First Annual Canadian Dry Eye Summit

Practice, Products | Services | Industry News, Specialty Practice

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The first annual Canadian Dry Eye Summit (CDES) was held on May 25 -26th, 2018 at the Hotel Novotel in Mississauga Ontario. The sold out event brought together over 160 attendees, faculty and industry for two days to learn, share and experience all that is new in the dry eye space. The CDES was born with a singular mission: To ensure patients across Canada receive outstanding, compassionate care for their ocular surface based on the evidence of the day. This two day session certainly went a long way towards that mission.

Dr. Laura Periman demonstrating IPL

Chief Learning officer, Dr. Richard Maharaj brought together over 14 experts from across North America to share their knowledge and experience in the dry eye space. Over 10 hours of COPE approved CE was provided covering topics such as:

  • The role of inflammation in DED
  • Highlights of TFOS DEWS II
  • Dry Eye as a vision disease
  • Scleral Lenses in the treatment of DED
  • Introducing a dry eye practice into a busy clinic
  • Marketing your medical niche

Dr. Trevor Miranda receiving a Lipiflow Treatment

The CDES also brought together the industries best technology and products under one roof. This offered attendees the opportunity to see the latest technology in diagnosis and treatment and get a glimpse of what is coming down the road. A unique feature of this years summit were the hands on workshops where folks could try out technologies such as Lipiflow, IPL, Blephex, Tear Osmolarity and many more.

 

 

 

Dr. Art Epstein

A quote from one of the speakers, Dr. Art Epstein, OD, FAAO sums up the event quite nicely:

“What I especially liked about the Summit was that it offered a well thought-out and balanced mix of clinically focused lectures combined with hands on wet labs and dry eye demonstrations. The presenters included a notable cast of US and Canadian dry eye experts, and the audience was warm, friendly and receptive.”

 

 

 

Planning is already in the works for 2019, visit dryeyesummit.ca and get on the mailing list for next years event.

 

 

 

 

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When Does Fit Trump Experience in the Hiring Process?

Human Resources, Managing Others, Talent Acquisition

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It’s no secret that “fit” is one of the most important characteristics to assess when evaluating potential new hires.

At Eyeployment.com, we believe so strongly in the value of measuring fit first, we built an entire platform designed to help practice owners and managers do just that.  But should fit ever trump experience?

Let’s be clear; the ideal candidate should be both qualified AND a good fit for the role and your office culture.

Recommending that employers hire for cultural fit is not the same as recommending that practices hire unqualified or incompetent applicants.

Nobody benefits from that scenario. But if you have a choice between a highly-experienced candidate who is a poor fit, and a candidate who is an excellent fit, but less experienced, who would you hire?

Qualifications Still Matter – To a Point

Most job postings include a list of required academic credentials, professional experience and skills – and with good reason.

Your practice needs employees with the fundamental knowledge and skill to perform the tasks expected in their role.

Training is time-, cost- and labour-intensive so it makes sense to prioritize the more experienced candidates who should require less time and less training to get up to speed.

However it’s important to note that while any employee can learn new skills, processes and procedures, cultural fit isn’t something which can be taught.

When Experience is a Disadvantage

A landmark 2009 study set out to examine the links between experience and job performance, expecting that prior related experience in a previous role would lead to better performance in the new role.

In fact, the results showed that any benefits of that prior job experience were completely negated by poor cultural fit.

While employees bring the skills and experience workers gained at previous positions to their new jobs, they may also bring with them certain expectations, routines, patterns of behaviour and fixed ways of thinking that prevent them from adapting successfully to the new work environment.

Why Fit Matters More

Numerous studies of employee engagement have identified a strong correlation between culture and performance.

  1. 83% of executives and 84% of employees ranked motivated and engaged employees as the #1 factor contributing to a company’s success. (Deloitte)
  2. Candidates who are a good fit are 20% more likely to become top performers (Achievers)
  3. New hires who are a good fit are 27.2% less likely to leave during their first 18 months of employment. (Achievers)
  4. Over a period of seven years, companies with more engaged workers grew revenue 2.5x as much as companies with less engaged workers. ( Bain & Company)
  5. Happy employees are 12% more productive. (Fast Company)

Fit with office culture is a defining feature of employee success, which leads to financial success.

Focusing on fit over experience when hiring doesn’t mean compromising on essential skills.

It means committing to finding employees who will support your company’s vision and providing them with the tools and training which they need to succeed.

 

 

JAN G. VAN DER HOOP

Jan is the co-founder and president of Fit First Technologies, a company that applies its predictive analytics to the task of matching people to roles. Those algorithms drive platforms such as TalentSorter, FitFirstJobs and Eyeployment.com, which are relied upon by organizations to screen high volumes of candidates for “fit” in their open positions.

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Canadian-Adapted Private Equity Model Coming Soon to Help ODs with Exit Strategy

Buying-Selling A Practice, Practice, Products | Services | Industry News

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Canadian Eye Care Business Review (CECBR) has learned that Ken Barbet, previously CEO of Eye Recommend, plans to offer a unique solution to independent optometrists searching for an exit strategy with a portion of the financing for this venture coming from Canadian private equity.

Mr. Barbet told CECBR that developing an exit strategy for independent ODs became very evident to him as a critical issue to solve for the independent practitioner, their family, employees, and even for the welfare of the profession in general. “Over the years, many ODs struggled with how and when to leave their practice. This has caused many ODs to leave too early or too late, or even to choose a buyer who they don’t respect,” said Barbet.

Barbet’s new company will advocate a “Professional Partnership Model,” which creates a partnership between the acquiring company and the OD who currently owns the practice. The OD owner remains the lead for all professional services and the acquiring company provides all optical and support services.  According to Barbet, both parties share in the profit as the practice grows. This solution has not been used in optometry but has been used in other health care fields such as dentistry and veterinary medicine.

“Our solution allows the current owner to focus on what they are trained for and exceptional at—Patient Care. When the OD owner is ready to retire, we will recruit another doctor who is interested in ownership to take their place. The solution provides autonomy and flexibility, and allows the owner to participate in the upside of the practice,” said Barbet.

Barbet told CECBR that the “Professional Partnership Model” provides cash up front for the majority of the practice value. The remaining practice value, linked to EBITDA growth, has upside potential that can be optioned at any time, at the seller’s discretion.

Barbet disclosed to CECBR that he will be the majority stakeholder in the new company and there will be one other party as a minority shareholder in the yet unnamed business.

In a recent CECBR webinar on Exit Strategies, the view of panelists on the possibility of private equity being a force in aggregating Canadian independent Optometrists largely agreed that private equity could become a factor in Canada. Jackie Joachim, COO of ROI Corporation, which has brokered nearly a thousand Canadian health care professional practice transactions expressed the view that private equity will come to Optometry as it had for both the dental and veterinary profession. The webinar was held June 4th, prior to the reveal of the information regarding Mr. Barbet’s new company.

 

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Developing a Strategy

Finance|Wealth, Practice Metrics & Benchmarks, Resources

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When we are asked to help set up brand new practices, one of the first things we work on with our clients is strategy.

Sure, you could probably open a new optometry practice in the right location and get enough traffic to survive. But what if you want to do more than just survive? What if you want to thrive?

Aspiring owners should have Goals, Actions and Priorities as defined here:

  1. Goals: Achieve a revenue, profit, or market share target. For example, achieve 10% of gross revenue through diagnostic testing.
  2. Actions: This outlines what needs to happen. This one can be as simple as “open a new office.”
  3. Priorities: Define areas of investment for time, resources, or capital for advancing the company, such as increasing brand awareness in digital channels.

While, Goals, Actions, and Priorities may help inform the creation of a strategy, they’re not equivalent to your strategy.

There are a number of things you need to consider in order to formulate a strategy. First, what are your strengths and passions? This will help you formulate your service and product offerings. Next, evaluate the landscape. Who else is offering a similar service? How will you create a unique experience  to drive traffic to your location instead of theirs?

One of my favourite examples to illustrate how different strategies play out is the coffee shop. For most of us, we have a few different options when it comes to coffee. We may choose differently depending on the circumstance. For instance, if I am just grabbing a coffee to drink while driving, my go-to place is Tim Horton’s. If we have a client meeting, we often choose Starbucks for a more formal feel. If I am meeting friends and we decide to get a bite to eat, I choose the local coffee establishment that offers larger tables and a wider selection of lunch options.

How will you make the experience in your office different? Why will the consumer choose your office over someone offering similar services? You need a strategy.

Roger Martin and A.G. Lafley provide an excellent framework in Playing To Win to help you define a strategy through answering five big questions:

  1. What is our winning aspiration?
  2. Where will we play?
  3. How will we win?
  4. What capabilities must be in place?
  5. What management systems are required?

The answers to these questions will help you formulate your strategy. From there you can plan the steps to bring that strategy to life. Every decision should be evaluated against this strategy to ensure they are aligned.

 

KELLY HRYCUSKO

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com.

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Webinar: Should I Stay or Should i Go? Exit Strategy Considerations for ODs

Webinar

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On Monday June 4th 2018 Canadian Eye Care Business Review hosted a panel discussion entitled: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Exit Strategy Considerations.

Drs. Jeff and Tina Goodhew, independent practitioners from Oakville, Ontario, guide the discussion an expert panel of Canadian Optometric opinion leaders actively involved in optometric practice transactions.  Panelists included:

  • Dr. Daryan Angle  – VP Business Development IRIS (Part of the NewLook Vision Group)
  • Dr. Paul Gray – Director and President of the Member Relations Committee, Optometric Services Inc.
  • Jackie Joachim, Chief Operating Officer, ROI Corporation
  • Grant Larsen, CEO, Eye Recommend
  • Dr. Al Ulsifer, CEO & President, FYi doctors

The webinar provide a comprehensive discussion of factors that indpendent optometric practice owners ought to consider as they approach the important decisions around exiting their practice.  Topics covered include planning, use of a business broker, importance of assembling a trusted team of advisors, various valuation methods and the roller-coaster psychological aspects of a sale transaction.

 

The countries two leading practice aggregators,IRIS and FYi doctors, provided the benefit of their perspectives as did the two leading independent  OD networks, Optometric Services Inc. and EyeRecommend.

The webinar is packed with solid practical tips and information: essential for any practice owner that has selling their practice even remotely on the horizon.

You may watch the video slide show and audio above, or listen to the audio only from the links below.

 

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How to Measure Staff Productivity

Finance|Wealth, Human Resources, Practice Metrics & Benchmarks, Resources

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We met with an industry expert recently and something he said struck us: “No one ever regrets hiring too soon. In fact, employers never hire soon enough!” We often hear concern from our clients that the employees that they have now aren’t working enough, and they resent the idea that they have to hire another employee to increase productivity in the office.

“Productivity” in industry is defined as the effectiveness of effort measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input. The metric we use to measure staff productivity is Revenue per Staff Hour.  Basically, we are evaluating how much gross revenue is generated for every hour of staff time that is logged. For every staff hour paid, a healthy range is between $110-$130. If the staff is not generating this, it is an indicator that either the office is over-staffed, or that the staff is unproductive. If the office is generating more than this, it is an indicator that the staff is over-worked and in order to increase productivity, it is time to hire more team members.

We also want to evaluate the productivity of each department in an office to ascertain where the gap is. For instance, the office may be well staffed on front desk but short staffed in the dispensary.

In a primary care office that offers optical services, the optical should be generating 30 sales per month per staff member working in this department. If you have a part-time member, use 15 jobs as the guideline. Ultimately, the idea is to gather information that will help you make decisions to increase productivity. If 1 ½ staff are generating 50 or more sales in a month, it is time to consider moving up to two full time staff in this department. If two full-time staff are only generating 50 jobs per month, you may want to evaluate their individual performances and offer coaching and tools to help strengthen their sales skills.

Productivity of the pretesting staff can be evaluated by looking at the percentage of patients visiting for a full exam that have additional diagnostics taken. When 60% of full visit patients are opting for diagnostic testing, there needs to be a staff member dedicated to each doctor with this result.

There are a number of indicators of front desk productivity. If this role is being done well, the no-show rate should be less than 2%. Further, every doctor in the practice should be averaging a similar number of new patients.

Lastly, as a rule, happy and appreciated staff are generally more productive. It is worth the time and effort invested in team building activities, continuing education opportunities and staff incentives. To prove it, measure the productivity before and after implementing any of these activities and you will see a marked difference in productivity.

 

KELLY HRYCUSKO

is the co-founder and managing partner of Simple Innovative Management Ideas (SIMI) Inc. and expert Practice Management contributor for Optik magazine. She can be reached at info@simiinc.com.

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Should I Develop a Specialty Within Optometry?

Differentiation | Business Strategy, Practice, Resources, Specialty Practice

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Many optometrists have found success offering a specialized service such as vision therapy, sports vision, or care for low-vision patients. What are the benefits, and challenges, to creating specific niches within optometry?

The primary question every business must answer is: Why should a customer (patient) do business with you rather than your competition down the street? Most of the time the answer is that you have better service or a better product.

In the eyecare business, where the majority of us are all selling the same products (i.e.: glasses, contact lenses, healthcare treatment) from the same companies, is it enough to focus on service to give the answer to the primary question? Having excellent service is essential, but we think that creating a niche for your practice gives you a step up on the competition.

Click the image above to read “How One OD Maintains a Profitable Sports Vision Specialty.”

A common mistake that many small businesses make is trying to be the best at everything. It is next to impossible to be able to achieve that business goal. Your chances for success drop dramatically if you are just trying to be the same as every other practice in town. That makes a fundamental key to success being choosing a niche that your competition has overlooked.

When you choose a niche it makes it easier for you to answer the primary question to your potential patients, and, at the same time, it gives them the answer that they can tell their family and friends why they chose you out of the sea of eyecare practices available to them.

Since the majority of practices focus on healthy eyes with 20/20 vision, we chose to carve out our niche as: There is more to vision than 20/20 acuity. We started by offering specialized services that fall under the umbrella of vision therapy. Our original target audience was children. We believed, and it proved to be true, that if we were able to get the children into the practice, then we would be able to attract everyone around the children – immediate family, extended family and friends.

Word of mouth is still the number one way that most practices find new patients – current patients telling potential patients not only where to go for care, but why. And that takes us back to answering the primary question – why should someone choose you rather than the competition down the street?

In the article “5 Steps to Carving Out a Niche Business,” Step 3 is to put your specialty to the test using the SPAN method. The SPAN method is:

Subtopics – Does your niche require an expert?

Pain – Does your niche help people in pain? (Let’s define “pain” as a “need” that merits attention.)

Attainable – Can you actually provide the solution to the pain?

Numbers – Is the market big enough to matter?

Once you’ve defined your niche, then you must price your services and products. If you are an expert, then you should charge appropriately. A common mistake is to think that if you price your services and products the lowest possible, then you will be attractive to more people. Let’s be honest here, if you have heart problems, are you really looking for the lowest-priced cardiologist? If you want to go skydiving, are you really looking for the lowest-priced parachute packer?

Once you’ve established your pricing, then next steps become:

1) Creating systems in the practice to deliver care with quality and consistency.

2) Hiring and training doctors and staff to work the systems.

3) Putting in place quality-control mechanisms.

4) Marketing to let your local area know about your niche.

Creating a niche practice is the key to success in today’s crowded eyecare marketplace.

References
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240812

 

MARK WRIGHT, OD, FCOVD

Dr. Wright is the founding partner of a nine-partner, three-location full-scope optometric practice. As CEO of Pathways to Success, an internet-based practice management firm, he works with practices of all sizes. He is faculty coordinator for Ohio State’s leading practice management program.

CAROLE BURNS, OD, FCOVD

Dr. Burns is the senior partner of a nine-doctor full-scope optometric practice that she built with her husband, Dr. Wright. She is also the COO of a state-wide nursing care optometry practice. Dr. Burns lectures nationally on practice management and staffing issues. Dr. Burns authored the Specialty Practice section of the textbook, Business Aspects of Optometry.

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Luxury Eyewear Retailer Oliver Peoples to Enter Canada with Multiple Stores

Practice, Products | Services | Industry News

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American luxury eyewear retailer Oliver Peoples will enter the Canadian market this year with its first standalone stores. The popular upscale brand has stores in some of the world’s leading luxury shopping destinations, as it positions itself as a premium retailer for those who can afford its pricey offerings.

The brand’s choice for its first two Canadian stores is keeping in line with its premium real estate selection, choosing to locate its first Toronto store at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in a 700 square foot space near luxury brands such as Montblanc, Piaget and Van Cleef & Arpels. A Vancouver location will also open on Alberni Street in the heart of the city’s burgeoning ‘Luxury Zone’ — both locations will open this fall, according to the company.

Oliver Peoples is the latest international eyewear retailer to enter the Canadian market. Over the past 24 months, Canada has seen more international eyewear retailers enter the country than at any time in our history. Other popular names include Warby Parker, Illesteva, SEE, Bailey Nelson, Ollie Quinn, Mujosh, Optical Center, and Acuitis — all of these have recently opened their first locations in Canada, and they’re now in expansion mode.

Los Angeles-based Oliver Peoples was founded in 1987 with a boutique in West Hollywood, and it is now sold in its own boutiques as well as in upscale multi-brand retailers that carry eyewear. Its designers are in Los Angeles and frames are manufactured in Italy and Japan. Oliver Peoples was acquired by eyewear conglomerate Luxotticain 2007.

Frames are “anti-logo” which the company says “appeals to refined consumers”. Prices can be well into the hundreds, which differentiates Oliver Peoples from brands such as Warby Parker, SEE, Bailey Nelson and other recent entrants that offer more in the way of value pricing. Oliver Peoples’ frames are known to be worn by celebrities and the brand has an impressive following on social media.

Oliver Peoples appears to pick premium locations for its stores and in some instances, it’s very clear that the brand is going after a wealthy shopper. In Houston, Texas, for example, the retailer has a store at the prestigious River Oaks District — one might otherwise expect the store to be at the busy nearby Houston Galleria (which also has plenty of luxury stores). In Chicago, Oliver Peoples is located amongst luxury stores on Rush Street just south of Oak Street and the retailer has opened stores on premium streets such as Sloane Street in London, Ortega y Gasset in Madrid, Grant Avenue in San Francisco and Madison Avenue in New York City. Premium mall locations include top names such as South Coast Plaza in Orange County, King of Prussia near Philadelphia, Westfield Valley Fairin Santa Clara California, and others. Oliver Peoples has over 30 stores internationally, according to its website.

Next month, Oliver Peoples will open a location in one of the top malls in the United States — NorthPark Center in Dallas, which is known for its white brick interior as well as a roster of luxury brands that includes the top-selling location for Neiman Marcus.

 

CRAIG PATTERSON

is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Retail Insider. He’s also a retail and real estate consultant, retail tour guide and public speaker. 

Follow him on Twitter @RetailInsider_, LinkedIn at Craig Patterson, or email him at: craig@retail-insider.com.

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How One OD Maintains a Profitable Sports Vision Specialty

Differentiation | Business Strategy, Practice, Products | Services | Industry News, Resources

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Patients have diverse lives that go from board room to beach–and sports eyewear should be part of the mix in serving those varied needs.

With knowledge building of the importance to protect eyes, and increase comfort both indoors and outdoors, sports eyewear offers practices an exciting opportunity. You have a chance to not only protect patients’ eyes, but increase their enjoyment, and their performance, of their favorite activities. My practice has made sports vision a niche that includes the rehabilitation of traumatic brain injury patients, sports vision therapy and sales of sports eyewear.

Sport sunwear in Dr. Shidlofsky’s office. He says it’s well worth both prescribing, and selling, sport sunwear in your own office.

I work with three professional sports teams: The Allen Americans (ECHL), The Texas Legends (NBA D-league) and FC Dallas (MLS).

We generate about $50,000 annually just from sports vision therapy. In addition to professional and everyday athletes, I often find sports vision opportunities when I do my back-to-school examinations, and the patient plays competitive sports. I always do a King-Devick test baseline, and educate the parents that if the child sustains a head impact with symptoms, to bring them by the office the next day to determine if they may have had a concussion.

I also generate revenues by prescribing and selling contact lenses to patients whose sports activities make glasses sub-optimal. This includes basketball and football, players, where glasses could easily get smashed into their eyes and face.

 

Depending on the type of sports vision therapy required, I see patients 15-25 times in total.

We sell sports eyewear from Rec Specs, Nike, Adidas, Oakley and Maui Jim. Revenues from sales of these products amounts to $50,000-$60,000 per year .

Invest in Instruments for Sports Vision Therapy
We use the Senaptec Sensory Station, as well as the Senaptec Strobe. We also use FitLights and RightEye. We are in the process of adding Binovi by Eyecarrot for home, and on-field, training. These tools range from $15,000-$30,000. We use most of these instruments, not only on our sports vision patients, but on our traumatic brain injury patients and developmental vision patients, so with the shared value, recouping the investment took us less than a year.

Begin Young with Sports Vision Patients
Teenagers are my most frequent sports vision patients, as parents are already investing heavily in athletic training specific to their sports, supplements, and other elements, to give them the best opportunity to succeed. However, minor league and college athletes are also great patients as they want to get to the next level—and certainly great vision and great vision skills gives them the edge.

Market Your Services
We publicize sports vision on our practice web site, and our practice is sometimes advertised, with a link, on the web sites of the sports teams we have relationships with.

A practice that has not yet established relationships with sports teams can advertise sports vision services on social media, like the practice’s Facebook page, and through e-blasts to patients showcasing new sports eyewear, along with information about the sports vision therapy they provide.

Develop Referral Relationships
I work closely with neuro-psychologists, who monitor concussion treatment for my patients who have experienced a traumatic brain injury. I also work with the athletic trainers on the teams we have relationships with, and I coordinate my work with team physicians. In addition, I work closely with functional neurologists (chiropractors) for several of the teams. Once I prove my value to the medical team and trainers—which sometimes takes time—the referrals to my practice then flow much more easily.

 

CHARLES SHIDLOFSKY, OD, FCOVD

is the owner of Neuro-Vision Associates of North Texasin Plano, Texas. To contact him: dr-s@dr-s.net

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Should I Stay or Should I Go? Live Webinar on Exit Strategies for ODs

Webinar

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Join Drs. Jeff and Tina Goodhew, Co-Editors in Chief of Canadian Eye Care Business Review, as they host a live webinar on practice exit strategies for Optometrists. They will be joined by five panelists:

  • Daryan Angle, OD (IRIS The Visual Group)
  • Paul Gray, OD (Optometric Services Inc.)
  • Grant Larsen (Eye Recommend)
  • Al Ulsifer, OD (Fyi doctors)
  • Jackie Joachim COO (ROI Corp)

Like many optometrists, your practice is your most valuable asset, representing a significant portion of your retirement savings. Once you decide to sell your practice what do you do next?

This webinar will cover the key things you need to consider when selling your practice, including:

  • Planning in advance
  • Determining the value of your practice
  • Finding a buyer
  • Structuring the Sale
  • Tax planning

The webinar will be held JUNE 4th,  8 PM EDT.

REGISTER NOW for the Live Webinar.

Register

 

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