  But, we saw the value in joining with several other ophthalmologists in our area to help provide enough patients to make this viable.

We decided to invite the other quality ophthalmologists in our immediate geographic area to join us and began meeting every Monday night for two years, in order to bring this group about. In July of 1996, we opened a new, 15-man practice on the campus of the largest community hospital in south Miami, taking up a floor and a half of the out patient building on the campus.

We are in our 18th year at this location.  We have seen some of the original ophthalmologists resign or pass away, but have hired several new ones and have a plan to keep hiring young, new physicians in the sub-specialties that we need. We currently have three retina, two glaucoma, two cornea, one pediatric, one oculoplastic, six generals and two optometrists working with us. We opened a satellite office at a new hospital outpatient center, at the request of the hospital, to service a new area.

This has been an extremely successful practice, which enjoys a good reputation and I have attended almost every ASOA conference since 1994. I also persuaded many of my doctors to attend ASCRS and now they are regulars at the meetings.  All of this is owed to that one idea that came to me as I sat in that talk by an unknown person in the old convention center in Boston in 1994.
 

I cut my ophthalmic teeth in technical ophthalmology.  When it became obvious that my ophthalmic career path was destined for administration, I joined ASOA. Originally, I did this to learn the unique skill set needed for administration that my scientific education and background had not addressed. Later, as risk management and regulatory compliance started consuming increasing amounts of administrator time, our board saw ASOA as the mechanism for me to keep abreast of developments in these areas.  ASOA has not disappointed. In addition, however, ASOA has provided me with the tools for career growth, leadership opportunities, professional networking and life-long friendships.

I would seriously consider signing your administrator up with ASOA and registering them to the ASCRS*ASOA Symposium & Congress.  One of the best gifts my boss ever gave me was an ASOA membership when I was first starting out in ophthalmology. The resources and sense of community are invaluable.

I have been in ophthalmology for over 14 years.  In my career, I have moved from scheduler to technician to refractive counselor to refractive director to practice development director to practice administrator,  and ASOA has been with me every step of the way. From billing and coding, human resources, practice management, refractive, optical and web boards--the list goes on. ASOA has allowed me and the practices that I represent to continue to grow, with the help of one organization. ASOA is always on the forefront of education, communication and technology.  They know what we need today and desire tomorrow. The blanket of ASOA is one that I would encourage any practice manager, administrator, COO, CEO and practice to join--the benefits far out way the cost.

ASOA is the first organization, in all the years of membership in other organizations, where they  pulled me in, made me feel welcome, mentored me where needed and provided assistance.   I have a number of years behind me and I have been a member of many professional organizations.  I returned to ophthalmology nine years ago and immediately joined ASOA (prompted by my physicians) and attended the annual meeting.  ASOA offered the mentor program and I took advantage of it--the presiding executive director personally introduced me to my mentor.  

I have always found every member accessible to assist me in my inquiries.  The overall experience is one that fosters growth and participation, without exclusion because you are not one of the select few.

I've been an ASOA member for a majority of my 35 years in ophthalmology. The Society has grown not only in size, but in scope and depth--helping to professionalize what was once a very ad hoc, informal career for the roughly 7,000 executives who lead ophthalmology practices in America today. The ASOA now produces a broad range of materials and programs, suitable for anyone in this field-- from the greenest mid-level manager to the most seasoned institutional CEO, and increasingly, for physician-managers.

In the years ahead, I can't imagine anyone in this space managing the business of eye care, as it becomes vastly more challenging, without the support of the ASOA. The cost-benefit of membership is exceptional.  For the typical new member, just one idea gained from your first hours of attending the annual meeting more than pays for travel and dues.