Dr. Goerl in his pre-testing room. Dr. Goerl says a Walmart Vision Center can be a great practice setting for expanding medical eyecare services.
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By Daniel Goerl, OD
August 23, 2023
When you open a practice, it’s best to have a vision in mind. I wanted my patients to really experience a difference in their eyecare.
Coming from a LASIK background, I knew I wanted to offer my patients comprehensive medical eyecare so as to ensure that they would be given innovative and person-centered care.
I also understood that medical eyecare services were the future of optometry, and I decided that the investment in growing this facet of my practice would make long-term profitability more likely.
The setting where I opened my private practice, next to a Walmart Vision Center, has attracted patients of all backgrounds and ages in need of medical eyecare. It has been an ideal place to build a practice with this vision.
Grow Essential Services in Your Community
In 2011, I decided to open my practice, Eyepro, in the town where I raised my kids. After establishing myself in Northern Virginia as a reputable optometrist and working alongside ophthalmologists in LASIK and refractive surgery patient management, I wanted to create a practice of my own with an atmosphere best-fit for the growing community’s needs and which would make a positive difference for future generations.
Having a private practice is certainly challenging yet highly rewarding, and the ability to choose the “how” and the “why” we serve the community is what motivates myself and my team to continue doing what we love: serving our patients first. We now own and operate three practice locations in Northern Virginia and two practice locations south of Myrtle Beach, S.C.
We see and take care of all patients, young and old, with insurance or without, and we will do our best to navigate the specific circumstances of each patient to ensure everyone receives the care they need and deserve. Our goal is to provide affordable, accessible and quality eyecare to anybody and everybody who walks through our door and to treat each person as family. We are trying to connect with the heart of every type of community.
Being next to a Walmart Vision Center allows my team to develop a strong working relationship between our two businesses. That relationship with Walmart Vision Center is paramount because it allows us to focus on what we do best—providing quality, comprehensive medical eye exams and contact lens fits—and then also to entrust our patients who choose the quality and convenience of the Walmart Vision Centers with the skillful care of Walmart’s opticians.
It is a great balance and I’m most grateful for the way this relationship works to give the community the fullness of the services they need. Furthermore, the trust we develop with the Walmart Health and Wellness managers has only served to benefit our private practice. Once again, I cannot stress enough how grateful I am for how professional, open and understanding Walmart Vision Center has been with our independent practice model. With Walmart, you really do get to work with quality, kindhearted people.
Provide Caring Service that Serves as Competitive Differentiator
Eyepro has a competitive edge over other independent practices because of the value we place on person-centered business ethics and care.
Both our managers and doctors are hospitable, knowledgeable, personable and empathetic. The on-site relationship between the doctor and the manager is incredibly important to ensuring we are giving the patient a very real and human experience. Eyepro would not be where we are without our team and family culture.
My independent practices give autonomy to each independent location, empowering the mangers and doctors to make the best judgments on any and every situation that arises on a given day, always within the framework of our person-centered ethical standards.
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Outfit Office with Latest Technology
Alongside the industry standard technology, we have innovative medical technology, such as the Topcon Maestro 2 OCT, so that we optimize our doctors’ ability to see as much of the interior of the eyes as needed to determine general health of the eyes, as well as to make precise diagnoses and treatment plans. The technology we utilize, like fundus photography and anterior/posterior segment OCT, allow us to diagnose conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, ischemia or glaucoma early on. Keeping up with modern medicine and management practices has been a major key to success over the last decade.
Find a Practice Setting that Makes Marketing Easy
When your practice is so conveniently located, such as next to a Walmart Vision Center location, you have an immediate advantage in marketing it to your community
Positioning my practice next to a Walmart Vision Center helps build a relationship with the community. Walmart is a household name no matter where you are in the country, and they are focused on the community as well as helping their customers live better, healthier lives. Being next to a Walmart Vision Center in this way brings us closer to the everyday person within the community.
Daniel Goerl, OD, is the owner of Eyepro, a practice with three locations adjacent to Walmart stores. To contact him: drgoerl@gmail.com
