Some people love change–it’s part of their DNA and makes them who they are. Some people easily tire of the stress and frustrations that come along with change. If you are the latter, you may be ready for retirement. If you are an optometrist and CEO of your practice, you must embrace change–whether you love it or not–and constantly try to improve if you want to be successful.
One area of change that makes many optometrists leery is online scheduling. Professions like cosmetology and massage have made this a norm for their clients, whereas healthcare professionals tend to be protective of their schedules and stick to the old “call the office” routine. Fortunately for those who are ready for change this will be the next evolution of patient convenience and practice success (and it isn’t as uncontrolled as you might think). For a business of any kind to grow and thrive it must change to meet the demands of consumers (or in our case, patients). Online scheduling is one of those conveniences that patients want. How do I know this? More and more patients are contacting our office electronically to schedule instead of calling the office.
Put yourself in your patients’ shoes:
Old way–Scheduling an appointment when it is convenient for the OFFICE.
- Make sure the office is open.
- Call a phone number.
- Wait through the phone tree.
- Be transferred to scheduling.
- Answer a bunch of questions that you don’t have time for because you are late for your daughter’s soccer game.
- Ask if you can go online to fill out the questions they are asking.
- Phone call ends with you frustrated because you still have things to do to complete the appointment process.
New way–Scheduling an appointment when it is convenient for YOU.
- Any time of the day or night.
- Google wichita optometry.
- Click on link to wichita optometry.
- Find their “make an appointment” link and click
- Pick an appointment time that works for you.
- Fill out the online patient forms.
- Receive a 1 day text reminder of your appointment.
The old “call the office” model revolves around you and your staff. When a company can design its processes and systems to revolve around the customer, the company wins and so does the customer/patient. Practicing optometry is difficult during this time when change occurs weekly and the office must constantly defer to consumers. However, if one ignores the changing patterns of society then one ends up wondering how some optometry offices have thrived while some have barely survived.
