Finances

Optometric Alliances: Your OD-to-OD Educational Resource

By Eric M. White, OD

Speaking to another doctor who is dealing with the same challenges you face can provide the answer to a daunting practice problem. An optometric alliance offers prime opportunities for such candid exchanges.

No man is an island, it has been said, and that is true of optometrists, as well, meaning your experiences as an OD offer educational opportunities to others in our field, and vice versa. Whether it is staff management, management of finances, or patient-doctor relations, participating in OD-to-OD forums through optometric alliances like Primary Eyecare Network, provide you with an invaluable opportunity to enhance the trajectory of your practice and help other doctors along.

An optical alliance meeting, like this one sponsored by PEN, offers a prime opportunity to exchange practice-building ideas with other ODs.

Share Practice Pearls in Study Groups

Most of the best ideas and pearls that I bring to the office come from OD-to-OD networking. I belong to a national optometric study group, along with a local study group sponsored by PEN. What I love the most is going around the room and talking about the latest practice innovations doctors have tried—both good and bad. Study groups are by far the best way for ODs to help one another. These forums allow you to brainstorm concepts and ideas to try in your own office. I can’t tell you how many times I have used ideas gathered at PEN meetings in my practice. For example, we discuss how to fit certain kinds of contact lenses and how to implement ideas ranging from staff management to the optical dispensary.

Sometimes OD-to-OD forums bring in helpful guest speakers. For example, it was in my PEN small group meeting that EyecarePro gave a presentation on the importance of online social networking. I took tons of notes and when I got back to the office and thought about it, it made sense. I called up EyecarePro and began utilizing their services. Our foray into social networking and enhanced online marketing via my web site has been a strong success. My virtual “office,” meaning my online presence, is now stronger than ever, and I have never been busier. I can now share this digital strategy win with my peers in the small group PEN meetings and in the PEN regional meetings. I consider the members of my small group close friends whom I have learned a tremendous amount from that has directly benefited my practice.

Last year was the best year ever for my practice, and this year is up over last year in revenues so far. The lessons I learned from my PEN small group meetings has directly helped to increase my bottom line.

Share Both Good and Bad Experiences

The most important thing to remember when participating in OD-to-OD learning groups is that everyone has to participate—good or bad. Sometimes a bad idea when discussed can turn into a huge success. I can’t tell you how many ideas I have implemented successfully from discussions in my small group, some of which may have only turned into good ideas after discussion with other doctors.

Participate Regularly

I belong to a national study group that meets twice a year, in addition to my PEN group, which meets quarterly. The thing I love about the PEN group is we are all optometrists and know about the specifics of our profession. They are not my competition, but my colleagues. We help each other and have become great friends because of it.

The quarterly PEN small group meetings are sponsored by optometric vendors. They love it because they get 10 to 15 doctors in the same room—great ROI for them. They pay for dinner, but are able to stay for the discussion after. These vendors learn a lot from listening to the real world trials and tribulations of ODs and then are able to serve us better. These meetings start at 6:30 pm with a half-hour of fellowship, or pre-dinner socializing and conversation. At 7 pm, the waiters take our orders and we sit down. After the orders have been taken, the sponsor gets up to talk. The dinner is set up so food is served while the vendor rep is talking. The vendor presentation portion of the evening lasts a half-hour to an hour. The ODs then take turns discussing the latest challenges and innovations in our practices. We are asked to bring at least one recent attempted innovation–good or bad–to share. The evening ends at 9 pm. These meetings are among the richest I attend. I always come home with several ideas to take back to the practice.

Smaller Groups are Ideal

I have found 10 to 21 participants is ideal; anything less than 10 and you might not get enough of a variety of ideas. Anything more then 20 and there are too many people for detailed sharing. Groups that are too large often end up a couple of doctors lecturing to the rest of the group without the interaction that makes a small group great. I have been in big groups and I do not learn as much as I do in the smaller groups.

Cost-Effective Educational Resource

It does not cost anything just to join PEN, and as I mentioned, the regional meetings are sponsored by optometric vendors, so the dinners are free. PEN is more then a typical buying group, so along with discounts on frames, contact lenses, equipment and other supplies, they offer great benefits related to insurance services, and many other advantages. PEN takes a small percentage of the revenues from patient purchases, but what you get in exchange, more than makes up for this cost. I have found PEN to be the most cost-effective optometric alliance.

Implement Ideas When Back in the Office

After I attend the PEN regional meetings, at the next staff meeting I discuss the ideas other doctors shared with me that I might like to implement. In addition to important lessons in digital strategy from EyecarePro, I was able to bring back to the office strategies to improve the number of patients opting for Transitions and AR lenses. I learned from other doctors the value of prescribing Transitions and AR on all computer and reading glasses.

The nice thing about PEN and its regional meetings is the participating doctors hold each other accountable to implement ideas. We e-mail each other and we see each other at other meetings and talk about it. If the idea we discussed implementing in our practices is a big challenge, I will e-mail the group so we can work together to ensure we follow through on our plans.

Related ROB Articles

Insurance Credentialing: Path to Practice Growth

Optometric Alliances: A Primary OD and Staff Education Tool

Get Involved: The Payoffs from Learning and Networking in Associations

Eric M. White, OD, is the owner of Complete Family Vision Care in San Diego, Calif. Complete Family Vision Care was named 2013 Transitions Academy Practice of the Year. To contact Dr. White: Emwhiteod@aol.com.

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