By Edwin Liu, OD
Optometric alliances are now leading sources of OD and staff education. Joining an alliance—and accessing their educational resources—can lead to better care for your patients and better business results for your practice.
What OD doesn’t want to provide better eyecare, as well as better service to patients? Most ODs–at least those savvy enough to remain in practice–look for ways to provide patients with an ever improving experience with evolving fashions in the optical shop, better instrumentation and a more comfortable office environment. Participation in an optometric alliance–in my case Primary Eyecare Network (PEN)–is a key way to get the education you and your staff need to provide better care and service to patients.
Edwin Liu, OD
Foothill Optometric GroupPleasanton, Calif.
www.fogeyes.net
Southern California College of Optometry
Class of 1982
Practice opened in 1983 with wife and fellow SCCO grad
Amy Liu Longacre, OD
Doctors and Locations
Five doctors, one location
Annual Examinations
8,000
Believe in the Change You Are Making
Don’t make the investment in educational services such as those provided by an alliance if you don’t believe in change. If you’re still fitting conventional soft contact lenses or straight-top bifocals or haven’t bought a new piece of instrumentation in 10 years, my guess is investing in education would be useless. Nothing is more discouraging for a staff member who comes back from a seminar excited about a new product or practice idea than to have the doctor shelve it because they don’t want to change.
The doctor, as practice leader, has to cast a vision for the importance of continual learning and the incorporation of new ideas. That mindset alone creates a team that is not afraid of change, that looks for ways to improve, searching for ways to better serve the patient’s needs. That mindset attracts dynamic employees who are challenged and want to contribute to the team. If you’re losing good employees or are stuck with ones who refuse to change, you need to step back and assess whether you are willing to change.
Ongoing Lessons Via Alliance
I am a member of the optometric alliance Primary Eyecare Network (PEN). Each year, PEN hosts a conference calledPIO (Preserving Independent Optometry), and the courses I have taken there have been invaluable in helping me manage my practice.
The most recent seminar on understanding the importance of social media has started us on the process of updating our practice web site. Learning how to work with Google +, Facebook, Yelp, as well as understanding e-mail communication tools like DemandForce, have been invaluable lessons for our practice. Not only have we been able to increase the number of hits on our web site by understanding search engine optimization, but we’ve also freed up our telephone lines and staff time utilizing e-mail notification/communication tools–all lessons learned through educational opportunities provided by PEN.
Along with educational programs provided by alliances, the Management & Business Academy (MBA), sponsored by Alcon andEssilor, is an excellent practice management tool that through doctors’ surveys has worked hard to establish some simple practice metrics that allow optometrists to better evaluate their practice–and see the benefit of staff education. Such courses teach the use of simple metrics such as revenue-per-patient, which is easily calculated by divided your annual revenue by the number of eye examination performed that year. The MBA national average is $306/ patient,andour practice average is a good 40 percent to 50 percent above that. I attribute that differential directly to staff and doctor education coupled with most importantly the willingness to incorporate changes. Whether it be freeform digitally surfaced lenses, titanium screw-less hinged frames or our multifocal silconehydrogel soft lenses, learning about and incorporating new products and procedure makes for a progressive, dynamic office environment. The big side benefit to that type of office environment is keeping like-minded employees enthusiastic and engaged.
Combine Alliance Staff Education with Education Provided By Vendors
Amazingly enough–considering all you have to gain–the cost of practice management education is very reasonable. The bottom line is most of the large contact lens, ophthalmic lens and frame companies will pay the doctor’s registration fees because they reap the benefits of servicing thriving, growing, successful optometric practices. The greatest cost is you or your staff’s time away from the office. With many classes now available online through webinars, that time away expense has been greatly reduced.
Given I have about 20 employees, most of the expense is in salary for the actual education time. I do pay my staff for registration fees and travel if needed, but honestly most of the education they receive is conducted in the office as staff trainings put on by vendors or through webinars. As a staff, we devote about one to two hours per month on staff education.
Choose Targeted Education for Staff Members
My practice’s doctors and office supervisors meet quarterly to assess the areas of staff education that would most benefit the practice. We also use our office surveys (done through DemandForce) or monthly financial reports to look for areas of weakness to see where we can make improvements.
We provide focused education to each employee. For example, an optician or optometric technician might be given education specific to ophthalmic lens designs, contact lens or frames. But training related to new testing instrumentation, office software, social media, patient interaction skills or personality profiles like StrengthsFinder would be for the whole office.
Edwin Liu, OD, is a partner with Foothill Optometric Group in Pleasanton, Calif. To contact him: 2020eliu@gmail.com.
