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5 Questions to Consider Before Buying Equipment

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If you want to ensure your practice is a success, you’ll have to equip it with the best and the latest tools. If you don’t get the right tools to do the job, you may not be able to provide the value your patients expect. So, investing in the right tools is a part of ensuring success for your practice.

However, you’ll have to be careful when buying such equipment. If you aren’t as vigilant as you should be, you might get faulty equipment on your hands, which will affect the quality of patient care you provide. So, it’s better to ask yourself the following questions before buying any equipment for your practice.

1. How Will it Set My Practice Apart?

If you want the edge over other practices, you need to equip it with the modern tools that help you differentiate your practice. So, before purchasing any equipment, you need to ask yourself whether it will promote your practice and get you more patients? If you get a positive answer, by all means, purchase that equipment right away. As an optometrist, you need to offer your patients the best treatments that would require the appropriate tools.

2. Will My Patients be Appeased?

Most people these days have become super tech-friendly. They also hold those places that are pretty tech-savvy in high regard. So, will the equipment you’re about to invest in impress your patients? Will your entire practice make your patients feel comfortable? If yes, you should undoubtedly equip your practice with such tools. Whatever it takes to make your patients see the modernistic approach you’re taking with medicine, do it. As long as your patients are satisfied, you shouldn’t have a problem.

3. What More Do I Need?

You’re mistaken if you think your practice has all the necessary equipment and couldn’t need anything more. You might be forgetting something, whether it’s your firm’s digital presence, good word-of-mouth, or what matters the most – patients. You can always benefit from doing more. So, it’s better not to sustain by doing the bare minimum. Recognize what your practice needs, and give it to them to flourish and succeed even more. Develop a robust digital presence, employ software that helps with patient management, whatever it takes!

4. Return on Investment: Is It Enough?

When you’re setting up your practice, you’re investing in equipment you can only hope will provide you with long-term growth. It’s all hoping that you might get more significant returns by using modern technology on patients. So, they’ll know your practice is a class apart. However, are returns enough? Are you barely breaking even? You’ll have to make severe calculations to understand how much you will make in the upcoming months by investing in certain pieces of equipment.

5. How Can I Maximize the Equipment’s Full Potential?

When you’ve got the best equipment to boost your practice, it’s also necessary you use them in the right way. You’ll have to ensure you have the right staff who knows what they’re doing. You might have to provide training in the beginning to make them aware of how a specific piece of equipment is used. The more trained your staff is, the better they’ll be able to use the equipment.

How Corporate Optometry allows ODs to focus on Patient Care

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Corporate optometry is a great option for ODs who want to practice optometry but do not want to feel overwhelmed by the business aspects of the job.  It is ideal both for optometrists who do not feel they have enough business experience to start their own practices and for those who simply want to focus more on the patient-centric aspect of their career.  Here are some ways that corporate optometry may allow you as an OD to focus on your patient care first and foremost.

1. Your job is to focus on the patient.

As a corporate optometrist, your main focus is to see patients without the distractions of the optical and managing staff. Focusing on the patient is what we went to school for. We don’t have to worry about competition, we can focus on our patients and use the extra time to stay up to date on the latest clinical trends. Corporate optometry allows you to see different types of patients because the volume is usually greater, thus enhancing your clinical skills seeing a wide variety of patients. his is a great way for you as an optometrist to see a wide variety of conditions such as diabetes, glaucoma, and gain experience recognizing and managing these conditions. 

2. Technology

Corporate optometry will provide you will have easier access to resources and discounts from corporate partners.  You will also be able to purchase technology a lot sooner if you are a sublease or the latest technology will be offered to you as an employee. Many young ODs are learning the latest in the eye care. Why not be able to utilize that knowledge by working in a corporate setting? Many offices have digital refracting lanes, optos, octs. Different corporate opticals have different approaches. Don’t lump all corporate opticals as the same!

Corporate optometry may be right for you if you are not interested in the daily practice management struggles that many ODs face with the optical side of the business and managing staff turnover. Retail optometry will continue to grow over the next 10 years. Find which corporate optical is right for you and your career goals.

“Alexa, How can Amazon Disrupt the Eye Care Industry?”

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Amazon has come a long way since 1998 when it was simply an online book store. It has continued to innovate and challenge competitors to evolve and adapt or simply be left behind. Amazon Prime membership has 85 million members and e-commerce sales are more than triple compared to other competitors online. With the recent $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods and approval for pharmacy licenses could change the future of healthcare.  Amazon has the data, infrastructure and innovation to change the pharmacy industry and possibly the eye care industry as well. Here are some ways that Amazon could alter the industry.

 

Telemedicine

Amazon has the platform to develop a telemedicine app to connect customers to pharmacists and doctors. Browsing Amazon’s website and don’t know which contact lens solutions or artificial tears to pick? Simply click on the feature to talk to a virtual provider to help with your selection via the telemedicine app. The health care apps can be used to book doctor’s appointments and even pay for your visit. The app would be customer- centric and convenient and could synchronize with the Warby Parker’s refraction app to enable patients to get glasses.  Consider the information that the app could provide to patients with pre-exiting conditions and direct them to local Amazon location or other company partners.  The virtual doctor could review a health care product or condition that a patient is searching on the website to finalize the sale or prescribe a medication and be delivered by Amazon Prime Now service by an Uber driver.

 

Innovative Technology

 

Imagine using Echo to direct you to a virtual doctor that can answer your questions on over the counter products or prescribe a treatment plan without leaving the house? The system could potentially connect the patient via telemedicine to treat the patient and could pick up the medication at a Whole Foods pharmacy. Echo would be able to provide treatment plans with over the counter products.  A treatment plan could possibly come up on the amazon app and with 1 click put in the product in the cart or either delivered within 2 days to your home or picked up at a Whole Foods kiosk. Not only that, but it would offer great personalization. Amazon is known to produce options based on an individual shopper’s purchase history. Amazon consistently sends emails asking about reviews on their products which would only help them grow their online eye care industry. When pairing this with a patient’s medical history it might become easier for them to refer a patient more detailed eye-exams in-office if they deem them necessary to partnered brick and mortar locations.

Big companies and small businesses could use Echo as a personal assistant to streamline business processes and answer frequently asked questions. For example, it can provide an overview of daily schedule, outstanding balances as well as HR information to let corporate know when a Doctor takes a day off or is out sick and relate the info to daily sales goals. Sales data could be given by Alexa. Data on per hour production can be evaluated and compared to others in the region and industry to set strategic plans and company standards to improve sales and efficiency.  It can also order new supplies and report inventory levels.

 

“Vuzix Corp. will show off a pair of smart glasses that can talk to Amazon.com Inc.’s voice-activated digital assistant and display information to the wearer’s field of view”. This technology can help patients that need low vision devices. It can superimpose text messages and display information that the patient needs to see.

Vuzix Blade glasses  Source: Vuzix Corp.

 

Electronic medical records

Amazon has the potential and resources to build its own electronic medical records system, and they might be working on this as we speak. The medical records could be accessed through the Amazon app. If successful, patients would want to have their records from their doctors’ offices into one system where any health care provider could download pertinent medical history and other information.  Amazon would have access to the electronic records to be able to target patients for other health care services or products.

Amazon web services can pull data from current electronic medical records. If Amazon has access to medical records they can run algorithms to identify similarities and target potential patients with a Doctor onsite or video conference. Consider how this service could transform your business with sophisticated data mining abilities.  It can help strengthen the net profit, optical strategy and understand more about the patient demographics of that office. By having this data, it can provide data that researchers can use to find treatments for diseases or prevalence of getting a disease. It can audit your patient records to detect potential fraud. This feature could be utilized by insurance companies to detect fraud and retrieve unnecessary fees from providers and hospitals.

 

Amazon Business for EyeCare Professionals

Amazon Business started in 2015 and has become a 1-billion-dollar business. Through Amazon Business Eye Care professionals can purchase products at an affordable price and skip many vendors. Small equipment for the office through Amazon Business and even selection of frames at deep discounts for your optical. Need Tropicamide a new near point card or new CMS 1500 forms? Order it through Amazon Business for Eye Care Professionals. Use their service and become an affiliate by referring patient to get artificial tears and other over the counter products for eye care. For business owners to get products quickly another brick and mortar purchase might be in the future for Amazon, possibly  BJs Wholesale Club to be able to compete with Walmart at the store level and provide convenience to the business owner if a product is needed immediately and use the warehouses as storage for inventory. It would also add Gas Stations to its portfolio that requires a brick and mortar location.   According to Business Insider , there as been speculation that Amazon is interested in acquiring Target .

How would Amazon enter the Eye Care Industry?

Amazon could possibly purchase Warby Parker or 1800 Contacts. They both developed a strong online brands with great income potential and have the database that is required to incorporate Amazon’s innovative technology.  Warby Parker has a strong millennial following and growing. They both would have the infrastructure that Amazon would need to successfully enter the industry. Amazon’s presence into the eye care industry would likely increase the speed of online optical delivery or it can have an integrated system that combines online with  the Whole Foods store. Even without a purchase, Amazon has the ability to open optical locations in Whole Foods and expand services online.

 

 

 

Visual Merchandising for Corporate ODs

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Corporate Optometry offices are small and some are outdated, remodeling your office can help with the image of your office.
We need to put our best foot forward for business success! Changing our appearance in our offices is critical our future growth. The most compelling reason behind an office makeover is the health of your patient practice.
A remodel generates profits simply through upgrade. An improvement can lead to higher gross sales and improve your practice status in the eyes of the patient. It will generate word of mouth referrals and bring in more patient flow. You will generate more money simply from perception. It is important that you take a critical look at you office appearance to determine if its promoting an image that you wish to portray. Visual merchandising can be a great way to attract patients and increase exam revenue.
These simple tasks will create a welcoming environment for patients of all ages with visual merchandising.

1. Tell your Story-You are the Doctor, show your credentials! Display diplomas, certificates, licensure.
Decorating your office with framed awards and other medical achievements is a powerful way for ODs to win the trust and respect of your patient.

Bulletin Board of Family photos, hobbies or even thank you card or holiday card from Patients!
This will create a family atmosphere in your office and possibly a conversation builder with patients in your exam chair. Being personable is important in building your practice! Use this bulletin board to make connections with patients! Satisfied patients will create loyal patients which lead to successful business!

2. Signage– Strategically placing signage in your office to promote specialty practices. Signs should be bold in color and placed at eye level. It should be an extension of your brand. Obvious location would be in your waiting room. Consider placing these signs throughout the host environment or windows facing the mall. The goal is to attract a potential patient walking by to get an eye exam. It could be as simple as ask us about color contacts or Lasik.

3. Display Ocular Disease or Eye Posters– These will make your exam room look more professional and is a great patient education tool.
Most of these posters can be purchased at a low cost. Place them on your walls and use them to educate patients on the importance of Eye Health and Sunglasses! This can be a great way to inform potential patients about the importance of an eye exam and spot light the technology that your office has compared to your competitors. Bold words or slogans can help amplify the affect- “No one takes care of your eyes better than us”

4. Technology- Incorporate technology with visual merchandising. Digital marketing visuals can be a great way create a brand experience for potential patients. Using technology can attract a potential new contact lens wearer or even an impulse buyer. The strategy that is chosen to display the images or content will target the patient that you want. This strategy should be changed every 3-4 months as seasons change and as new trends in healthcare or the eyecare industry come up.