Many optometrists believe today’s optometry business requires more and more effort to achieve the same financial rewards. If you agree, you may have fallen into one of these three traps:
- Refusing to Change – With decreasing vision care benefit reimbursements, optometrists can operate their offices the way they always have, or they can adapt to the changing environment. Surprisingly, even many optometrists who say they are operating in the new medical model still bill the old vision benefit plans for more than 60 percent of their total billing. Change begins from the top down and requires the optometrist leading their practice to think and act differently.
- Poor Communication – The production per patient in the dispensary is a direct reflection of what the doctor is prescribing. Doctors are to remain ethical in prescribing only what will benefit the patients and meet their needs. However, many doctors will not talk about ophthalmic product in the exam room because they say it is not their job. If a patient is suffering from poor vision, it is the doctor’s job to prescribe the best prescription and products to best correct that defect. If the patient wants to compromise visual quality because of price, let that be the patient’s decision, not the doctor’s.
- Working IN the Business, Instead of ON the Business – “I see patients five days a week and our practice net is only 28 percent.” I hear statements like this from optometrists who work harder and not smarter. As the CEO, you must get out of the exam room from time to time so you can run the business. This may require hiring an associate sooner than later. Even though it’s a big initial financial investment, I’ve seen many cases where only a year after hiring an associate, the optometrist CEO is seeing fewer patients and profits are up.
Don’t get frustrated in today’s optometry business because you are working harder and making less. Do something about it. My best friend in optometry school and I always said there are two kinds of individuals–those who make things happen and those who let things happen. Individuals who make things happen end up in the destinations of their choosing. Go make things happen.
Could you elaborate on this:
“operating in the new medical model still bill the old vision benefit plans for more than 60 percent of their total billing.”
Thanks!
Thank you for your comment. To elaborate on operating in the medical model and using your billing as a gauge for your type of practice. If a doctor is practicing the medical model then at least 40% or more of the billing will not be vision benefits, billing will be to medical insurances. There is a transition that occurs as patients begin to understand the differences b/n vision benefits and medical insurance. As our practice has been “talking medical” for years now, we have patients that are aware that depending on their complaints and what the doctor finds in the exam, will determine billing. If a practice is billing 80% vision benefits, they maybe “thinking medical” but not acting medical when the gauge is billing. I am hopeful this helps but I know there is so much more to transitioning to 40% or more medical billing. There are 4 lectures in the “Eyelearn” archive of AOA from last year where I walked through 2-3 webinars on how to implement the medical model with your billing reflecting this. If you would like further discussion, please contact me directly at optometryceo@gmail.com. Thank you 🙂