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Listserv FAQ's
General Questions:
Subscribing to the Listservs:
Posting Messages to the List:
Rules of Participation:
How Safe is the list?
GENERAL QUESTIONS
How does a listserv work?
A subscription to E-Talk, E-Expert, E-Retina and E-Meeting is a free benefit to AAOE members. Members register and provide an e-mail address. Subscribers then receive and respond to messages sent by list members via e-mail. List members have the option to receive a daily digest version of e-mails sent to the list or receive individual e-mails immediately as they are posted.
What is E-Talk?
E-Talk is an unmoderated e-mail discussion group that provides ophthalmic administrators, office managers and managing physicians with a forum to openly exchange ideas and discuss the business issues facing modern ophthalmic practices. Use this free member benefit to get answers to your questions about coding, human resources, financial management and other practice management issues.
What is E-Expert?
E-Expert provides AAOE members free online access to discussion topics led by experts in the field of practice management. Moderators will post questions for subscribers and encourage focused dialogue on a designated practice management topic. Visit the E-Expert Discussions & Message Archive for a schedule of upcoming E-Expert topics.
What is E-Retina?
E-Retina is an unmoderated e-mail discussion group on practice management issues relevant to ophthalmic administrators, office managers and managing/practicing physicians working in Retina specific practices. Visit the E-Retina Discussions & Message Archive for a schedule of upcoming E-Retina topics.
What is E-Meeting?
AAOE's newest listserv, E-Meeting was created in order to facilitate communication between AAOE members attending the Joint Meeting. Use E-Meeting to ask questions about the AAOE program, transportation, housing options (including finding a roommate to split the cost of housing), and entertainment activities to make your stay both productive and fun! Feel free to post inquires and information about restaurants, excursions to wine country as well as interesting neighborhoods to explore in San Francisco!
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SUBSCRIBING TO THE LISTSERVS
What are the benefits of subscribing?
What members have to say about AAOE listservs:
I wish that E-Talk had been around when I was starting. It’s amazing to me that every ophthalmic practice administrator is not on E-Talk. I don’t know where you can get a better value for growing as a practice administrator. I learn something every day on E-Talk and thank all those who contribute their knowledge and experience. It’s amazing what we all know when you put it together. What a team! Walt Underwood, FACMPE, Chief Executive Officer - Thomas Eye Group
This was a perfect use of the eExpert list – to discuss a timely matter about which many of us have questions. In fact, I hope in the future when major changes like this are being grappled with by our practices across the country, that other experts will step up and open a discussion about the issue at hand to help us all make better decisions. Thanks, again – this was just excellent. Ann Warner, Practice Administrator - Wooster Eye Center
How can I subscribe, unsubscribe or change my e-mail address?
To begin, select the list you wish to manage (member login is required): Manage E-Talk, Manage E-Expert, Manage E-Retina and/or Manage E-Meeting
- To Subscribe to the List: Under the 'New Users' heading click 'Subscribe to the list' link and follow the prompts.
- To Unsubscribe from the List: Under the 'Existing Users' header, select 'Manage your list options'. Under the 'Unsubscribe' heading enter your e-mail address.
- To Stop Mail Delivery: Under the 'Existing Users' header, select 'Manage your list options'. Under the 'Change Delivery' heading, click the 'stop mail' radio button. If you are on vacation or away from the office, you may wish to choose this option to avoid filling your inbox while you're away. When you are ready to receive mail again, return to the 'Change Delivery' section and click the 'standard' or 'mime digest' button to re-start your mail delivery.
- To Change your E-Mail Address: Under the 'Existing Users' header, select 'Manage your list options'. Under the 'Change Your E-Mail Address' heading, enter your old e-mail address and click the 'change e-mail' button. You will need to change your e-mail for each list you subscribe to.
PLEASE NOTE: Changing your e-mail address will not change the address at which you receive your regular AAOE communication. To change the address at which you review your regular AAOE e-newsletters and additional member communications, send an e-mail with your member ID, old e-mail address and your new address to member_services@aao.org.
What are my message delivery options?
In Standard mode, you receive individual e-mails one at a time as they are sent.
Mime digest mode delivers the day's posts to you in one e-mail and each post is sent as a text attachment in the body of the e-mail. Many members also find it helpful to manage listserv messages by creating a rule in Outlook (PDF 92K).
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POSTING MESSAGES TO THE LIST
How do you post messages to the list?
Subscribe to the list(s) if you have not done so already. After you subscribe, you will receive a confirmation e-mail. You must reply to this e-mail or you will not be subscribed to the list. After confirming subscription, you have three options to send messages to the list: -
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Under the 'Existing Users' header, click the 'Send a new message' link.
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Respond to an e-mail from the group using your inbox 'reply' button.
How can I send an attachment or share a document I've created?
Add attachments as you normally would to your email and send it to the list.
How can I search the list for archived messages?
- Select 'Search Archived Messages' for the appropriate list:
> E-Talk > E-Expert > E-Retina > E-Meeting
- When you click on the Search archived messages, View current messages, or Send a new message links, you will be asked for your e-mail address.
- Enter your e-mail address and click the OK radio button.
- You are now logged in to your listserv accounts.
- Click on the tabs along the top gray border to begin a search, view current messages or post a new message.
I have subscribed, but I haven't received any postings in my inbox.
Your e-mail program's spam filter may be sending list e-mails into your "bulk or junk mail" folder instead of into your "inbox". Some e-mail programs allow you to change your filter preferences to redirect messages from specific lists into your inbox. If you are unable to change your e-mail program's preferences, remember to check your "bulk or junk mail" folder often to monitor activity.
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RULES OF PARTICIPATION
What are the rules of participation?
In order to participate in the AAOE listservs, you will be directed online to agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the listserv disclaimer: Read E-Talk Disclaimer (PDF 511K); Read E-Retina Disclaimer (PDF 494K); Read E-Expert Disclaimer (PDF 496K) and/or Read E-Meeting Disclaimer (PDF 496K).
Why can't we discuss salaries, fees or collective action on the listservs?
AAOE members participating in the listserv are doing so as members of an organization of competitors in the eyes of federal and state enforcers of antitrust laws. While one ophthalmologist can ask a colleague what she or he pays staff or charges to perform Lasik, these issues cannot be discussed in a forum sponsored by a professional society. The government views such pricing and other economic discussions as a way that competitors can fix prices, supply costs, salaries, and other economic measures in a noncompetitive manor that violates state and federal antitrust laws.
Netiquette
Be forthcoming in your messages about any potential financial conflict of interest.
If you repost something from another source, it is only ethical and helpful to give credit to the original poster along with the full citation. If you forward something from the E-Talk, E-Expert, E-Retina or E-Meeting list, make sure you give credit to the original poster and/or source.
Please DO NOT post any copyrighted material to the E-Talk, E-Expert, E-Retina or E-Meeting lists unless you have acquired permission to do so from the holder(s) of the copyright.
Keep your messages short to conserve bandwidth and encourage others to read your messages; lengthy messages are not as inviting to readers as shorter messages.
Remember, no emphasis or emotional tone gets transmitted through e-mail. Jokes and sarcastic comments may be insensitive to others. Any criticism, personal attacks, and use of profanity are unwanted and will result in your removal from the E-Talk, E-Expert, E-Retina or E-Meeting . You are responsible for what you post.
Use a descriptive subject line. Avoid subject lines such as “question” or “coding question”. Many people decide whether they want to read a message based on the content of the subject line and vague subject lines make it difficult to search the archive.
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HOW SAFE IS THE LIST?
Am I being protected from viruses?
The listservs allows you to send attachments via e-mail. Every attachment sent to the list is screened by anti-virus software before you receive it. However, this does not mean you cannot get a virus from someone subscribed to the list. If a subscriber is infected with a virus and responds directly back to you with an attachment instead of to the list, you may be infected. While we take every precaution to prevent viruses from spreading by way of the list, viruses will continue find ways to adapt and attempt to outsmart screening software. We will make every effort to continuously upgrade our virus protection software.
Always follow these rules when dealing with e-mail:
- Do not open attachments or click on links to Web sites embedded in the body of mail from people you do not know.
- Do not open attachments with the following file extensions: .exe, .visa, .vba, .pff or any other unfamiliar extensions. You can respond to an individual who sends you an unexpected attachment to verify that it is safe to open.
- If you run into difficulties, contact the owner of the list by sending an e-mail message to etalk-owner@lists.aao.org outlining the details of your problem.
Also, please note our virus protection software may at times incorrectly identify a harmless attachment as a virus and strip it from the e-mail before it is sent to the list. If you send an attachment to the list and this occurs, notify etalk-owner@lists.aao.org.
If you have any questions about E-Talk, E-Expert, E-Retina or E-Meeting, contact the list administrator
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