KRISTIN O’BRIEN
Q:
Please tell me your name and what you do.
KRISTIN O'BRIEN:
Q:
My name is Kristin O’Brien and I’m an optometrist in Denver, Colorado.
Describe Vision Expo for someone who’s never been to it.
KRISTIN O'BRIEN:
Vision Expo is an amazing event. You come here and are submersed in the Las
Vegas culture of lights, camera, action. But you also get the educational aspect of everything, the latest
and greatest of what’s going on in the industry and you get to meet up with your colleagues and have the
benefits of networking.
Q:
What were your thoughts when you heard you were chosen as a Visionary?
KRISTIN O'BRIEN:
I was honored to be chosen as a Visionary. When I think of people who are
visionaries I think of my mentors Mile Brujic, Dave Kading, Amir Khoshnevis, and Mary Ann Murphy who
have revolutionized private practice optometry in my mind. For somebody to think of me that way is very,
very humbling.
Q:
What are you looking forward to absorbing?
KRISTIN O'BRIEN:
I’m looking forward to absorbing the best practice management tips around.
That’s one of the nice things about getting some downtime and not being in classes all day every day, it’s
getting to hear the best practices of some of your colleagues around the country. And, in the exhibit hall
I've seen so many unique brands of glasses. We sometimes as optometrists have a hard time putting on
that business cap, but it's 60 percent of an office’s revenue. So, looking at all those different frames that
I've never even heard of before and thinking of that opportunity to be able to bring that to my patients and
office is really intriguing.
Q:
What do you think the next generation has to bring to this whole industry?
KRISTIN O'BRIEN:
I think the next generation has the opportunity to bring revolutionized technology
in with patient care, streamlining that process. I think that it's very difficult to say that we can’t expect
technology to be in our everyday lives in healthcare. It's happening now and it's just a matter of how we
can make that the most simple for our practices, for our patients, and for our everyday needs.
Q:
What does your Vision Expo schedule look like?
KRISTIN O'BRIEN:
Today I’m hitting up a couple of classes, and then a couple of networking
opportunities. I have a dinner this evening for a brand new launch of a digital product that hopefully will, if
it works, integrate the phone call of a patient initiating an appointment, to eliminate some of the humdrum
of typing in a patient’s name, a phone number and address and, be able to maximize the amount of time
you’re spending on a call with a patient to find out exactly what they need. I’m looking forward to that.
Q:
What are you looking forward to in your own practice?
KRISTIN O'BRIEN:
In my own practice, I’m looking forward to seeing it grow. I started it two years
ago, from scratch, and so we began with zero patients and now we have over 2,500. We’ve seen
patients return three Junes in a row now. It’s exciting seeing our first high schoolers now coming back
while in college and seeing some of them go into pre-med and possibly considering optometry or
opticianary as a career. Watching the office grow is definitely something I will continue to look forward to.
Q:
What qualities do you think a visionary has? What is a visionary to you?
KRISTIN O'BRIEN:
To me a visionary is somebody who’s not afraid to do something different just
because they think it's the right thing to do. To try something new, to be innovative.
[END OF AUDIO]