MBA Intelligence

August 23, 2012

Bi-weekly information and advice to manage optometric practices
from the Management & Business Academy™ (MBA)
Sponsored by Alcon and Essilor

mba-ce.com ALCON.com essilorusa.com Contact Us
Dave Ziegler

Ask Neil

Dr. Neil Gailmard

A doctor asks…

"How do you convince patients that their insurance allowance only covers a very basic pair of glasses, unlikely to fully satisfy their expectations?"


I think the point is that you should not try to convince them. If you or your staff members are trying to convince a patient to spend more money on eyecare, you have already lost them. It’s already too late. You will appear desperate, and it will be obvious that it is about the money.

Rather than convince patients late in our process to upgrade their exam or eyewear, I try to inspire them early on to place a high value on their vision, and to trust me and my staff to provide excellent care. We do that with everything we do in our office. It starts with the impression we make with the physical office and optical dispensary. We achieve the trust by treating the patient with great respect and showing that we care.

We impress them with the exam technology. We listen to them and design a treatment plan that caters to their needs.

READ MORE »

Dr. Neil Gailmard, who is widely known for his practice management advice, is a member of the MBA faculty.

Dr. Mark Wright on
"When Should I Add Staff?"
Mark Wright, OD, FCOVD

Dr. Mark Wright, MBA faculty member, advises OD owners to challenge staff members who request additional personnel to lighten the work load. Ask staff members to compute how much additional revenue a new hire would generate in optical dispensary sales. If staff can demonstrate that a new person would generate, for example, $150,000 a year in additional revenues to more than cover their costs, they have answered the question of when to hire a new person.

For MBA metrics on "Gross Revenue per Staff Hour," see pages 6–7 of Key Metrics: Assessing Optometric Practice Performance.

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New MBA Practice–Building Resources

MBA Webinar: Effective Strategies to Improve Practice Recall
A recently conducted webinar with Dr. Gary Gerber of the MBA faculty outlines how to increase revenues and maximize chair time through proven strategies for effective patient recall. You can replay the complete webinar, including a Q & A session with the audience.

MBA Business Management Tool: RIPs
A new installment of MBA Business Management Tools, called Rapid Improvement Projects (RIPs), outlines the basic process for establishing practice improvement priorities and implementing RIPs to achieve both short– and long–term goals.

MBA Market Research: Staff Management Survey
Results for the recently conducted MBA Staff Management Survey allow you to examine staff hiring, compensation and management practices. The report also details OD desires for staff improvements.

Implementation Track: Practice Marketing and Optical Merchandising
Practice Marketing and Optical Merchandising provides an 11–step guide in how to analyze and refine your practice brand, develop a marketing budget and execute a marketing plan. Also included are merchandising techniques to maximize dispensary profits. This is the second in a series of MBA Practice Growth Implementation Tracks.

MBA Updates


Carole Burns, OD


Upcoming MBA Seminars:

Register for...

Vision Expo West, Las Vegas, September 8

MBA 2 with Disney Institute, Orlando, September 21-22

GWCO Congress, Portland, September 30

California Optometric Assoc., Monterey, November 8

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Join the MBA community
Register as a reader:
MBA-ce.com

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Register Now for MBA 2 with Disney Institute


The principles of world–class service that were pioneered by The Walt Disney Company will be presented—and interpreted for the optometric practice—at an upcoming MBA 2 seminar held in conjunction with Disney Institute. The program will be presented by Disney Institute, and it will include a lecture by MBA faculty member Dave Ziegler, OD, FAAO, that provides strategies to apply Disney service principles to the optometric practice.

The MBA 2 will be held at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, on September 21–22. The cost of the program in $1,760, which includes curriculum, meals and a one–night stay at a Disney resort hotel. Travel costs are in addition to that.

About the MBA

The Management & Business Academy™ (MBA) is a professional education program, sponsored by Alcon and Essilor, dedicated to assisting independent optometrists to improve business management processes. The MBA conducts live seminars, conducts on-going research to establish national optometric practice performance metrics, publishes MBA Insights (a quarterly practice management journal) and maintains www.mba-ce.com (a premier practice website with business-building resources).

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Copyright © 2012 Management & Business Academy™ (MBA). All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.