Artificial Intelligence in Eye Care: What's Real, What's Overhyped & How to Evaluate It | Eugene Shatsman & Abed Sarhan
AI is everywhere right now. And the real challenge right now isn't access, but knowing what to trust. Every vendor has a solution. Every platform claims to be "intelligent." Every conversation seems to come back to what AI is going to do next. But when you step into your practice, the question becomes much simpler: What actually works for me? In this episode of Power Hour, host Eugene Shatsman sits down with Dr. Abdullah "Abed" Sarhan, CEO and Co-Founder of RetinaLogik, who has been working in deep learning and AI long before it became widely used. And what makes this conversation different is that it's not theoretical, but practical. They break down what AI is actually capable of in eye care practices today, where it can genuinely improve workflow and patient experience, and just as importantly, where ODs should be far more skeptical.
Four Locations. Three Cold Starts. Launching an Alliance | Scaling a Practice & The Vision Behind View Optometry Alliance
There's a point in every growing practice where things start to feel different. Not because the business isn't working, but rather it's working only because of you, and the moment you try to expand, that dependency gets exposed. You start to realize that growth isn't as simple as opening another location. It's about building something that can operate without you being everywhere at once, and that's exactly where this conversation begins. In this episode of Power Hour, Eugene sits down with Dr. Tommy Lucas (President, VIEW Optometry) and Dr. Mary Kate Walters (CEO, VIEW Optometry), a husband-and-wife team who have built a four-location practice in Central Texas, including three cold starts that didn't just survive, but ramped quickly. And while the growth itself is impressive, it's only part of what makes this conversation worth paying attention to. Just as important is how they think about building a business. Because underneath the numbers, you start to hear something deeper: a philosophy around people, systems, incentives, and what it actually takes to create something that can function beyond the owners being everywhere at once. And then, it shifts from building a practice, to something much bigger - VIEW Optometry Alliance.
High-Touch vs High-Volume | Two Doctors. Two Philosophies. Two Exceptional Paths to Practice Growth
Most practice owners think growth is about doing more. More patients, more staff, more lanes, and more locations. But the truth is, scaling a practice is about building the right structure underneath it. In this week's episode of Power Hour, host Eugene Shatsman sits down with Dr. David Moore, President of Moore Eye Center, and Dr. Julia Zyrina, Founder of Pine Vision Care, two doctors who are both building exceptional practices, but in fundamentally different ways. They meet for the first time on the show, and what unfolds is a fascinating look at how two high-performing doctors can pursue growth through completely different philosophies. They both prioritize patient experience. They both use technology to advance patient care. They're both focused on building something bigger than themselves. But the way they think about execution – exam flow, pace, trust-building, team consistency, hiring, and scale – is where the real contrast appears.
3 Game-Changing Optometry Innovations That Can 10X Your Practice Revenue | Innovators Edition
Every year at Vision Expo, companies make massive promises about the "future of optometry." But as a practice owner, you don't need more hype; you need solutions that are real, scalable, and useful. In this special Innovators Edition of the Power Hour recorded live at Vision Expo, Eugene Shatsman sits down with three executives attacking the future of the profession from three completely different angles: surgical business models, patient-centric retail, and all-in-one operational technology. If you've ever wondered how to monetize your surgical referrals, give patients a reason to visit you between exams, or finally consolidate those 14 open tabs on your staff's computer into an all-in-one operational technology, this episode is for you.
$4.8M Stolen by a Trusted Employee | How Fraud Could Happen in Your Practice & What to Look For
What would you do if you discovered someone inside your business had been stealing from you? Not hundreds. Not thousands. Millions. In this week's episode of Power Hour, Eugene Shatsman sits down with Mick Hall, President of Bard Optical (one of the most respected multi-location practices in the country) to hear a story that every practice owner needs to listen to. It started with something small… A financial number that didn't look quite right. That single moment of curiosity uncovered an embezzlement scheme that eventually totaled $4.8 million. But this episode isn't about scandal. It's about leadership, vigilance, and protecting the business you've worked so hard to build.