How Much Are You Paying Your Optician?

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It seems many of you reward opticians with longevity in your practice, findings from Jobson Optical Research’s and Local Eye Site’s 2013 ECP Compensation Study suggest. Opticians/dispensers with more than 10 years in the position reported an average compensation of $48,443. The reported averages for less than 5 years and 5 to 10 years were $39,627 and $45,838 respectively.

Click HERE to purchase Jobson Optical Research’s and Local Eye Site’s 2013 ECP Compensation Study.

How much should you be paying your staff?

According to Jobson Optical Research’s and Local Eye Site’s 2013 ECP Compensation Study, the following chart gives the average compensation for your opticians/dispensers. This is total compensation which is wage + bonus + benefits + anything else it costs you to have that employee.

To drill down into this topic with more nuance, let consider the following chart. It has been adjusted to 2014 numbers from the original MBA report in 2009. Notice this chart is wage only.

Assume your practice collects $1 million. Some 20-22 percent of the dollars collected is, in general, what you should be paying for your staff who are your non-doctor, non-in-house optical laboratory, staff. For purposes of our example, 20 percent X $1 million equals $200,000. Out of that $200,000 you can now purchase your non-doctor, non-in-house optical laboratory staff. If you use the five- to 10-year data from the Jobson and Local Eye Site report to purchase two opticians at $46,000 each, then you have $200K – (2 x $46K) = $108,000 to purchase the rest of your staff.

With $108,000, you can afford to purchase

One contact lens technician at $32,797.44, one receptionist at $28,788.65 and one bookkeeper at $36,715.35. That leaves $9,698 to hire a part-time person.

But, you want more staff. If you use 22 percent of the dollars collected to hire your non-doctor, non-in-house optical laboratory, staff, then you would have $20,000+ $9,698 which equals $29,698 to hire another person. Using the MBA chart, that gives you the ability to hire an optometric assistant. But, you still want more staff. That leaves you with three choices:

1. Increase your dollars collected

2. Negotiate with the staff you hire for lower wages than given in our example

3. Pay the extra and reduce the practice net

A combination of choice 1 and 2 is the preferred way to go.

It is important to have quality staff in order to care for the patients you see. It also is important to control the dollars you are paying for those staff members. The best way to think of adding staff is to make sure the additional staff is paying for themselves. Here are the questions to ask before hiring:

1. How does adding this new staff member permit us to see more patients?

2. How does adding this new staff member permit us to deliver more reimbursable care?

3. How does adding this new staff member permit us to prescribe more reimbursable product per patient?

Your project this week is to review your staff salaries. Start with the big picture by answering these questions:

Total dollars collected 2013 = ___________________________

22% x Line 1 = ___________________________

Total dollars spent on staff = ___________________________

Subtract Line 3 from Line 2 = ___________________________

How did you do? Is Line 4 a positive or a negative number? If Line 4 is a negative number, you need to look more closely at the detail. Examine the total money you are paying for each staff member individually.

Now, create a plan to get your staff numbers and the money you are paying for your staff more in line with where it should be.