CooperVision announces new class of best practices

NEW YORK – CooperVision announced that it has selected 10 U.S. optometric practices for its 2018 Best Practices program, which recognizes those who deliver care in a visionary and innovative way, in turn, elevating the profession.

“There’s a great deal of diversity in the group, with people from all over the country,” Michele Andrews, OD, senior director of professional and academic affairs, North America, CooperVision, told Primary Care Optometry News here at Vision Expo East.

She said the practices focus not only on contact lenses but also other areas, such as sports vision.

“The focus is to tell the story of what they do in hopes of elevating the profession,” Andrews said. “Hopefully people will take their stories and put them into practice.”

She explained that the 2018 Best Practices, along with alumni from 2016 and 2017, the first 2 years of the program, will be brought together in June for a workshop, where they will be presented with an industry problem to solve.

Andrews said the problem has not yet been established, “but we want it to be relevant and affect the broader industry, not just the contact lens space.”

The outcomes of the workshop will be shared in the fall, she said.

CooperVision’s 2018 Best Practices are:

Doctor My Eyes, Scottsdale, Ariz., Stephen Cohen, OD;
Family Eye Care of Coal City, Coal City, Ill., Nicholas Rutkowski, OD, and Jonathan Micetich, OD;
Highlands Ranch Optical, Highlands Ranch, Colo., Jeff Ward, OD;
The Koetting Associates, St. Louis, Carmen Castellano, OD; Joseph Castellano, OD; and Nicholas Castellano, OD;
Livermore Optometry Group, Livermore, Calif., Clark Abramson, OD; Steven Faith, OD; and Shawna Kuntz, OD;
Norwalk Eye Care, Norwalk, Conn., Jennifer Stewart, OD, and Mark Feder, OD;
Personal Eyecare, Sylvania, Ohio, Roxanna Potter, OD;
Pinnacle Eye Associates, McKinney, Texas, Carrie Alfieri, OD;
Vision Optique, Houston, Texas, Bridgitte Shen Lee, OD; and
Vision Professionals, Columbus, Ohio, Christopher Smiley, OD.

All U.S. optometry practices currently fitting contact lenses were eligible for consideration in the fall of 2017, according to a press release from CooperVision. Candidates were evaluated, and honorees were selected by a panel of judges including past Best Practices honorees, industry experts and CooperVision leaders. Evaluation was based on insights and experiences shared about the practices’ innovation, patient experience and business culture. – by Nancy Hemphill, ELS, FAAO

Disclosure: Andrews is employed by CooperVision.