Foresight
Fourth Quarter 2011
For professionals in the Health and Wellness Division
Health andWellness Division Bring
Walmart’s Mission to Life
Save Money, Live Better takes on important meaning in health care matters
P
aul Beahm, senior vice president of operations for the Health and Wellness Division, recently spoke with Foresight about
the impact the company is having, both in
terms of the health care provided in communities and its influence nationally.
Q:
What has been the
Health and Wellness Division’s most significant
impact in 2011?
scores have never been higher in either of the
businesses. Our success, driven by the professionals and their staffs in the stores, has been reinforced by data from J.D. Power and Associates,
the global marketing information services company, which conducts annual consumer surveys
on health care. The surveys tell us the professionalism of our pharmacists
caused us to gain more ground
than anyone in the survey.
These are record-setting results.
A:
Q:
The most significant imTo what can you atpact we’ve had in our commutribute the increased cusnities and on a national scale
tomer satisfaction ratings?
is our contribution to improving access to affordable health
As a result of the total
care. Walmart rolled out the
quality initiative of the Health
Humana Walmart-Preferred Rx
and Wellness Division, process
Plan, the Medicare Part D enchanges have occurred inrollment plan. In one year, it
side the pharmacies allowing
has drawn more than 1 milthe pharmacist to spend
Paul Beahm participated in a panel discussion
lion enrollees, a remarkable
more
time with patients. Techat the 2011 Health andWellness Conference.
accomplishment. The health
nician upskilling has been fancare solutions team saw the opportunity, and
tastic, and we’ve focused on the rerouting of
the Health and Wellness Division has made it
prescriptions back to the technicians. As the
a reality. It provided patients with a drug plan
technicians can support the pharmacist more,
that had the lowest monthly premium of any
it allows the pharmacist to spend more time incomparable plan and some of the lowest coteracting with patients. The rollout of the log
pays on a very liberal formulary.
copy and streamlining of the end-of-day labelWalmart customers have come to expect
ing process has turned non-patient-facing time
impressive incentives from our Health and
into patient-facing time. In our Vision Centers,
Wellness Division, and our $38 spectacle prothe focus on Best Patient Experience, delivered
gram has been a huge success in bringing
so well by our staffs, contributes to these ratings.
quality products to so many new patients.
Of course, the $4 prescriptions from our
What are the top goals for 2012?
Pharmacies remain an industry benchmark.
How do ODs and pharmacists play a role?
Secondly, we have been tracking the quality of service in our Pharmacies and Vision CenThe theme for 2012 is about clinical
ters, and it’s on the rise. Our patient experience
Continued on page 2
Meet the Associate OD
Advisory Panel
Erik Brendtro, OD
Lori Glass, OD
Jesse Blattstein, OD
Thomas
Sczepanski, OD
Douglas
O’Connor, OD
A:
Q:
A:
The Affiliated OD Advisory panel, whose members were introduced
inthethirdquarterissueofForesight,metrecentlywithDr.Overman.
Inside This Issue
Glaucoma Awareness . . . . 3
Diabetes Expo . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Focus on Women . . . . . . . . 5
Training Updates . . . . . . . . 6
Educating Students . . . . . . 6
Pharmacist a Leader . . . . . 7
OD Creates Connections . . 8
Foresight
Walmart’s Mission...
Health
Continued from page 1
WellnessMatters
Listening and Leadership
By Chad Overman, OD
Director of Professional Relations, Health and Wellness Division
T
he dictionary defines a leader as someone who commands others so
they follow or someone who is the first in a pack. The image conDr. Overman
jures the leader in a race, but I tend to think of leadership more like a
relay than an individual race. The baton of leadership is passed routinely from one runner
to the next. That’s essential because no one person has the stamina to ensure the correct
outcome all the time. To win, every member of the team needs to be on his or her toes,
ready to accept the handoff and put forth all the effort possible.
This subject of leadership arose recently at a November meeting with our Affiliated OD Advisory Panel. I call these meetings so that I can hear from affiliated and associate health care professionals to understand their concerns and focus my energy on topics of greatest priority. In our
time together, we spoke about our own leadership models. For me, I find direction from having a
plan, being authentic in my efforts to achieve it and in asking for input from others to assess how
well I’m accomplishing my goals. That strategy worked for me as a practicing optometrist, then
while recruiting Walmart and Sam’s Club health care professionals, and now, in my newest role.
Listening is a key factor in leadership, I believe. That’s why we have created these professional advisory committees. You’ll meet your colleagues who serve on the Associate OD
Advisory Panel on page 1 of this issue. You’ll notice, too, that the theme of leadership appears several times in this issue. Renee Ford, from the Training Project Management Office,
discusses leadership development in her training column. Individual optometrists and
pharmacists featured in these pages share the strategies they’ve taken to become leaders
in their stores and communities.
I think of leadership like it’s the challenge of running a mile every day rather than running a marathon once a year. Each day presents new opportunities to lead and improve.
Give it all you’ve got, and ask your colleagues for guidance. You might be surprised at how
willing your teammates are to take the baton from you and run with it for a while.
*
Foresight
VOLUME 2, ISSUE 4
Foresight is a quarterly publication
for professionals in the Walmart and
Sam’s Club Health and Wellness Division
Sponsoredby:
Foresight is developed and produced by
Practice Advancement Associates,
a division of Jobson Medical Information
2
Sam’s Club Donates
to Hunger Relief
A
s part of the annual Holiday
Taste of Sam’s Club
event, Sam’s Club
helped raise awareness about the issue of hunger in the U.S.
and donated $1 million to support child
hunger programs through Feeding America, the nation's leading domestic hunger
relief charity. The donation will provide approximately 8 million meals to children and
families in need during the holiday season
and throughout the year.
*
quality and patient care. We hold fast to
the idea that—whether in the independent
optometrists’ offices, the Vision Centers or the
Pharmacies—when we focus on the patient
and build trust, the results will be increased
trust and increased loyalty, and the patients
end up living a healthier life. First and foremost, our goals focus on patient care and
clinical quality.
The Walmart tagline, Save Money, Live
Better, is our mission. In the Health and Wellness Division, that truly resonates and comes
to life, perhaps more so than in any other area.
Health care services, including vision and
pharmacy, are the point of the spear in bringing Save Money, Live Better to life in Walmart.
By putting the patient first, it can help bring
the larger mission to life.
We want the store-level
personnel to see that when
the patients give us our
high marks in patient satisfaction, it’s because we’re
doing more to improve the
quality of their lives.
Paul Beahm
One of the top five
concerns for individuals for the past decades
has been how they are going to pay for their
health care. Our ability to lower costs and
maintain a focus on the patient is something
that not a lot of organizations can do. For
example, very seldom can patients make a
phone call to the hospital or doctor’s office
and get the person they’re trying to reach on
the phone. Every one of our pharmacists will
do that for a patient. Walmart pharmacists
are the front-facing triage level. Patients are
recognizing that and rewarding Walmart
through their increased loyalty and trust.
Q:
A:
How is Walmart particularly well
suited to achieve these goals?
First of all, our mission lays it out.
Walmart supports the mission, as evidenced
by the field operations team that supports the
professionals in the store. That team is aligned
with the goals of the Health and Wellness Division, helping the professionals as a kind of
support team. Finally, we can achieve these
goals because of the health care professionals
we have in our stores and affiliated with us.
I’d put the quality and professionalism of
our pharmacists and affiliated and associate
optometrists up against any company in the
U.S. They’re world-class people. Our goals are
natural for us because we’re comprised of
talented, dedicated people aligned with the
broader mission of the company.
*
Foresight
Focus on Glaucoma
Large Number of Glaucoma Patients Seen atWalmart-affiliated Practice
B
insurance,” he says. These paefore Phillip K. Haiman, OD, began his
tients often selected the Walmartpractice at a Walmart in Sunrise, Fla., 10
affiliated practice because the
years ago, he completed a residency in pridoctor’s office and Walmart Vimary eye care and low vision at the Boston
sion Center had the reputation
Veterans Administration and subsequently
r. Phillip Haiman knows Saturdays are his busiest
of being afworked as director of opdays. All those patients who have trouble schedfordable
tometry at a large ophuling an appointment with other eye care providers
and accomthalmology practice. So
come in to see him. So he has coordinated with the
modating.
treating eye diseases,
Vision Center manager for additional technician supHe still sees
such as glaucoma, was
port on these busy days to provide his patients the
a number of
nothing new to him.
best experience possible and to “allow me to offer the
uninsured
However, it was a fairly
best
quality exam possible and continue my education
patients,
new idea to many of the
without
feeling hurried,” he says.
and in many
patients who were unDr.
Haiman
says his medical patients help build
cases, he
aware that glaucoma dihis own practice and can be a steady source for the
may be the
agnosis and management Dr. Haiman examines an OCT image of a patient’s eye.
Vision Center, too. “These patients may be coming in
first health
were within the scope of
two or three times a year. Each visit I can show them if
care provider to suspect or dipractice for optometrists. To others, it was a
their vision has changed and they need new eyewear,
agnose a medical condition as
surprise that a doctor affiliated with Walthe result of a thorough eye
mart would offer those kinds of medical
or I can mention different options on different visits. I
exam. However, he is now also
services. Yet Dr. Haiman’s practice has grown
may not have talked about computer eyeglasses the
a participating provider on
in large part because of the range of servlast time they were here, but three months later, I
most medical panels, including
ices he provides. He estimates that about 35
have another chance to bring that up.” It’s a win-win
Medicare.
percent of his patients every week have
situation.
As the patient base has
some underlying medical condition that
grown, so has the stock of his
needs treatment or monitoring.
high-tech instrumentation that
Dr. Haiman initially was not credenamong other technology, help him show
enables him to follow up with these patialed on any medical plans when he started
patients in the exam room whether their
tients more confidently. An optical coherwith the Sunrise practice. “I was just taking
ocular disease is progressing, which is very
ence tomography unit and retinal camera,
care of patients who didn’t have access to
helpful in making patients understand why
it’s important to stay with the medication
regimen he prescribes.
Dr. Haiman says he is grateful and enjoys
practicing in a Walmart setting. He enjoys
the challenge of educating the community
ccording to Prevent Blindness America, it
that optometrists within a corporate-affiliated
is estimated that more than 4 million
practice have the same skills as those who
Americans have glaucoma, but only half of
work in other settings. He points out that
those know they have it. It is a leading cause
most corporate-affiliated ODs receive no diof blindness in the U.S. for African-Americans
rect benefits from products sold. “I do find
over age 40. Older Hispanic-Americans, people over
that I educate more and spend more time
with my patients at Walmart to win their
age 60 and anyone with a family history of glaucoma also may be
trust. My Walmart patients have become
at higher risk of developing the disease.
very loyal once they know what we can do,
Glaucoma can be detected by eye care providers conducting a
and they provide my practice with a huge recomprehensive eye exam. Treatment for glaucoma includes eye drops or pills, and surgery
ferral system.” Dr. Haiman continues to work
might be an option if glaucoma cannot be controlled with medication.
in a hospital setting as well as serves as adMedicare patients at high risk for glaucoma—those with diabetes mellitus, individuals
junct clinical instructor and volunteers on
with a family history of glaucoma, Hispanic-Americans age 65 and over and African-Americans
the National Association of Veterans Affairs
age 50 and over—can receive dilated eye examinations as a benefit of Medicare coverage.
Optometrists newsletter committee.
Learn more at glaucoma.org.
Busy Saturdays
D
*
January Is Glaucoma Awareness Month
© Shchipkova Elena | Dreamstime.com
A
*
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3
Foresight
Walmart and Sam’s Club Create Awareness at
Annual American Diabetes Association Expo
A
s a Health and Wellness Division Market
and our doctors are getting their names out
Manager for Optical and Hearing Aid
there, but we’re also driving home the imporCenters, Randy Lucas is responsible for
tance of annual eye exams.” These are imcommunity outreach
portant preventive
and creating health
measures, especially
care awareness. For
for patients with conthe past three years,
ditions such as diaLucas has strengthbetes and macular
ened a relationship
degeneration, which
between Sam’s Club
require monitoring. “If
and Walmart and the
a patient has a deAmerican Diabetes
tached retina, we want
Association (ADA),
that caught earlier,
which led to a
while it is still treattremendous presence
able,” he says.
An expo visitor prepares for a screening using the CenterVue
by Sam’s Club and
In 2009, Sam’s
DRS system.
Walmart at the ADA
Club started exhibitEXPO in Minneapolis.
ing at the ADA EXPO with a booth and pro“It’s a great way to give back to the commoted annual eye exams as well as the $4
munity,” Lucas says. “We are getting exposure,
and $10 generic drug program. Sam’s Club
ODsWho
Participated in
the ADA Event
Roy Backus, OD, of Forest Lake and Wyoming, Minn.–Walmart
Michelle Falk, OD, of Woodbury, Minn.–Sam’s Club
Lance Gutfleisch, OD, of White Bear Lake, Minn.–Sam’s Club
Scott Hadden, OD, of Bloomington, Minn.–Walmart
Brad Hagemo, OD, of Maple Grove, Minn.–Sam’s Club
Ai Soundra, OD, of Bloomington, Minn.–Sam’s Club
Event Recap Walmart and Sam's Club participation grows
T
he recent American Diabetes Association EXPO allowed the participating optometrists
to detect many cases of disease and potentially avert ocular emergencies. Doctors uncovered the following:
◆ More than 100 cases of evidence of diabetes based on “dot and blot” hemorrhages
◆ Several cases of advanced stage wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
◆ Several cases of dry AMD
◆ Several cases of advanced diabetic retinopathy among patients who
were under a physician’s care
◆ Five cases of advanced diabetic retinopathy among patients who were
not currently receiving medical attention
◆ Seven macular scars
◆ Two case of toxoplasmosis scar near the macula
◆ Two cases in which glaucoma was suspected
◆ Two retinal detachments, including one that had just occurred
Thanks to the Partners
R
andy Lucas is thankful for those
companies that partnered with
Walmart and Sam’s Club at the
American Diabetes Association EXPO
in Minneapolis. Lucas says it was especially helpful to have CenterVue’s
DRS and Nidek instrumentation on
site to provide free vision screenings.
He appreciates that these supporters share the Sam’s Club and Walmart
philosophy of giving back to the
community.
*
and Walmart became a co-sponsor of the
expo last year, and a team of volunteers conducted 300 vision screenings. Lucas is pleased
to report the great success of the 2011 expo
that drew nearly 8,000 attendees. Six affiliated
ODs conducted 900 retinal camera screenings
in just six hours, triple the number that were
conducted in 2010.
“Participants come to the expo to learn
how to live healthier and how to manage
their diabetes better,” Lucas says. “Many of
them can’t afford to go to the doctor or don’t
have insurance, so they come there for their
screenings.” He looks forward to his future involvement with this event.
The Sam’s Club partnership with the
ADA continues year-round beyond the expo,
and Lucas and his team participate in other
ADA fundraisers such as the Step Out: Walk to
Stop Diabetes and the Tour for the Cure.
*
*
The annual expo drew thousands of visitors who could undergo a variety of health and
vision screenings.
4
Foresight
Focus on Women
Simplify the Process for BusyWomen
B
ritt Gustafson, OD, of Eden Prairie,
Minn., knows that women today lead
very busy lives and has found that she can
make a significant contribution by simplifying the contact lens process for
mothers and their children. “Contact
lenses and the replacement schedules should fit into their lives as
seamlessly as possible,” she says. “In
my practice, I have observed the
many benefits of fitting DAILIES®
AquaComfort Plus® daily disposable
Dr. Gustafson
lenses, which provide patients with a
convenient lens-wearing experience.”
She adds that these patients enjoy great
comfort and report fewer issues with their
contact lenses, and they refer patients to see
her based on their experience with their
daily disposable lenses. “Busy women are
great candidates for daily disposable lenses
and are appreciative of their eye doctor who
identifies with their lifestyle and tailors a lens
modality to their needs,” she says.
Not only are daily disposable lenses a
tremendous convenience for busy women
and mothers, but they can also alleviate
are ideal for
patients of
any age
who wear
contact lenses
only occasionally, such as children who
wear contact lenses for sports, performances or weekends. With daily disposable
lenses, a fresh, new lens is used every time
contact lenses are worn. Parents don’t
have to worry about whether a lens was
properly cleaned and stored or how long it
may have been sitting in a contact lens
case.
Another selling point: “You won’t have
any late-night runs to the pharmacy to pick
up contact lens solution when your child
hollers out that there’s none left,” she tells
mothers. “Parents truly appreciate that their
children can wear contact lenses without it
creating another process about which they’ll
need to nag their children. Prescribing daily
disposable contact lenses is an easy thing
to do.”
many of the concerns parents have about
their children taking care of their contact
lenses properly. That can be especially true
for parents who don’t wear contact lenses
themselves, who sometimes have a
higher level of anxiety about their
children wearing contact lenses.
“They’re not familiar with the cleaning and replacement process, and I
see them exhale in relief when I explain that daily disposable contact
lenses are so simple to use.”
She recalls one recent patient
whose case illustrates this. “I recently saw a
teenage male patient who was not caring
for his contact lenses properly, despite his
mother’s repeated reminders to follow the
doctor’s instructions. I asked him why he
wasn’t following the care regimen prescribed by his previous eye care provider,
and he confessed simply, ‘I’m too lazy.’ I refit
him into a daily disposable lens and let him
know that he needs only to throw away his
lenses at the end of the day.”
Dr. Gustafson also points out to parents that daily disposable contact lenses
*See product instructions for complete wear,
care and safety information.
WomenHeart Provides Free Education forWomen Heart Disease Patients
T
here are 42 million American women currently living with or at-risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death in women.
WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women
with Heart Disease is a great national and local resource for Walmart and Sam’s Club health care professionals,
who can encourage women who are at risk or living with heart disease to visit
womenheart.org, says WomenHeart Chief Operating Officer Mary E. McGowan.
Today, more than 600 WomenHeart Champions, heart disease survivors who are
trained volunteer community educators, can provide support through in-person, peerled, monthly WomenHeart support meetings held in conjunction with local hospitals;
Sister Match, a direct connection with a volunteer for phone or email support; and
HeartScarves. WomenHeart Champion volunteers deliver a Red Bag of Courage®, a small
gift bag filled with heart health educational materials, information on WomenHeart
services and a handmade red scarf to women in the hospital following a heart event.
For more information or to register for the online support community, visit
womenheart.org.
*
March 8, 2012, is International Women’s Day. For a listing of events
and resources, visit internationalwomensday.com.
Spread theWord
T
he WomenHeart
speakers’ bureau can
provide a WomenHeart
Champion to exhibit in
your store’s health area to
distribute the Red Bag of
Courage. WomenHeart
offers patient education
resources in English and
Spanish for customers, patients or associates. Visit
womenheart.org or call
202.728.7199 for more
information.
*
WomenHeart educational materials are
available.
5
Foresight
Focus
Training
A Culture of Learning and Development
But leadership is far more than a title. Rather, it is a characteristic
that can propel any optical associate or technician forward, and we’ll encourage and provide leadership resources for every Walmart and Sam’s
Club health care associate to cultivate his or her leadership skills.
his year has gone by so quickly, and now we’re
To date, the training team has focused on developing the very critiat the point where the Training Project Mancal foundational training. In the Vision Center, we still have progress to
agement Office (PMO) begins to assess the trainmake in foundational training—particularly in the area of training
ing and development needs for the new year. We
for ABO certification. So, in the upcoming year, the Training PMO will
are currently meeting with Sam’s Club and WalRenee Ford
focus on how we roll out ABO training to Walmart and Sam’s Club assomart leaders to gain a sense of where the busiciates successfully. In the Pharmacy, we will continue to develop tools
ness is going from an operational perspective. This knowledge for the
that support the upskilling of technicians in the area of prescription
training team is priceless because we strive to align training to the
input and the many elements that are involved in that process. Founidentified business goals.
dational training will always remain important, but that’s the baseAs we have these discussions, the recurring theme that arises is
line—not the endpoint—for where we want our associates.
that as a business we will continue to look for standout leaders. These
As Walmart and Sam’s Club
exceptional associates are those
step up to take on new business
who execute quality patient care,
challenges that fulfill the goal of
develop colleagues, solve probhelping people save money so they
lems and inspire confidence. Now
can live better, we need each of you
some of these leaders are easily
hese three books on leadership are excellent primers on the
to step up along with us. In order to
identifiable—the managers, for
characteristics of good leaders and the impact good leadercontinuetodeliverexcellentpatient
example. And next year, a large
ship can have on an organization and a workplace.
service and create the best patient
training initiative will focus on en◆ You Don’t Need a Title to Be a Leader by Mark Sanborn
experience, we will need a team of
suring that the necessary man◆ Monday Morning Leadership by David Cottrell
leaders who are motivated, skilled
agement and leadership tools are
◆ WhatGotYouHereWon’tGetYouThere by Marshall Goldsmith
and confident health care profesavailable to support the Pharsionals,managersandassociates.
macy and Vision Center managers.
By Renee Ford
Senior Manager, Training Project Management Office
T
Reading List
T
*
*
OD Educates Students on Importance of Healthy Eyes
M
aria Fragoulis, OD, who has three
Walmart-affiliated practices in the
Columbus, Ohio, area, has been participating with an educational outreach program
of the Ohio Optometric Association (OOA)
for years. Realeyes™ is an education program
for children, with different 45-minute, interactive presentations for children in grades
K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and high school.
Dr. Fragoulis, who has been taking
Realeyes programs into classrooms for
years, enjoys the children’s enthusiasm and
the outreach. “The OOA lets member doctors know when health or science teachers
6
have requested a program, and one of us
goes to the school to present the program,”
she says. Dr. Fragoulis, who was scheduled
for two middle school presentations in December, is thankful that her Walmart Vision
Center is trying to promote its services in the
community. For the past year, a Vision Center
optician has been accompanying her on
these visits. “When we have a class of 30 firstgraders all asking questions, it’s very helpful,”
Dr. Fragoulis says.
The presentations are based on a DVD,
which the Realeyes facilitator plays and stops
periodically to encourage questions or an activity. For the youngest students, the program
features two comical puppets, Tina and Rhet,
and Rhet realizes he needs
eyeglasses. The children
learn about common vision
problems. The Case of Vinny
Dr. Fragoulis
Vision allows students in
third through fifth grade to solve mysteries
and detect eye disorders. Vision Impossible, the
program for students in grades 6-8, introduces
more complex anatomy and introduces students to major eye diseases. The program for
high school students, Government Operation
Optics Development, is available to older students online.
This program has led to a few invitations
for Dr. Fragoulis to attend career days and
explain what an optometrist does.
*
Foresight
Pharmacist of theYear
J
amie Barnett, RPh, of Maryville, Mo., was
honored as Walmart’s Pharmacist of the
Year. “I met many of the candidates at the
Walmart meeting, and there were lots of
well-deserving pharmacists,” he says.
Barnett, a pharmacist
since 1993, joined Walmart in 2004, after a pharmacy school classmate
mentioned an opening in
her store. He moved from
a small independent
pharmacy to Walmart
Jamie Barnett
originally for the perk of
working a little bit closer to home. Within
two years, he became the pharmacy manager and has found many added benefits to
partnering with Walmart.
“Walmart stays ahead of the game, and
its executives are frontrunners,” Barnett says.
“Walmart keeps me updated on everything,
from laws being passed to changes in the
pharmacy business. In an independent pharmacy, we generally waited until everyone
else in Missouri was doing something before
we realized we should be, too.” Barnett appreciates the support that Walmart gives the
pharmacy department in these ways. “It’s
nice as a pharmacist to have Walmart and the
Health and Wellness Division as a resource.”
As Pharmacist of the Year, Barnett was
recognized for setting a positive example.
It’s a role with which he’s familiar. His pharmacy has been designated a regional TQ1
store and a model pharmacy in his market.
His system of organization and a clutter-free
setup is ideal for Walmart pharmacies because of the professional look.
Outside of the store, Barnett participates
in a local career fair to speak to high school
juniors and seniors from several counties
about their future. He wears his Walmart
smock and name badge to represent Walmart
and to discuss a career as a pharmacist. He
also participates with Parents as Teachers, a
group that provides education, assistance
and testing for parents and their young children. He held a panel discussion with a nurse
practitioner and school nurse, and he focused
on the importance of proper dosing.“If a
medication is labeled for children ages 6 and
up, you can’t split the dose in half and give it
to a 3-year-old child,” Barnett says. He provided parents with Walmart dosing spoons,
pointing out the difference in dosage if a
household spoon was used.“It really is quite a
big difference, and the parents were surprised
and glad to know,” he says.
Barnett spends time volunteering with his
A leader inside and outside of the store
local Lion’s Club, where he is a past president,
and he is very involved in his community’s elementary school basketball program. For the
past three years, he has organized and coordinated teams and coaches, and he has nearly
a decade of experience as a coach himself.
Active in the schools his children attend, Barnett is an 11-year member of the board of
education and currently
is its vice president.
He enjoys the busy
schedules and the opportunities available through Walmart to
reach out to customers, other pharmacists, the
community or the other health care professionals in the store for special assignments.
*
Teamwork StrengthensWorking Relationship
N
ichole Rioux, OD, of
Salem, Ore., was featured in the November 2011 issue of Women
In Optometry, discussing her plans for practice
growth in 2012. She plans
to add some diagnostic
equipment, an electronic
medical records system
and some vision therapy
services. She credits much
of her success from the
past two years to her
Dr. Rioux
working relationship with
the Vision Center staff.
Dr. Rioux says the Walmart staff does a
great job of following through on the care she
wants her patients to have, and they are willing to put in the extra work when she needs
help. She escorts her patients who want to
purchase their eyewear at the Vision Center to
the dispensary, and she’ll answer any questions
the Vision Center
staff may have. “It
shows when we all
work together well,”
she says. “They
know that if I do a
good job and they
do a good job with eyeglasses,
patients will come back to both of us.”
To keep everyone up to speed, Dr. Rioux
and the Vision Center manager and staff find
time to meet once a week to go over concerns and talk about questions that anyone
may have. Dr. Rioux knows that associates
feels comfortable coming to her any other
time throughout the week when an issue
may arise. Since they’ve started having the
meetings a few months ago, Dr. Rioux has
seen even more improvement in their working relationship. “I’ve seen a difference, and
we are all more connected.”
*
Vision CenterTeam Gives the
Gift of Vision to People in Need
I
n support of Optometry Giving Sight,
Stephanie White, OD, of Harahan, La.,
donated her eye exam fees to help provide
eye exams and eyeglasses to children in
developing countries who can’t see well
enough to learn at school, as well as adults
who cannot see to provide for their families.
Optometry Giving Sight, the organizer of
the World Sight Day Challenge, funds programs that provide eye exams and eyeglasses,
trains local eye care professionals and develops vision centers that deliver long-term care
to people in desperate need. There are 670
million people who are blind or vision impaired simply because they don’t have access
to an eye examination and eyeglasses.
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Dr. White, far right, shown with the Harahan Vision Center
team: Penny, Linda, Michael and Veronica
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Foresight
OD of theYear
S
Personal connection contributes to growth
everal thousands of patients have passed
through the Walmart Vision Center in
Marion, Ind., since Walter
Scase, OD, began practicing there in 1998. Because
of the effort Dr. Scase
makes to connect with
patients, they usually
leave the practice feeling
like family. Dr. Scase’s
Dr. Scase
friendly approach was
one of the reasons he was named Walmart’s
Optometrist of the Year. He’s been recognized
on a regional and district level in the past
and appreciates the acknowledgement from
the corporation. “I’m honored to be chosen
among all of the great doctors working with
Walmart,” he says.
Dr. Scase says patients like returning to
see familiar faces each year. In addition to his
long-term commitment to the practice and
store, associate doctor Allison McPhearson,
OD, has been with Dr. Scase for almost a
decade, and many Vision Center associates
have been working there for years. “Our patients come back and see the same people
who have the skills to help them,” he says.
In the exam room, Dr. Scase starts up a
conversation with patients while providing
Dr. Scase has traveled on
education. “I get involved by talking about
several mission trips to provide eye care, protheir lives during their exam, and my pavides school screenings and has sponsored
tients see that I care. That brings loyalty,” Dr.
local sports teams. Dr. Scase’s involvement in
Scase says. That loyalty has contributed to
his local church also makes connections for
the growth the practice saw each year. “Last
his practice.
year, even while the economy was down,
A Walmart practice setting is ideal for
our numbers were up
the care Dr. Scase likes
7 percent on exams,”
to provide his patients.
he says. Dr. Scase and
“I have no pressure to
Dr. McPhearson saw
sell or promote any4,800 patients last
thing, so my patients
year.
know I am telling them
In 2009, Dr. Scase
honestly whether they
picked up a second
need something or
Walmart store locanot,” he says. He retion in nearby Huntcently added a retinal
ington. The store’s
camera to the pracDr. Scase participates in volunteer activities far and near, inVision Center and
tice, and he looks forcluding mission trips like this one to Mexico.
doctor’s office had
ward to expanding the
not been performing as well as they could
medical services he provides. While his
have been.“I organize and run that office, and
practice is separate from the Vision Center
now it’s making a profit,” he says. While he isn’t
in his one-door state, he works closely with
in the location very often, he involves doctors
the Vision Center manager, Jill Dennis. “We
who follow his personal approach and who
share the same goals to increase our profit
are invested in producing a good profit for the
and maintain the integrity of store, so we
practice and enabling a good flow of patients
will do whatever it takes to make our busito the Vision Center.
nesses successful.”
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OD Responsive to Ocular Emergency Saves Vision
A
t the end of August, Christa McPeek,
OD, celebrated her one-year anniversary of practicing inside the Walmart
store in Georgetown, Ky. Another
memorable experience occurred
during that same week, when a new
patient in her mid-20s came into her
office, complaining of blurred vision.
“After asking some questions, I
found out she had been experiencDr. McPeek
ing ongoing headaches, which can
be a red flag with vision issues,” Dr. McPeek
says.
Dr. McPeek determined that the patient
did not have great correctable vision in her
left eye. After a dilated exam, she made her
diagnosis of papilledema, citing the patient’s
swollen optic nerves.“We needed to send her
to the emergency room,” Dr. McPeek says.
Dr. McPeek knew she needed to keep
8
her patient calm while still instilling a sense
of urgency. The patient had come alone to
the visit but could locate a companion to accompany her. “There is
swelling in a structure that is important in your eye, and it’s the standard
of care that I refer you to an ER or
neurologist,” Dr. McPeek told the patient. “This is very important for your
vision, and we must rule out other
conditions that could affect your vision that go beyond what we could fix with
eyeglasses.”
The practice has a good relationship
with the ER at the University of Kentucky,
where an ophthalmology resident and a
neuro-ophthalmologist took a closer look at
the situation. “Peripheral vision loss was progressing quickly,” she says, citing the report
she received from the ER.
In mild cases of papilledema, Dr. McPeek
says that an oral medication often helps. But
this situation was more urgent, and the patient would require surgical intervention. The
optic nerve sheath fenestration would allow
an incision to be placed in the meninges surrounding the optic nerve in order to relieve
elevated intracranial pressure. The potential
crisis was averted. The emergency surgery
was successful, and the patient is continuing
to be monitored.
The patient’s mother has been to the
Walmart store to thank those who acted
quickly. While she did not talk with Dr.
McPeek directly, she was able to speak with
Vision Center Manager, Tesha McCarty. “This
really makes us appreciate what we do and
the relationships we build with our patients
and the community,” McCarty says. “We may
lose focus at times being bogged down with
the small stuff. This kind of situation puts me
back on track with what is really important,
and that is our patients’ well-being and
sight.”
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