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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Leadership by Example

Human Resources, Managing Others, Training & Onboarding

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It’s not easy being the one in charge. There are multiple pressures on your time. However, how you respond to everyday problems and events in your office sets the example for your employees.

We recently spoke at the OAO and shared this example:

A doctor is getting ready to leave for the day. A patient walks in late. An employee walks back to the doctor’s office and informs the doctor of the patient’s late arrival.   The doctor expresses their irritation with the patient, grumbling that they just want to finish up their day and go home. The next time a patient was late, the staff responded by showing their irritation.

Whether consciously or subconsciously, employees are mimicking the actions of their leaders. The employees will put importance on the same things that they understand the owner is concerned with.

We are always surprised when doctors book training for their staff with no intention of attending. Training is going to be the most effective when everyone hears the same information and the doctors can reinforce the message on a day-to-day basis. Life-long learning is an attitude. Every staff member should feel that the continuing education opportunity will bring something new for everyone. By participating, the doctors are sending the message that they think this is a valuable use of time and are expecting to learn something new as well.

The same applies to Trunk Shows and other special events. It is imperative that the doctors are part of the organization and execution of these days. It takes a lot of extra energy and time to prepare for these kinds of events and, it is critical that the owners support the staff and show their appreciation by being enthusiastic and present.

Patient care will be directly impacted by the example the leader sets throughout the practice. As leaders, practice owners must be careful that their actions are reflective of the actions that would like to see their employees take. From arriving to work on time and leading a quick morning huddle to ensure everyone is ready for the day, to responding with care and consideration when issues arise, the leader’s actions will be the driving force behind their employee’s decision making.

 

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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How Will Artificial Intelligence Change Your Practice?

Differentiation | Business Strategy, Practice, Technology

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Artificial intelligence has a long way to go to become a fixture in healthcare, but there already are hints of what’s to come.

Harvard Business Review has summarized recent findings. “Consider three issues that get a lot of attention: the use of medical records, the “human touch” in medical care, and the future of jobs in the industry. On balance, are people more glass half-full or half-empty? Our research points to an optimism that may surprise expert observers,” H. James Wilson and Paul Daugherty write in HBR.

The Use Of Medical Information
Patients want their healthcare data protected – and we are required by HIPAA law to do that – but patients will voluntarily share their medical data when it’s in their best interest to do so. Consider the data produced by wearable devices as more people are utilizing wearable healthcare devices.

A recent Accenture survey gave these results showing people are willing to share their medical data with healthcare providers or even health insurers.

• Eighty-eight percent of people are willing to share data from their wearables with either their doctor, nurse, or other health care professional.

• Seventy-two percent are willing to share their data with health insurers.

• Only 38 percent are willing to share their data with employers.

It’s estimated that more than 75 million Americans would use an activity tracker by the year 2021. As we see an increase in wearable devices capable of transmitting medical data we need to consider how we can utilize this information in our patient management protocols. This is important because even though the use of wearables has more than doubled in the U.S. in the last two years, it’s estimated that only 15 percent of doctors say they’ve discussed wearables or health applications with patients.

Wearables give the ability to continuously capture data such as heart rate, sleep patterns and glucose levels. This produces vast amounts of data. Contrast this with a single reading taken on a single doctor visit. Comparing the data taken from wearables with readings taken at a doctor’s visit raises the issue of the accuracy of the data. Wearables do not yet have the accuracy of the gold standard measurements taken in the doctors’ office. This will improve over time. AI gives us the tools to sort through the mountain of data and extract pertinent trends.

The “Human Touch” vs AI In Medical Care
Anyone who’s been frustrated by an automated phone tree when calling a tech company for support, knows how much we desire to talk to a human, but research done by Wilson and Daugherty showed that convenience and efficiency often trumps “Human Touch” care. Their survey revealed:

• Seventy-five percent of people said that AI technological advances (including mobile apps, wearable monitoring devices and smart scales) were important to help them manage their health.

• Sixty-six percent of people said they would use AI-based after-hours services.

• Sixty-three percent of people said they would use AI agents to help them navigate the health-care system.

• Fifty percent-plus said they would use AI-based systems to diagnose their symptoms and to receive emergency advice.

Clearly, patients feel there is a place for the use of artificial intelligence when it provides convenience and efficiency.

The Future Of Jobs In The Industry
There are at least three ways that AI will impact our practices.

1) AI has the ability to analyze copious amounts of data. Consider these two uses of AI.

a. The ability of AI to read the patient record in real time and suggest differential diagnoses, as well as suggest additional tests to administer.

b. The ability of AI to analyze the new drug you want to prescribe and evaluate it for incompatibility against all other pharmaceutical agents the patient is taking, all nutraceuticals the patient is consuming, and all supplements the patient is using, plus considering the patient’s history of allergies.

2) AI has the ability to interact with people through novel types of interfaces such as voice, emotion, or gesture recognition. AI can be used to remind patients to take medication. Chatbots can used to triage patients calling into the office. Machine learning tools can used in the diagnosis and treatment of visual problems such as amblyopia, convergence insufficiency and low vision.

3) AI is able to extend people’s capabilities beyond their natural limits. Robot-assisted surgery is a good example of this in the eyecare world. AI can eliminate involuntary tremors while a surgeon utilizing robot-assisted surgery is operating on the retina.

Click HERE to watch a short video that shows the potential power of AI for conditions like autism, Parkinson’s and epilepsy.

AI is already here. The power of human-machine collaborations is amazing. AI is causing us to re-imagine our work processes. We are excited to see what the near future holds for AI and its use in health care.

 

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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4 Practice Productivity Pointers

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

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The time crunch is one of the great struggles of practice ownership. You need to balance doctoring with staff management, administrative duties, and all the other responsibilities of your life. Fortunately, there are principles you can follow to make this challenge more manageable.

At the start of a new year, many people make business goals, as well as personal resolutions. Come early spring, many of us are scratching our heads and wondering why we’ve yet to accomplish what we set out to do. I’ve written down my goals, you might say, I’ve even managed to itemize them into manageable steps, and yet, I have not accomplished them.

The excuse, so often, is a lack of time. Most people say after a full day of seeing patients, managing staff and administrative duties, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish additional tasks. But what if the problem isn’t how many hours we have, but how we are using them?

Match Task to Best Time of Day
Daniel Pink, author of WHEN: The Scientific Secrets to Perfect Timing, has done research and concluded that certain times of the day are better than others for doing different types of work. Understanding common time management mistakes is the first step to finding smart ways to structure your time more effectively.

Pink’s research points to evidence that a person’s circadian rhythms play into the success of each day. All times of the day are not equal in terms of prime productivity. One of the keys to success is matching certain tasks to the proper time of the day. Individual chronotypes (i.e: how your personal biorhythms operate) determine both mood and ability to perform at any given time of day. Not only do our personal circadian rhythms impact our physical function; they also affect both professional and ethical judgment.

Pink found that 14 percent of the population are natural morning people, 20 percent are true night owls, and the vast majority fall in the middle. For the vast middle, they move through the day in three stages matching their predictable biorhythms: peak, trough, rebound. An early lark will follow this pattern, but will reach each threshold earlier in the day, whereas a night owl will go through these rhythms in the reverse order.

What is the Synchrony Effect?
Pink describes something called the synchrony effect where if you match certain tasks with certain times of the day, your productivity will escalate. For example, for everyone except true night owls, in the morning we experience our peak rhythm, a time of elevated energy, mood and focus. This rhythm works well with analytical tasks such as writing reports, analyzing data, and other strong cognitive tasks that require focus and few distractions. Mornings would be a time to go over office financials, schedule glaucoma or macular degeneration follow-ups, visual fields, OCT testing or any other task that requires stronger mental attention.

Managing Your Moods
The trough period strikes at midday or early afternoon. Research shows at this period of the day moods plummet and focus deteriorates. Alarmingly, in a hospital study Pink sites in his book, incidence of medical error goes up in early afternoon, and the rate of hand-washing among hospital employees drops at this time of day.

How can we effectively navigate the downturn of mood and productivity among ourselves and our staff during the trough period of the day? Pink claims the negative effects of low mood and activity in early afternoon are mitigated by a break. A break, he explains, is not a deviation of performance, but rather, a recharge to aid in the rebound of energy and focus.

Interestingly, Pink found the type of break taken impacted its effectiveness. A social break is more productive than a solo one. A break that incorporates movement, such as a short walk, is better than a stationary break. An effective break recharges you.

Re-Think Your Schedule
Thinking about our daily schedules, many optometry offices utilize lunch breaks for office staff meetings or to schedule appointments with contact lens, drug or frame reps. Looking at Pink’s theory of time of day, the trough period is a better time to do administrative work, such as answering e-mails, or separating from the office altogether.

After an effective break, the trough period cycles into the final circadian rhythm, which is the rebound. Afternoons can be productive, but people tend to be less vigilant than they were in the morning, and can be more distracted. Afternoons are a perfect time for more creative endeavors. Brainstorming a change in schedule, or interviewing for a new hire? Afternoons are an ideal time for these tasks because mood and performance go back up and the brain is more open to new ideas, and less inhibited.

For the small number of people whose chronotypes of fall into the true night owl category, Pink explains these biorhythms work in reverse order: rebound, trough, peak, making creative endeavors flourish in the morning and analytical, focused demanding tasks more productive in the afternoon.

New research in the field of time management has unearthed interesting ideas that explain variance and productivity. The idea of pairing certain cognitive tasks with certain times of the day could increase our performance. Restructuring tasks to match our natural circadian rhythms could be the secret to achieving greater productivity.

What have you learned about yourself in maintaining productivity? What productivity struggles are your hardest, and how are you attempting to meet the challenge?

 

JENNIFER JABALEY, OD

is a partner with Jabaley Eye Care in Blue Ridge, Ga. Contact: jabaleyjennifer@yahoo.com

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Breakdown of Primary Care Revenue Versus Specialty Clinics

Practice, Resources, Specialty Practice

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One of the key metrics we track in SIMI Analytics is Revenue Breakdown. What products and services are bringing in the most revenue? We compare this to how much time is spent to offer these products and services on the exams side to evaluate the effectiveness of the time invested.

According to SIMI Analytics, a healthy primary care practice brings in 26% of their revenue from exams, diagnostics contribute 10%, spectacles 50%, contact lenses 12% and miscellaneous (OTC products and optical accessories) 2%.

Detailed Breakdown

We often break this down further to look at how much chair time is being dedicated to services as compared to products. For instance, we always evaluate the revenue generated from contact lens assessments in comparison to how much revenue is being generated from contact lenses (both gross and net dollars). As contact lenses have become a commodity, it has become even more important to the financial health of the practice to ensure that the chair time associated with the care of contact lenses is covered.

A number of practices we work with have successfully introduced Specialty Contact Lenses, Vision Therapy, and Dry Eye Clinics as a means to both meet patient needs and increase revenue. In these practices, the Revenue Breakdown in SIMI Analytics looks a little different.

Here’s how you can expect to generate your revenue:

Impact on Staffing Decisions

Note in particular how primary care practices are much more dependent on optical sales for financial health. A practice offering Vision Therapy generates a much greater percentage of their revenue from the services of Vision Therapy versus selling frames and lenses. From this information, the practice can make more sound business decisions. For instance, if your practice is predominantly offering Vision Therapy as the main means of revenue, our recommendation would be to hire a frame stylist for the optical instead of an optician and concentrate your staff cost resources on hiring skilled and passionate therapists for Vision Therapy.

For practices offering medical contact lenses, such as Ortho-K and Scleral lenses, the differences to note are the increased revenue sources from both Exams and Contact Lenses. In this case, the products are much more profitable and it makes sense to expect more revenue from this source as compared to Eyeglass Revenue. Another metric we like to follow in our Contact Lens clinics is sunglass sales. Our expectation is that the revenue from plano sunglasses should be significantly higher. Again, staff decisions will be impacted by this information. Not only do you want to hire someone who is knowledgeable in contact lens care to assist your patients but you will want that person to also be passionate about sun protection. There is also an implication to your inventory decisions. This practice will carry a large selection of plano sunglasses.

The most interesting change in revenue generation for a Dry Eye clinic, besides the increased Exam revenue, is the increase in sales of OTC products. Drops, vitamins, wipes and make-up all contribute to increased revenue in this type of clinic. Given this, it is our recommendation to hire a dedicated staff member to be your Dry Eye Clinic coordinator. This is the person who will confidently explain all the products and solutions to each patient and follow through with after-care instructions.

Whether you choose to differentiate or remain focused on Primary Care, the key to success is to decide on one and stay focused. Keep track of the time it takes you to generate your income and use that information when making decisions about changing or adding extra staff, services, and products.

 

CHRISTINA FERRARI

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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Selling Rx Sun: What You & Your Staff Should Know

Products | Services | Industry News, Resources

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Prescription sunwear protects patients’ eyes from ultra-violet radiation and blue light, and increases their comfort and visual quality. And from a practice profitability standpoint, selling Rx sun builds revenues.

With so much to be gained by selling Rx sun, it’s surprising that independent optical shops don’t sell even more. Some 6.15 million pairs of Rx sunglass lenses were sold in the U.S. in 2016, increasing 1.2-1.5 percent yearly, according to The Vision Council. This number represents 7.4 percent of all Rx lenses sold. Reports show that roughly 43 percent of those lenses were sold through independent ECPs.

So where does the other 57 percent choose to buy their Rx sunglasses? Not from your independent practice!

If you and your staff don’t have the know-how to make those sales, the dollars walk out the door to online retailers, to a corporate-owned chain, or to a specialty sunwear shop.

Setting off a particular pair of sunglasses can draw attention to an exciting buying opportunity for patients browsing the shop.

Know the Many Options Available to Your Patients

Polarized solid, or gradient, are the first two choices the patient has. From there, you have many photochromic variations to choose from, including lenses in grey, brown or green, Transitions Vantage (photochromic and polarized) for indoor and outdoor in one pair, and dozens of colors in mirror coatings, blue-guard tint, back-lens AR, racing red tint for mountain biking, and high-contrast amber for golfing.

Talk Rx Sun in the Exam Room

If Rx sunglasses seem to be a difficult sell to your patients, maybe the presentation is coming too late in the conversation, when they are ready to go home.

The solution: Make prescription sunwear a key part of your exam-room conversation with all of your patients requiring vision correction, including presbyopes.

For example, you might say: “Emily, in addition to a pair of glasses for the home and office, I’m prescribing a pair of prescription sunglasses. Your eyes will be more comfortable, and you’ll be able to see much better when doing anything outside, from driving, to walking your dog to doing the activities we talked about, like hiking and biking. Since you also sometimes go boating, I’m also prescribing lenses with polarization, which cuts out the glare from the water, so you can see better and more comfortably. We’re learning more and more about the sun’s harmful effects on the eyes, so it’s important that you wear sunglasses whenever outdoors. Since you also wear glasses, it makes sense to have a pair of prescription sunglasses, so you don’t have to worry about only being able to wear your sunglasses if you have your contact lenses in.”

In the exam room, the OD can also look over the patient’s current RX sunwear and make suggestions about updating the fit, tint, or mentioning the new gradient polarized lenses now available.

Having the OD’s own prescription sunglasses on hand to show off a new style of polarized lens color, or the lightweight styles now available, makes the hand off to dispensing optician much easier.

Have Staff Ask Patients to Bring All Eyewear to Appointment
I can’t stress enough that dialog about the need for Rx sunwear needs should be addressed as early as possible in your office’s interaction with the patient.

Consider planting the seeds for the conversation during the call for an exam appointment. Staff can suggest the patient bring all of their recent eyeglasses, and sunglasses to be cleaned, adjusted and evaluated during their exam. If the majority of your patients now make appointments online, you can program a pop-up bubble to appear with the same message of bringing along all eyewear, including sunglasses, to the appointment, or you can make the request on one of the online forms the patient is asked to fill out.

Placing sunwear in a display case like this one sends the message that this is a special selection of products.

Train Opticians to Show Sunglasses at Same Time as Frame Options
Sunglasses tend to be an afterthought in too many frame sales, when in reality, they should be presented along with frames for new glasses.

While the patient has only asked to be shown frame options, every optician can casually include one or two pairs of sunglasses. Your patients will appreciate the thought your optical puts into also offering them sunglass options.

Your optician might say: “I’d love to see this on you! We just got these new Christian Dior sunglasses in, and I need someone to model this pair to see how it feels and looks. May I see it on you?”

Promote with Special Offers

Sunglasses are most often a patient’s second pair of Rx glasses, so a discount can help to encourage sales. For example: 25 percent off the frame, or 15 percent off the frame and lenses, depending on your profit margin. Making the discount on second pair Rx sunglasses as attractive as possible keeps those sun Rx dollars in your practice’s pocket.

Don’t skimp on frame board space for sunwear. If you feature it prominently, you give more patients the chance to notice it, and make a purchase.

Make Sunwear Merchandise Easily Accessible with Opticians On Hand
Keep your sunglasses out front and easy to try on. Having an optician easily available, and sunwear easy to touch and feel, makes sales more fluid than keeping sunglasses locked away in display cases. Too many locked cabinets make patients feel they aren’t trusted. Being sure you’re properly staffed, and that your staff is out front, keeps theft down and your patients buying. While security today is more important than ever, personal service is paramount.

Greeting every shopper within a few moments of entering your business keeps theft down, and upfront personal care and knowledgeable experts on hand to increase sales.

Avoid the help-yourself atmosphere. Your place of business is not a self-service discount shop. Offering quality sunglasses, and displaying them in such a way that shows their worth, represents how you care for each patient. Prescription sunwear is a premium product that improves patients’ lives.

 

COLLEEN HANNEGAN ABOC CPO

is a licensed optician, and owner of Spirited Business Advisor, a consultancy that works with small businesses, including independent eyecare practices, on how best to serve customers and generate profitability. To contact her: colleenhannegan@yahoo.com

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Recruitment in the Video Age

Human Resources, Talent Acquisition

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Giving people the opportunity to opt in on the basis of knowing the reality of your environment sets a firm foundation and reduces the risk of buyer’s remorse. Thinking about putting your own recruitment video online? From our experience creating our own video, here is our tip list;

Keep it Short
2 minutes is the magic number. After 2 minutes most will move on to something else on your site or leave it altogether. We know. Our 5 minute video gets watched on average for 2 minutes.

Let Employees Say What They Want
You can’t edit reality. Your employees need to be allowed to say what it is really like. On our Culture page we asked each participant these questions and then asked them to use part of the question in their answer.

  • Why did you decide to apply with us?
  • What was it like going through the HiringSmart process with our company?
  • Why do you stay at HiringSmart?
  • In one word how would you describe working at HiringSmart?

If you were to ask these questions to your people today, what would they tell you? If it is something that you would be scared to put on the internet then you may have just uncovered your biggest attraction problem.

Show, Don’t Tell
Bring in a video camera to the office and let people just pick it up and make their own video of co-workers throughout the day. Take a run through the building and show what it looks like. This is more effective than telling prospective recruits that you have a laid back atmosphere.

Know Your Message
Do you want to emphasize a fun atmosphere, lots of advancement opportunities, or promote particular groups, such as women or minorities?

Do It Right
The cost of a good quality video is cheaper than you think. We used Duncan Moss at Moss Media Productions for putting together the final edited version. A little professional lighting can do wonders for the final look.

Promote it Everywhere
Create your own YouTube Channel, attach the videos into your company’s FaceBook group, link to them from your company website, provide links everywhere.Your video will be part of the employment brand promise that is out there on the web just like your product brand is out there. Some will see themselves in your world and others will decide it is not for them. That is the goal – to have candidates self-select themselves out of the process before you hire the wrong fit.

 

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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Managing Working Relationships

Human Resources, Managing Others

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Work place relationships are not always harmonious and it is natural to experience occasional disagreements and conflicts. In fact, one of the biggest challenges in any office is managing working relationships. The truth is, working with other people is hard – even when you like them! However, poor work relationships can add unwelcome psychological stress which may have a detrimental effect on work performance, motivation levels, and overall job satisfaction, so it is important to not simply try to ignore the conflict.

As consultants, we are keenly aware of the impact they can have. Much of the work we do is very dependent on these relationships being healthy. For example, it is difficult to run a staff meeting focused on improvement with employees who are more interested in pointing fingers. It is impossible to gain buy-in for a new process if the employees are not convinced that the practice owner will follow through.

Like other types of relationships, the relationships in the workplace can be improved. The onus is on the practice owner to take a leadership role in the change of dynamics in the office.

As a first step, try implementing these strategies.  As you model this behaviour to your staff, challenge them to do the same with you and their coworkers

1. Validate the Person’s Feelings Before You Do Anything Else

Before responding to a negative comment or pushback, try imagining why someone might be acting the way they are. Identify how you would feel if you were in their position, and then validate that feeling.

For example, when you ask an employee to tidy up the dispensary before they leave for the day and they reply that a co-worker should do it. Before responding, first try to identify why they might be making this request. Maybe they feel like they are always the one asked to stay late. Maybe they have a commitment after work and are feeling stressed about making it on time. “I imagine that you are feeling overwhelmed.”

I know it sounds a little hokey, but this works wonders. By trying to empathize (even if you think the person is wrong) and then validating what they’re feeling, you will be able to shift your attitude from frustration to empathy.

The employee feels heard, too. Nine times out of ten, they’ll calmly reply, “Yes, I do feel overwhelmed.” It’s like identifying the feeling takes the hot air out of the situation. Reiterate the request and perhaps ask if they would like to come in early the next day to complete the task instead of staying tonight.

2. Say What You’re Actually Thinking—and Say it Clearly

To avoid awkward conversations, use this simple formula:

the change you’d like + why the current option isn’t working + why your preference is better

For example, an employee feels like it is too much work to bill directly to insurance. Constructive feedback is fine, but complaining won’t solve the issue. Phrase your response something like, “I’d like us to brainstorm a way to make this more manageable. I’d prefer if you provided me with specific feedback about what takes so long as that will help me to implement ways to make the process more manageable for you. In order to meet the needs of our patients and to ensure you get your bonus, we need to implement direct billing.”

As you become more comfortable telling people what does or doesn’t work for you, being more assertive will become easier. Even better, it will make your working relationships stronger and more honest.

Sometimes it is difficult to change the dynamics of the relationships because they are so deeply entrenched in the way that the office operates. In a few instances, we have recommended bringing in a third party mediator to help facilitate the creation of healthier working relationships. The third party listens to everyone’s point of view and then starts bringing the parties together to “air out the laundry”. It is surprising how effective this can be as it allows all parties to felt heard and makes them more ready to move forward.

While the concept may seem foreign initially, it makes sense.  Therapists are called upon everyday to guide people through challenging personal relationships.  The strategies and tools that they employ are effective for any type of relationship.

We have recommended and seen this type of intervention in a number of our offices.  The therapist offers each individual an opportunity to vent their concerns independently so they feel heard and validated. The therapist then mediates conversations between coworkers who aren’t seeing eye to eye. The therapist provides tools and feedback to help everyone move forward.

If you are having issues with relationships in your office, start by trying to change the dynamic yourself.  If that is not successful, do not hesitate to reach out for professional help. The entire practice will benefit.

 

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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Six Key Questions to Ask When Choosing New Practice Management Software

Practice, Technology

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It’s important to choose wisely when it comes to selecting a new practice system.  The decision may be daunting. There are many products and options to choose from. Choosing Practice Management Software (PMS) is a long-term decision as technology has a growing impact on all types of businesses. The solution needs to be aligned with your current and future needs, it needs to quickly evolve with the Canadian eye care industry, and be able to integrate new features with the changing expectations of customers.

Here are six key questions to ask yourself when evaluating a new practice management software.

  1. What should Practice Management Software do for the ODs, the staff and patients?

Initially, any new system requires an adaptation. Change management needs to be a key component of the overall project. But once this phase has passed, the PMS should offer you the following:

  1. Improved efficiency of the staff and the ODs
  2. Enable electronic communication with patients, suppliers, insurance companies
  3. Allows you to evolve with the digital needs of today’s patients with respect to communication and online shopping.
  4. Integration with the clinic’s website for patient oriented applications
  5. Support the migration to a paperless environment

Optosys, the PMS developed by Optometric Services takes into account all these requirements that will make a clinic both user friendly for patients and more efficient to manage. A good PMS can help attract new patients and improve the efficiency in the clinic.

  1. What does it mean to get ready for the Clinic of the Future?

Today, you would never buy a smart phone that doesn’t offer you the possibility of taking pictures or accessing the internet. In a PMS, you need to look for a system that will provide online appointment booking, online ordering, KPI reporting and submitting insurance forms for patients online. Supporting text messaging and online frame viewing linked to your existing frame inventory are customer expectations that are emerging quickly and not generally available in older practice management systems.

The first thing a patient wants to be able to do is schedule an appointment at any time of the day without having to depend upon someone answering the phone at the other end. The eBooking module in Optosys gives the patient online access to pre-selected time slots determined by the ODs. When a patient books an appointment, it is automatically updated in the PMS.  The patient gets an automated response to confirm the appointment.

People rely more and more on their smart phone for most of their communication. They now want to receive text message whenever possible and many still want to receive emails. For standard communications such as recalls and reminders, your PMS should offer a way to personalize the communication according to the needs of each patient.

Shopping online is now very common amongst every age group. Clinics often lose sales because patients have looked at what is offered elsewhere and have made up their mind even before going in for their eye exam. Being able to display products online is becoming an important feature to capture the loyalty of the patients.

  1. Is the system customizable?

While most systems are customizable they may not offer the right support. And while it may be tempting to use a new system that replicates old practices, to minimize change for people working in the clinic, a new system should be viewed as an opportunity to re-think how things should be done. This is where the support team that will assist the clinic in its migration becomes very important. You want to be able to take of advantage of all the best practices that have been implemented in different practices.

  1. Can the support team assist in transferring data from an old system to a new one?

Depending on which older generation PMS the clinic is using, it is usually possible to transfer most the key data needed in a new system. Hence the importance of choosing the right software company that can ensure that the necessary data is transferred, as the complexity of the task can be fairly high. Each system requires a detailed analysis especially if the database has evolved over the years.

  1. Does the system provide KPI measures?

Aside from facilitating all clinic operations, a new system should provide an easy way to bring visibility to the Key Performance Indicators in your practice.  Your PMS should offer an “at a glance” view of the key metrics to track your success and highlight which areas need your attention.  Key Performance Indicators are the basis in developing a management dashboard to track the performance of the clinic.  It’s very useful for associates who want to have a common understanding of how the clinic is doing and it’s also very useful to establish performance objectives for the weeks and months to come.

  1. What about the company that supports the software?

A company’s ability to develop and support the evolution of a software solution suitable for the Canadian market is very important in today’s business environment. So many things are changing, it’s important that the development and support team behind your PMS are able to keep up with changes and have in-depth knowledge of the Canadian environment.  Look for a software where the development team and support team work together to evolve the software towards the needs in the industry. A team that is focused and passionate about our industry. The track record and the vision of the company is also a key aspect to the decision.

To find out more about Optosys visit optosys.ca or contact us at: contact@optosys.ca

 

PATRICE LACOSTE

CEO of Optometric Services Inc (OSI). Patrice joined OSI August 2015. With almost 30 years’ experience, he has held several executive positions in management and administration. Patrice is impassioned by the optometric industry, marketing, innovation and information technology.

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