NEW YORK—A successful optometrist who has brought “outside the box” thinking to her practice’s newest location in one of the fastest-growing towns in Ohio is going to share her experience and a look behind the scenes at VM LIVE, the special live session and panel to be held this fall during Vision Expo West in Las Vegas. Carole Burns, OD, FCOVD will join the speaker roster at “Retail Smart,” and will discuss Professional VisionCare’s new location, the thinking that went into it and the systems that support how it runs. She will join an expert in retail business innovation, including new mobile payment trends, plus a veteran OD who’s modernized his practice with technology to enhance the patient experience at his Wisconsin location. VM LIVE, produced by Vision Monday, will be held at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas from 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Sept. 26, just prior to Vision Expo West.

Attendees will learn how smart retailers and vision care professionals are erasing boundaries between discovery, choice and purchase. Using smartphones, tablets, apps, modern in-store displays, and a new range of in-office and online systems, they are creating a fluid, frictionless experience for shoppers, whether online or in-store.

Dr. Burns is CEO of Professional VisionCare in Westerville and Johnstown, Ohio. and a Solutions Center dedicated to the treatment of pediatric patients and those with special needs. For her fourth office, recently opened in Lewis Center, Ohio, Dr. Burns reports, “It looks more like an Apple Store than an eye doctor’s office. The eco-friendly, open environment has no phones, no receptionist, no check-in desk and absolutely no paper.

Each patient is treated to their favorite music and the newest technology throughout the vision and eye health examination. Office staff communicate with each other through a sophisticated quiet digital program on their own portable lightweight computer. The industrial upscale showroom is interactive for patients.”

Burns is a faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Optometry. She guest lectures in the classroom and she mentors 4th year optometry students in their clinical rotation in the area of pediatrics. She lectures nationally to optometrists, physicians, occupational therapists, physical therapists and educators. She has served as chairperson of the C.O.V.D. Assistants to Graduates Committee and the Secretary of The Optometric Educators Committee to C.O.V.D. She is a member of the Council on Health Information; an organization comprised of health care professionals in central Ohio. She is co-editor for Review of Optometric Business and is a member of The Association of Practice Management Educators.

Burns’s talk will be featured along with these other VM LIVE “Retail Smart’ speakers:

Sih Lee, SVP Payments Technology, New Business & Innovation for Synchrony Financial will speak at “Retail Smart” about how the revolution in payment trends is changing the consumer’s shopping expectations and experience. A noted business and retail innovation expert, Lee has spent the past 20+ years as an accomplished entrepreneur, inventor and corporate executive across a broad spectrum of markets—ranging from online gaming to the financial services industry. His contributions revolve around developing consumer-oriented solutions that are scalable at mass market level, as well as finding leading-edge technology solutions targeting enterprise markets. In his current role at Synchrony Financial, Lee focuses on launching new retail card programs, leading the technology roadmap for emerging payments, and setting strategic alignment for innovation through disruptive technology, partnerships and investments.

Dave Ziegler, OD, has practiced in the Milwaukee, Wis. area for 37 years, with an emphasis on specialty contact lenses and medical eyecare. He has lectured internationally and published articles for over 25 years on building optometric practices by improving the patient experience. He was part of the Management Business Academy (MBA) faculty, is a noted optometric columnist, and serves on the Essilor advisory board. At Zeigler Leffingwell Eyecare, Dr. Ziegler has recently reconceptualized the practice using a range of new digital technologies and featured areas, as well as the practice’s website communications to patients, all underscoring their “experience” for both eyecare and eyewear, which he’ll share with the VM LIVE audience.

“Consumers’ shopping habits and patient expectations are changing fast, and all ECPs and optical retailers need to keep up,” said Marge Axelrad, Vision Monday’s editorial director. “Today, shoppers want instant information about product features, styles and availability, and they want to decide where, when and how to make a purchase and have it delivered to them. Come to VM LIVE to learn how new systems and strategies can engage customers and create a seamless path to purchase.”

Registration details are available for VM LIVE at www.visionmonday.com/live.

VM LIVE is another in a series of Vision Monday’s leadership-driven, special live information-sharing and networking events, targeting top optical retailers, executive decision makers and influential practitioners.