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

Sticky Situations

Dr. Dave Ziegler

A patient says...

“I get queasy when I look side-to-side with my new glasses.”

How do you help a person who is struggling with adaption to progressive lenses? Checking all the measurements may be your first response, but your words of instruction and encouragement are more important.

Dr. Dave Ziegler, who lectures and publishes regularly, is a member of the MBA faculty.

Super Service Pearls

Advice from service experts to enhance the patient experience

Avoid Acronyms with Patients

Acronyms and abbreviations are rampant in optometric offices. Staff and doctors constantly use them to shorten conversations and paperwork entries and to keep patient flow moving smoothly. These terms are so familiar (VA, PD, IR, AR, PAL, BC, UVA, OCT, DIA,CYL, SiHy, etc.) that it becomes second nature to use them in all office dialogue, including conversations with patients.
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Staff Management Survey

Employment of non-OD staff by private practice ODs increased 2 percent during 2010, but it declined in more practices than it increased. Thirty-two percent of practices reported a reduced number of staff members versus the prior year, and just 19 percent increased staffing. Larger practices reported somewhat greater percentage decreases in staffing, on average. Presumably, the sluggish hiring picture reflects the effects of the recessionary economy. READ MORE»

Welcome to MBA Intelligence

The pace of business is quickening. Today, we are increasingly challenged to stay atop consumer trends, embrace advances in technology and respond to economic dynamics—all while delivering the highest level of eye care to our patients.

To help you meet these challenges, the Management & Business Academy™ (MBA), sponsored by CIBA VISION and Essilor, introduces MBA Intelligence. This is the second issue of this e-newsletter, issued every two weeks, that is designed to bring you pertinent, actionable metrics and strategies to manage and grow your practice. READ MORE»

Dwight Akerman, OD, FAAO
Director of Professional Affairs and Programs, CIBA VISION

Rod Tahran, OD, FAAO
Vice President, Professional Relations and Clinical Affairs, Essilor

How Does Your Practice Compare?

Optometric Practice Patient Composition by Device Usage

Eyeglasses-only Wearers Dominate Optometric Practices

In established independent optometric practices, 55 percent of patients wear eyeglasses-only, 34 percent ever wear contact lenses and 11 percent use no corrective device. It is estimated that 23-25 percent of patients in typical practices are full time contact lens wearers. The patient composition of new practices is virtually identical. READ MORE»

New Staff Workshop

Everything Speaks Checklist

MBA Service Excellence Workshops are designed for use in staff meetings, moderated by either a practice owner or an office manager. Each workshop outlines a service improvement process that has been developed by a leading service company or a consultant and been has used in other industries. READ MORE»

Best Practices of Contact Lens Management

Offer to apply daily disposable trial lenses on eyeglasses patients as they select frames.

A controlled experiment recently conducted in the United Kingdom showed that offering a free trial on contact lenses to eyeglass patients, as they evaluated frames styles, was an effective way to attract new wearers to contact lenses, as well as to increase the value of eyewear transactions. The experiment proved an easy and effective way to demonstrate the comfort of contact lenses to patients who had never tried them.

Patients who wore contact lenses during the frames selection spent an average of 32 percent more for frames than the control group and were more than three times more likely to purchase contact lenses within three months.

Upcoming MBA Seminars

Southern California College of Optometry: Fullerton, Ca.,
April 29 and August 26.
Info: www.scco.edu

Join the MBA community
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UPCOMING MBA SEMINARS»

Ask Neil

Dr. Neil Gailmard's advice on Softening an Office Manager's Style

A doctor asks ...

"My staff doesn’t get along well with the office manager, who has a dictatorial, micro-manager style. The office runs smoothly otherwise. How should I deal with this?"

If the staff does not get along well with the office manager, the practice is not running smoothly. This is an important enough issue that you should intervene and try to change the manager’s overbearing approach. The organizational culture of your practice is vital to success, and I don’t believe you can have a good culture with a dictatorial management style.

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

Marketing Diamonds

Select a “Patient of the Day” to Reduce No Shows and Increase Loyalty

Idea contributed by
Ted A. McElroy, OD

For the past three years our practice has implemented a “Patient of the Day” (POD) program. Each morning before opening, we put the names of each patient on the daily schedule into a bowl and draw two names - the POD and a back-up in case of a no-show. After completing the POD’s eye exam, I announce their selection and the prizes they have won. READ MORE»

March 30, 2011