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Energeyes reports membership growth is exceeding goals
This organization aims to provide support for corporate-affiliated optometrists through continuing education and camaraderie.
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After launching this past fall, Energeyes is reporting success in its first few months of operation.
This new organization for corporate-affiliated optometrists released a report in January that detailed a membership base of 294 participants in 2013, which exceeded a previously set goal of 250 members by the end of the year.
As of mid-February, the group experienced even greater growth, Mark Uhler, OD, president of Energeyes, told Primary Care Optometry News in an interview.
“We just got notice that we hit our 300-member milestone,” Uhler said. “So, between Sept. 1, when we initially launched our association, and now, we welcomed 300 paying members. Even last year, our goal was about 250, and we surpassed that. Now, we’re already well on our way to beating our next milestone, which is 1,000 members by the end of 2014.”
In the statement, written by Uhler, it was also noted that members are enrolled in 42 states, with the largest membership bases in Texas, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Florida. The average years in business of the group’s membership was reported to be 18.
Energeyes’ mission
The Association of Corporate-Affiliated Optometrists introduced Energeyes last fall in an effort to better serve the interests of corporate-affiliated optometrists.
The group detailed on its website that it fosters local, regional and national meetings for its members and works collaboratively with industry to bring members the best products, programs and services at the best prices to help them better meet the needs of their local communities.
“We are an association that facilitates the ease with which our members practice by providing best practices on many services, by being a resource when there are questions regarding practice management, by supporting local marketing efforts and by providing leadership opportunities to help our members grow both as a practitioner and as a person,” the website states.
Specifically, the group has several focuses, according to Uhler.
“Our national meeting is currently at the top of our agenda, but we also provide free corporate websites to all new and active members,” he explained to PCON. “We also have a product purchasing program that allows members to decide collectively what products they’re interested in purchasing, and we present it to the companies to give us the best pricing for making those purchases.”
Uhler stressed that while the group’s priorities are multifaceted, above all, Energeyes strives to provide continuing education for corporate-affiliated doctors.
The association’s first national meeting will be held in April and will provide 25 hours of continuing education, Uhler said.
“We also have a webinar series that we conduct, which is another avenue for us to receive some continuing education,” he said.
Expanding membership
While the group was founded by optometrists from Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, Energeyes was started with the ideal of including all franchised and corporate-affiliated optometrists, such as doctors who work at LensCrafters, Target or Macy’s, Uhler told PCON.
According to the organization, corporate-affiliated doctors represent 11% of optometrists in North America.
“Just in Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club alone, we have 4,000 potential members,” Uhler said.
In January’s report, Energeyes acknowledged that it is targeting a population of “over 10,000 corporate optometrists nationwide.”
AOA involvement
Uhler also disclosed in the interview that a representative from the American Optometric Association Board of Trustees will attend Energeyes’ national meeting. He emphasized that Energeyes is not looking to compete with the AOA.
“I am a member of the AOA and have been since 1988,” he said. “I believe in the AOA and the legislative efforts associated with the advancement of our profession. We’re not trying to take anything away from the AOA. In fact, we encourage our members to become AOA members as well.”
The AOA echoed this sentiment.
“Supporting optometrists to provide better services and improve their practice outcomes is always welcome to the AOA,” AOA President Mitchell Munson, OD, said in a statement to PCON. “We wish Energeyes well and look forward to working with its leaders and membership.
“We recognize that optometrists in all practice settings require substantial support and advocacy efforts to ensure patients have access to the full scope of the care they require and that optometrists are best positioned to provide that care,” Munson continued. “I invite all members of Energeyes to join the AOA, as so many of our Sam’s Club- and Wal-Mart-affiliated colleagues already have.”
2014 goals
In the interview, Uhler issued a plea for corporate-affiliated optometrists “to join and stand up for their profession and have their voices heard.”
He told PCON that Energeyes is hoping to see continued progress in all aspects of the organization in the coming year but is looking to hit 1,000 members more than anything else. While, like any organization, they want to serve the most members possible, EnergEyes also sees the value that more members can provide.
“Most importantly, our association is about camaraderie,” Uhler said. “The Energeyes association website is a comprehensive place for optometrists to gather and to ask questions and make inquiries about anything that they find interesting or would like to see in the association.
“Our association is really new right now,” he continued. “It could be anything that the members want it to be. There’s no end in sight in what we have the potential to become.” – by Chelsea Frajerman