Tag: New in Practice

Be Prepared for the Future: A Resource for New Optometrists

NextGenOD

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EyeCareBusiness Canada is pleased to introduce a new contributor. Dr. Jaclyn Chang, a UW School of Optometry 2018 grad, will be providing contributions within the “NewOptometrist” section of the website. Dr. Chang’s introductory post follows below.

by Jaclyn Chang, OD

I have always wanted to be well prepared for the future. I chose my career at an early age and have known since then that I wanted to become an optometrist.

Throughout high school and my undergraduate studies, I researched the application process, programs across North America, and even the cost of tuition.

Later on, when I was in professional school, I spoke with practicing optometrists at various events to find out more about what my immediate future had in store.

I often received the same unprompted comment: The first five years after graduation were the most challenging – there were clinical uncertainties, employment issues, and questions about the future.

After Graduation
I graduated from the University of Waterloo just over two years ago. According to many experienced optometrists, I am right in the middle of the most challenging time that I will go through as a practitioner.

When I first graduated, I realized how different being my own doctor was from having clinical supervision.

After my first day of work, I walked my boss through every single thing that happened that day over the phone. She assured me that I would be fine…and that this was probably unnecessary to do after every day of work.

As I continued practicing, I started seeing repeat patients – a very different situation to having several short rotations as a student, where I was not always able to find out the results of a particular treatment.  Now, if there was ever a problem, I would be the one to hear about it.

Staying Connected
As I continued to adjust to the clinical differences between being a student and a practicing optometrist, I was simultaneously attempting to figure out other aspects of being part of the profession from administrative responsibilities to taxes as a self-employed person.

I heavily relied and continue to rely on my friends and colleagues to get the latest information and reminders. I discuss interesting cases, variations in practice management, and my everyday frustrations and excitements in these small circles.

I have been lucky enough to get guidance from truly great optometrists that have made it past this initial difficult period in all our careers. Additionally, I did seek online resources and support from our College and Association.

I am sure that many new optometrists have their own small circles, mentors, and use the same resources I did. With my support system, I navigated through my first two years of optometric practice mostly unscathed.

I worked as an associate at various private practices in Toronto and became a practice owner. However, as prepared as I had tried to be, there were still things that I could have done better, and it is these details and subtleties in my experiences that I would like to share amongst our demographic.

Our Unique Challenges & Opportunities
We have unique challenges as a distinct group. As a new graduate, I was an idealist. In school, I was given access to the latest in technology and a wide selection of equipment. I was given lectures by doctors and researchers aware of the latest clinical developments in every optometric specialty.

I was taught to go above and beyond to treat every one of my patients as a family member, sometimes over a three-hour appointment. Two years later, my appointments are a little bit shorter, but I still want to provide that same high level of care.

I want to soak up as much information as I can. I am open to new brands, products, and ideas, and the next few years will be critical in determining my individual practice style and ultimate career path.

Your Invitation to Engage
I hope that you can relate to some of the experiences I have shared, and with that, I welcome you to NewOptometrist.ca: a platform dedicated to the unique challenges and experiences new optometrists in the first five years of practice across Canada face. This website is a place where we can collect relevant materials for reference and share our stories.

We are the next generation of optometrists that will grow to become seasoned practitioners, loyal associates, practice owners, and leaders in the eye care industry.

The way I see it, the more prepared we are, the better.

 

New ODs, in their first five years of practice, are invited to join the New OD e-newsletter.


Click here to sign up now.

JACLYN CHANG, OD

Editor NewOptometrist.ca

Dr. Jaclyn Chang graduated from the University of Waterloo (UW) with an Honours Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences before continuing at Waterloo to complete her Doctor of Optometry degree. She is currently a practicing optometrist in Toronto.

Dr. Chang is committed to sharing information and bringing new resources to her colleagues. As a student, she sat on the Board of Trustees for the American Optometric Student Association, organizing events to connect students with industry. She was the Co-Founder/Co-President of the award-winning UW Advancement of Independent Optometry Club, the first club at UW dedicated to private practice optometry. Dr. Chang is also a passionate writer, who aims to make information accessible and easily digestible to her colleagues. She has published in Optometry & Vision Science and Foresight magazine and contributed to Optik magazine. She is excited to bring valuable resources to Canada’s next generation of optometrists with NewOptometrist.ca.

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Observations from a New Practice Owner: 4 Keys to Success

Buying-Selling A Practice, NextGenOD, Perspectives, Practice

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As a new business owner who purchased her first practice, I have discovered the need for a multifaceted strategy. In order to be successful in the eyecare community, you must be able to compete with online retailers, other small businesses and large corporations. You must differentiate yourself from others by delivering patient satisfaction, competitive pricing, technology and practicing the medical model.

Here are four key strategies that are critical for a new practice to succeed:

Nurture good doctor-patient relationships and communication. Patients need to be able to relate to their doctor, whether it’s via small talk in the office about the local football game or through conversation about your family. Patients want to make that connection. Otherwise the patient can go anywhere and get his or her glasses changed a quarter diopter and not return the following year. If a patient feels comfortable with you they are more likely to return and refer friends and family. It gives you a competitive edge to develop a personal relationship with patients that many large corporations are not able to achieve.

Offer competitive pricing of products. Patients want to know they are getting the best products at the best price. There is a lot of competition in the eyecare marketplace. Business owners need to provide affordable pricing of products to keep patients in the office. Consider sales during the year to target the type of patient you want. For example in the late summer or early fall consider offering a back-to-school eyewear discount.

Deliver medical eyecare—and take time to educate patients about it. Patient retention is important for a successful practice. Take an extra minute with patients to fully explain why they are experiencing their symptoms and how you will help alleviate those symptoms and treat the underlying problem. Many of my patients have been to other eyecare practitioners who have not taken the time to do so. When you show you care, patients develop loyalty.

For example, if you have a glaucoma patient in your chair, describe to the patient what glaucoma is and how you are at greater risk of developing the disease if others in your family have been diagnosed with it. Simple illustrations in your office on medical eyecare conditions can provide effective patient education. These educational conversations are essential for patient retention.

Practicing medical eyecare is the key to a successful optometric practice. Patients return upon recommendation and refer others. Medical eyecare is also a revenue booster due to the need for follow-up visits and ancillary testing. Offering these services differentiates you from other eyecare practitioners who just sell eyewear.

The referrals you generate from primary care practitioners also is a win for the independent OD. For every diabetic patient I see in my office, I write a letter describing the eye exam findings, even if there is no diabetic retinopathy. Doing this is the right thing to do, but it also is free advertising to other doctors on the quality care you provide so they will continue to refer patients.

Invest in Advanced Technology. Investing in technology is a no-brainier. It produces revenue and provides quality care to your patients. Patients will be amazed at the new technology and know they are getting state-of-the-art care. By having this technology you are also differentiating yourself from other offices that do not have such instrumentation. To be able to show a patient what a chorodial nevus looks like is a great educational tool that also allows you to monitor the progression of the condition. Patients will return for a follow-up exam because you have a personal record for them–and you can bill for these photos, too!

As a business owner and doctor, you must be able to correlate the business aspects of optometry with eye diagnoses to generate revenue and have a competitive edge in your community. Implementing these four strategies will help put your practice on a path to growth.

What important business lessons did you learn during your first year of practice ownership?

 

MARIA SAMPALIS

is the founder of Corporate Optometry, a peer-to-peer web resource for ODs interested to learn more about opportunities in corporate optometry. Canadian ODs and optometry students can visit www.corporateoptometry.com to learn more.

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Opening a New Practice – Starting from Scratch

Buying-Selling A Practice, Finance|Wealth, NextGenOD, Perspectives, Practice, Real Estate, Resources, Tax & Legal Matters

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One of our favourite things to do as Practice Consultants is to work with optometrists who are opening their own practices cold. This is an exciting, and stressful, time. There are many things to consider and decide on.

The very first thing to decide on is Strategy.

Will you be offering strictly primary care?  Are you going to offer other services, like specialty contact lens fitting or vision therapy as well? Once you have the answers to those questions, you can start to think about what your dispensary should look like.

If you are catering to Low Vision patients, you will want to ensure that you have a good selection of value priced frames. If you are offering Vision Therapy services, you will need a fairly substantial children’s section with great multi-pair savings options.

With a solid understanding of what you will be offering in terms of services, you can begin the process of looking for a location. If you are planning on concentrating on primary care, consider a more remote location with less competition. While it may seem tempting to gravitate to larger centres with denser populations, you will have the greatest competition in these locations as well. If you do it right, a smaller community will offer you patronage and loyalty.

If you are offering other services aside from primary care, you are decreasing the amount of competition you will have. In this case, it can make sense to locate in a more populated area where competition is higher as you will be marketing and pulling from a larger geographical area for patients seeking your other services.

A competitive scan of the area where you want to practice will provide invaluable insight. Who else is offering primary care within a 5, 10, 25 km radius? What other services are being offered in those practices? If you are offering only primary care, the denser the population in the immediate area of your proposed location, the better. If you will be offering additional services, which are not found in the local area, you can extend the radius from which you will be attracting patients.

After you have chosen your location, determined which services you will be offering, and done a competitive analysis on the competition, you need to decide on the strategy for your dispensary. As competition in the optical industry continues to grow from online purchases and big box stores, it is critical to create an intentional plan for the dispensary. If branded product is being offered in all of the primary care locations surrounding you, consider an unbranded approach. A la carte pricing is common in many optometric practices so moving to a flattened price structure can be a fresh approach.

Do you want to be all things to all people? Do you want to be the person for one thing? Do you want to be the low cost provider or the transparent practice?

Taking the time to understand what you want to be known for and developing a solid strategy at the beginning of your journey into practice ownership will make other decisions easier to make and guide you down the path to successful business ownership.

 

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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