MBA Intelligence - Reduce Your Dependence on Vision Insurance Plans

Sticky Situations

Dr. Dave Ziegler

A patient asks...

"All these add-ons to my lenses are making my glasses more expensive than I expected. Do I really need all those things?"

This scenario happens in an optical dispensary that presents its lens options in an a la carte method. When a patient is buying glasses, there are many features that may be important to them. Studies show that thin and lightweight lenses are the most important things they want. But they also want durable surfaces that don't scratch, UV protection, great optics that digital surfacing provides for progressive lenses or aspheric surfaces offer single vision lenses. We also know that they like lenses without glare more than lenses with glare. Hydrophobic surfaces make the lenses stay cleaner, so that is desirable too. And lastly, polished lens edges give the glasses a more finished look.

Wow, that's a lot of choices! You can see how a patient can get overwhelmed when each of these is offered to them individually and requires their decision on each item. How would you like to buy something that had so many options like that? Even buying a car, with all of the features available, is easier than buying glasses.

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

Super Service Pearls

See the Office Through a Patient's Lens

Premier service companies make a point to evaluate their processes through the eyes of the customer, not just from the perspective of people who work in the business.

It's so easy for a business to lose sight of how the service experience is perceived by customers. When employees spend 40 hours a week performing the same tasks, answering the same questions and offering the same explanations, service can become robotic and geared more to efficiency and to the convenience of the employees than to creating favorable impressions among customers. It's easy to overlook the small things that customers see or hear that detract from their experiences and to ignore the many opportunities to connect emotionally with customers.

A useful technique to sensitize office staff to how patients perceive their experience with the practice is to develop a service map by breaking down each moment of truth (or "influence point") into its component elements and to examine which occurrences create negative or neutral impressions and which create highly positive impressions.

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MBA Practice Building Pearl

Mark Wright, OD, FCOVD, on
"Get Your Patients to Talk About You"

How Does Your Practice Compare?

More than 90 percent of new and established practices offer discounts when eyeglass patients purchase a second pair of eyewear. The median discount offered is 20 percent for established practices and 25 percent in new practices. ODs also report that just 10 percent of patients purchase second pairs on exam day. Prescription sunwear is the most common second-pair purchase.

Market Facts

Contact Lens Wearer Interest in Refractive Surgery Declining

Best Practices of Contact Lens

Management

Assuming just average ratios of annual supply sales are achieved, converting patients to monthly or daily contact lenses from two-week lenses can have a large impact on the contact lens sales and gross profits of the practice.

Best Practices of Contact Lens Management

MBA Updates

Upcoming MBA Seminars:

MBA: World Class Staffing:
Berkeley, Ca.,
October 28-29.
Info: www.primaryeye.net/pio

MBA II at Disney Institute:
Orlando, Fl.,
November 8-9.
Info: www.disneyurl.com/MBADI

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Ask Neil

Dr. Neil Gailmard

A doctor asks...

"What can I do to reduce my dependence on vision insurance plans?"

Practices that have less dependence on vision plans have found a way to attract more private pay patients and also pull some patients out of network. You need to design a marketing plan that will move patients to seek your practice specifically. Consider the following:

• Shift your market positioning to be more upscale and offer advanced services at higher fees. You need strong competitive advantages and those are generally missing in a middle-of-the road practice.

• Greatly improve customer service. Reinvent your usual office policies and how you handle special patient requests. Look at everything you do from the patient's point of view (not yours).

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

New...

On MBA-ce.com

New MBA Program on World Class Staffing

A new MBA program on staffing premiered in September with a symposium held in Florida, and a second symposium is being held in October in California. "Total Practice Success: A Symposium for a World Class Staff," is a 1.5-day program that features lectures by Laurie Sorrenson, OD, FAAO; Mike Rothschild, OD; and Daniel Abramson. In addition, there is an in-depth workshop on selling by Robert Bell that is geared to the entire practice. Participants also receive a wealth of print and online resources that reflect the unique metrics-based mission of the MBA program. A second "Total Practice Success" will be offered at the Claremont Resort & Spa in Berkeley, Calif., on October 28-29. For more information, and to register: www.PrimaryEye.net/PIO. Or call (800) 444-9230.

September 30, 2011