News Archive

Focal Point Episode 5. Discover how investing in state-of-the-art diagnostic tools can streamline your practice workflows, expand your capacity for in-house specialized care (such as dry eye and binocular vision), and shift patients away from a simple "20/20" mindset. By using high-tech imaging as an educational tool, Dr. Blow demonstrates how independent practices can empower patients to make confident, educated treatment decisions while elevating the entire care experience.

Independent optometry is one of the most relationship-driven professions there is. Patients choose their clinic based on how they’re treated, and they stay loyal to clinics that make them feel like people, not appointments.

AI can help reduce the time spent on everyday tasks such as drafting communications, responding to reviews, and creating patient recall messages. The Getting Started with AI: Your Take-Home Guide provides a simple framework for using AI more effectively and responsibly in your practice.

From Calgary’s biggest tradeshow floor yet to a room full of independent optometrists ready to grow, NTE West delivered on every front. Here’s what happened and why you’ll want to be in Toronto this October.

You built your practice on your own terms. You chose independence because you believe in the freedom to lead, to decide, and to serve your patients your way. That choice matters, and it’s worth building on.

The inaugural 2026 Prisms Awards officially debuted at NTE West! Discover the outstanding independent optometry professionals from across Western Canada and the Yukon who were honoured for their exceptional leadership, patient care, and dedication to the profession.

Focal Point Episode 4. Modernizing surgical co-management transforms the primary care optometrist from a referral source into a perioperative specialist, driving both clinical excellence and practice growth. Dr. Anu Ondhia emphasizes that successful collaboration relies on intentional communication—integrating a patient’s lifestyle history with clinical data—and standardizing referral protocols to streamline administrative workflows.

Focal Point Episode 3. Aldo Zucaro, Senior Director of Global Strategy at Cooper Companies, discusses the evolution of their MADE Better Promise and People + Planet initiative. He explains why true sustainability requires a dual focus where social impact and environmental stewardship are treated as an inseparable, intrinsic bond.

Focal Point Episode 2. Eye Recommend's Learning and Development Manager, Joyce VanRooyen, shares her knowledge about generational approaches to eye care.

Eye Recommend is launching its first-ever industry awards program, The Prisms, and nominations are now open. For the first time, we are formally recognizing the individuals across our network whose leadership, patient care, and dedication are shaping what independent optometry looks like today. Winners will be celebrated at NTE East this October.