Vision Expo West: Win big in Vegas

Key Points

Las Vegas-Those attending the International Vision Expo West (VEW) will have the chance to win big with a meeting that promises a plethora of continuing education (CE), couture designers, and exclusive courses including topics on health-care reform and the economy. Right in the entertainment capital of the world, VEW takes place from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center.

CE programs

One of the new and timely courses, "Obama's health-care plan: Making sense of new reforms," is where you can listen to policy insiders explain how America will be entering a new era of health care.

The economy, not only an integral part of health-care reform but also part of the practice's everyday functions, will be discussed in a new series of management courses called Visionomics that will take place from Sept. 30 to Oct 3. The courses provide: tips for surviving during these economic downtimes; studies in understanding profitability; enhancement of service outcomes to patients and customers; review-based staff compensation; and a free management course featuring a well-known business consultant discussing the current financial predicaments.

"We're very committed to being the place for the business medical meeting, and this is something we're going to build upon," said Loughran. "We had 9 hours [of Visionomics courses] at Vision Expo East and now at [VEW] we're going to have 25 hours."

The Lunch with the Experts Roundtable will be held Oct. 2 from 12 to 1 p.m., when eye-care professionals can have lunch and casual conversation on various table topics with members of VEW's Conference Advisory Board. Topics and experts include:

Another new offering is Allied Health Personnel Education, which includes 9 hours of CE and has been submitted to the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology for accreditation. It will take place from Oct. 2 to 3.

A Glaucoma Symposium will take place Oct. 1 and 2 where you can get up to 9 hours of courses.

VEW and the Ocular Surface Society of Optometry, newly formed partners, present Current Concepts in ocular surface disease: The dry eye, corneal dystrophy, and lid disease, which will make its debut on Oct. 2, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. This course will be a comprehensive dry eye diagnosis and management seminar that will cover all aspects of diagnosis and treatment strategies. Speakers for this course will be Alan Kabat, OD, FAAO, associate professor, Nova Southeastern University; Jack Schaeffer, optometrist, Schaeffer Eye Center; and William Townsend, OD, FAAO, Advanced Eye Care.

If technology is your foe, then attend another new course "Cracking the social networking code to generate new business," where you can learn how to harness emerging social networking technologies like Linkedin and Facebook to build business and solidify customer relationships.