Optometry CEO

Pushing Change Too Fast

cflem2c — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:44:12 +0000

This week we have our guest blogger, Ashley Blasi, O.D., blogging about the mistakes that she has made from transitioning from optometry student to new OD.

Mistake #2 – Pushing Change Too Fast

When I graduated SCO I was so pumped to apply my knowledge I had obtained to the real world and I believed some major changes needed to happen to the practice when I arrived. My thoughts were the practice needed an EMR system, the patient’s should be scheduled in this particular way, the optical board should be arranged in a more efficient manner, the equipment was outdated , staff needed to be trained in more areas and some major decluttering needed to happen. I had all of these ideas that I wanted to be implemented yesterday. Throwing all your ideas out at once can cause tension between you and the staff and you and the senior doctor. Change is hard for many people. My advice would be observe how the practice is ran for a couple of months. Let the staff become comfortable and trust you. Slowly start to introduce your ideas and explain how you see the practice improving with those changes. In my experience, you will have much better results.

Ashley Blasi, OD is an associate at Drs. Fisher, Yarrow and Fleming, Optometrists, in Wichita, KS. She has been with the practice for close to two years. She will continue to guest post for the next couple of weeks on “Mistakes I have made.”

“Mistakes I have made,” – from a recent optometry grad

cflem2c — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:05:33 +0000

It is hard for me to believe that I have graduated optometry school four years ago this May. As I reflect back on the past four years, many fond memories come to mind along with mistakes I have made. I am very satisfied with the practice I work for today along with where I am at now in my career. However, that was not the case with the first practice after graduating school that I signed a contract with. I would like to take this opportunity to share with my fellow optometrists and future optometrists some of the mistakes I made and how I grew from my downfalls.

Mistake #1- Settling in My Comfort Zone

I knew what practice I was going to work after graduating optometry school when I was a freshman at the University of Kansas. He was my optometrist since I was in 4th grade. I worked for the practice in the summer for 6 years. I knew all the staff and how the practice was ran. He was in a solo practice and was looking to hire an associate and said he would hire me! It seemed to be a perfect situation. So perfect that I did not explore any other opportunities. You could be missing your dream opportunity by being settled in your comfort zone or not have a job at all! Network, attend your optometry association meetings, explore all your options, call local optometrists. The ‘perfect’ opportunity could end up being the ‘perfect’ disaster if you do not break through that comfort zone barrier.

Advantages of Optometry Solo Practice

cflem2c — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:54:54 +0000

The following post is from a fellow optometrist, co-lecturer, and good friend. Ryan Parker, O.D. is in private optometry practice in Ardmore, OK. He is a 2004 graduate of the Oklahoma College of Optometry and currently lectures throughout the country on his experiences and successes in private optometry practice.

Q. What are the advantages of being in a solo optometry practice?

When I lecture to optometry students this is one of the most common questions I get asked. I have been involved in two partnerships and currently run a solo practice. Even though I am in a solo practice setting, I strongly believe an optometry partnership is truly a better mode of practice. What does TEAM mean? Together Everyone Achieves More, yes I stole that from my high school basketball coach, but it works for optometry partnerships as well. I echo what Dr. Flemingsaid in his previous post about partnerships. Also if we look at other medical professions, partnerships are the norm. With that being said and my personal bias out-of-the-way, yes partnerships are not for every personality and there are some advantages to the solo setting.

Freedom to do it your way. You don’t have to run anything by anybody, so you have complete freedom to run your practice the way you want to. Everything from equipment purchases, EHR software, patient flow, time off, what frames to buy, what contacts to fit, it is all up to you.
Ability to manage every aspect of your practice. Now this can be an advantage or disadvantage depending on your personality. There are so many different aspects involved in running a practice, some people like to have their hand in all of it and some
people like to delegate.
Look in the mirror, you get along great with your partner. Partnerships are not always easy, they are an optometric work marriage and they take work. If you are in a solo practice you do not have to worry about that dynamic. There is not another doctor in the practice driving you crazy because they fit out dated contacts or refuse to use electronic medical records. Most importantly you don’t have to come to an agreement with other parties when a decision needs to be made.

I think the most important thing to do when you are considering your practice setting is to take a look at your own personality and see what works for you. Some people are great partners and some are great going solo. In my opinion, I do believe the overall benefits are more numerous in a partnership as compared to solo practice. In my case I do plan on adding a partner when the practice is ready.

Advantages of Optometry Partnerships

cflem2c — Sat, 05 May 2012 03:29:01 +0000

Q: What are the advantages of being in partnership with one or more optometrists?

Shared responsibilities – There are numerous responsibilities of running a small optometry business, from accounting, to staff management, to implementing meaningful use. When you have a partner you can share the workload and thrive in your areas of strength. In contrast, a solo practitioner must be a “jack of all trades” or at least have some minimal understanding of the responsibility in question to properly delegate it and monitor the delegation. Staff management can also benefit from numerous coaches. Most likely employees will not all respond to your coaching and another personality may bring out the best in an employee where you were unable to get results. These are just a couple of reasons that partnerships are a favorable way to practice.
Higher potential income – It has been documented in AOA literature and the MBA statistics that median incomes are greater in partnerships of 2-5 partners than they are of the solo optometrist. This is usually accomplished due to the sharing of overhead costs, buying power, and associated staffing costs.
Team – There is nothing more powerful than a team that works together. There is a synergistic effect when two oxen pull a cart of increasing weight. Two oxen can pull much more weight than the combined total that each oxen can pull individually. This effect is possible when a team of doctors are working together with common goals, a great business model, and a common vision.
Clinical accountability – This has been one of my personal favorites as daily I will bounce cases off of one of my colleagues at the office. One of the disadvantages of solo practice is that there is not another OD down the hall to come take a look at a pathological cornea or suspected retinal tear and given an opinion. Also, clinical accountability occurs when doctors tend to get lazy and keep fitting the same contact lens they have fit for the past 10 years. For doctors who have been in practice 15+ years and the status quo is comfortable, a partnership will challenge you to evaluate your clinical decisions against the latest in optometric education with the addition of a new graduate.

Thank you to the private practice club at The Ohio State University for the many questions that you had for myself and Ryan Parker, O.D. This question was one question, of two hours worth of questions, that the students asked.

Investing in Futures

cflem2c — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:02:19 +0000

The Ohio State is where I will be on Thursday evening. The private practice club will be hosting myself and a colleague/friend of mine, Ryan Parker, O.D., to talk about life in private practice. We are anxious to bring our thoughts and ideas to a budding young class of optometry students whose minds are filled with textbooks of information on ray tracings and proprioceptive-kinesthetic higher order brain functions of a TBI patient. The draw for Ryan and I has always been the real life aspect that we give to the students. There is an insatiable hunger for what the real world is like when sitting in the classroom wondering if you will ever make it out. Although life is lived as a student, post optometry school is more than books and tests. We will share that it is about people, relationships, hard work, financial rewards, and dreaming big.

As a CEO in private practice optometry, investing into your practice is extremely important. Not only is investing in your practice important but so is investing in the future of optometry. It is exciting to have the privilege of investing in the future of optometry by interacting with students.

Vision Plan pays office Interest $$$

cflem2c — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:19:45 +0000

Hire the best . . . I had a good chuckle yesterday as I was visiting with our insurance administrator at the office. She has been with us for about 6-8 months and she continues to reveal areas in our submission of claims that need improvement. What is so ironic is that prior to her arrival at our office we did very good at processing claims and getting paid. Our 60 and 90 day delinquent accounts were relatively low, however, she has raised the bar to what acceptable is…WOW. When she showed me a check yesterday from one of our vision plans where the vision company paid us interest, I just chuckled, the kind of chuckle you get when Tom Brady hits Welker in between two defenders where the pass seems impossible.

This post is a reflection of my desire to see optometry offices win the battle with insurance companies. I discovered this after visiting with our insurance admin. This information may not be new to you and it may not make you rich, but it will give you one more piece of information to drive your NET profits up. Up to a level that rewards you for the hard work and time that you have invested into your practice.

Insurance companies pay interest on claims not paid within 30 days of being filed.
Interest is approximately 10-12% annual rate of return
usually do not pay unless requested by your office
result: claims are now being paid faster

For those readers interested in finding out which Vision Plan this post is an example of please email me at cflem2c@gmail.com.

Starting a Practice

cflem2c — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:39:52 +0000

I’ve been working on an article for AOA News regarding location analysis. Below is an excerpt from the article with some very practical tips for making your dream a reality. The complete article will be published in the May or June issue of the AOA News.

Key components of location analysis.

Decide where to practice (family considerations, school, church, job opportunities for spouse, small town, medical emphasis, VT emphasis, etc.)
After narrowing down the cities/towns to 3-5 then evaluate the number of surrounding optometrists (OD) for your location
1. The analysis should factor in age of practicing ODs and any niche they may have. This will give you a clearer understanding of your competition. If 5 optometrists are in the area and they are all over age 60 and you are 28-32, then you just found yourself a great practice opportunity.
2. I would recommend by starting with Google maps, searching “optometrists in City, State,” and then draw a 3 mile, 5 mile, and 10 mile radius circle around your location. Use a “screen capture” or clipping feature for the map. Evernote is a great tool for this. Also, there is a great free program called Skitch that works great for drawing on an image capture from your internet browser of the map results of what city you Googled.
Research demographics and population statistics
1. The demographic information on the Chamber of Commerce website should indicate the population base within those various areas. The average household income and average age of the area are also key characteristics to match your interests and the best location. Then note how many optometrists are practicing within your circles and compare population to number of optometrists. A single full-time OD needs approximately 5000-7000 people to support their practice. (reference Business Aspects of Optometry)
2. The Chamber website should also help with: average household income, schools nearby (age range of nearby schools, average age of children per household), residential or commercial area (patients like convenience), surrounding insurance plans utilized by companies in area (email/visit HR departments), age of practicing ODs around area (30 y.o. optometrist attracts patients +/- 10 years of age)

Frame Inventory Bleeds Coveted % of NET

cflem2c — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:51:20 +0000

I am asked weekly about the topic of optometry practice NET. As CEOs of our optometric practices we evaluate the nuts and bolts of our budgets to determine how we can grow the piece of the pie that we take home. Now granted, if you are a longterm reader of this blog you know that the money is a by product of relationships and integrity. Whether your motivation for a highly successful business is solely the monetary rewards or the benefits of residual income, there is an innate part of all of us to rise to the top. Part of rising to the top of a highly successful optometry practice is retaining a high percentage of gross collected monies.

Efficient frame board management is key to controlling your business. I have found that frame inventory can take on the characteristics of an undesired virus. The number of frames in your office continues to grow. This uncontrolled growth is where many offices get caught holding frames that ultimately cost the practice money. Here are some simple guidelines to follow in managing your dispensary.

Be involved – Too many eye doctors who are also the business owners, spend 99% of their time in the exam room, this lends itself to inefficiencies outside of the exam room. Doctor, go sit in your dispensary throughout the week and just listen and observe. Utilize a calendar for the whole office that allows you to see when vendors are coming in and drop into the buyer/vendor meeting.
Set boundaries – As a parent of a 2 year old, I find that boundaries are meant to be set and tested over and over until a child realizes that you have set that boundary for a purpose and you expect it to be respected. Your dispensary staff is the same way, they need boundaries and direction. Ask other eye doctors what boundaries they use to get compliance and a highly productive dispensary.
Be familiar with vendor guidelines – As the CEO and owner of the company, you are ultimately responsible for any “agreements” that are signed by yourself or your staff. Many frame lines have “agreements” that when you carry their product you agree to potentially pay restocking fees, or accept returns reimbursed less than you paid. Be familiar with these guidelines so you don’t get stuck with a $90 frame that no longer has value for a return.
Keep overstock to a minimum – At our office we have set a boundary that we will not carry more than 10% of overstock, so if we have 20 Calvin Klein frames then we will only have 2 overstock frames. With our reorder system this works very good for managing inventory and it keeps us from excessive inventory and related expenses.

As the CEO, you must understand how the business of optical frames operates. If you do not understand this or you give your staff freedom without boundaries, then you will most likely fall into the averages with a practice NET of 33%. With a little bit of time and effort a CEO can influence the dispensary to reap a more rewarding bottom line with a practice NET easily greater than 38%.

Burnout

cflem2c — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:03:50 +0000

n. physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress

Private practice has been known to produce serious BURNOUT of high functioning, type-A, goal setting, optometrists. Most BURNOUT originates from a highly successful optometrist in solo practice who day in and day out manages all the ups and downs of clinical practice and owning a small business. Many times BURNOUT occurs and there is no turning back as you feel stuck in the rut of daily practice. To avoid this debilitating disease an optometrist must be intentional about planning to prevent this by protecting oneself. Here are some great habits to get into to protect oneself from BURNOUT.

Sleep – the lack of sufficient sleep has been shown to raise levels of cortisol in the blood stream which produces a fight or flight response all day long, which results in breaking down of the body and eventually your system as a whole. (8-9 hours of GOOD level REM sleep is a necessity, 4 hour cycles are the norm)
Excercise – optometrists take on an abundance of stress during a workday and release of this is a must, there are many forms of unhealthy release, alcohol, drugs, and various other addictions, exercise has been shown to release some of the same hormones that cause the body to relax (over lunchtime workouts are my preference)
Relationships – it is tempting to get so involved in the office that we neglect those people we love the most, scheduled time with your spouse, children, and others is key to maintaining healthy relationships
Mind Dump - Evernote is my journal of choice, a psychologist interviewed by “Focus on Parenting” said that the field of psychology would go out of business if people learned to journal, he said that journaling gives the same emotional release and talking to a psychologist
Fun – this is the area that I struggle with the most, I don’t do a good job planning FUN, the golf course has been a distant memory for me, vacations are important but finding time in a busy practice is difficult because rescheduling patients is a mess, take time to enjoy life and find purpose outside of your office for life.

BURNOUT is a symptom of an unintentional and a highly focused life of doing one thing over and over without giving yourself a break. Optometry affords itself the luxury of taking time to take time off. The key is intentionally expecting to BURNOUT and planning on how you are going to avoid it before you are staring it in the face.

Get relief from business debts – Consolidation and other methods

cflem2c — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 21:43:02 +0000

As CEO of your optometry office, it is important for you to know more than clinical care for your patients. This role requires you to be a small business owner, and with that, have a general understanding of business and personal debt. Pablo is a finance journalist who is my guest blogger for this weeks optometryCEO blog. I hope you find his information helpful.

Pablo Garcia is an Associate Editor with Oak View Law Group. He has been writing on financial topics over the years with special focus on American and European economy. Pablo also takes interest in debt related issues and contributes articles on debt relief to personal finance blogs.

Get relief from business debts – Consolidation and other methods

Getting out of your small business debt would require you to have patience, consistent endeavor and help of a debt relief service. Before you seek debt help from anyone, you need to gather all your debt related information. This would include finding out the total amount of debt that you owe, and also all your invoices and earnings in the current and subsequent quarter. Then you need to categorize your debts into two, one which you have to pay immediately and the other which you can pay later. Now you can start thinking about how you can pay them back

What can you do to pay back your debts?

The few options available to you are:

Debt consolidation loan – Your small business can use a Small Business Administration loan for the purpose of debt consolidation. This is a good option for you if you can negotiate a lower rate of interest on your debt consolidation loan. In order to get a SBA loan for this purpose you would require a total of all the current debts owed, a collateral such as a property, business asset or personal asset and so on, the ability to pay the principal as well as the interest amounts, a working and realistic business model and an ability to show that the money will produce working capital for up to seven years. you can consolidate up to 10 years of debt with some loans.

Small business loan – You may approach any commercial lender or order to get a private business loan or an SBS loan. The information that you need to provide for this is same as that of debt consolidation loan written above along with a sound business plan.

Commercial debt counseling – This option is same as that of personal credit counseling. However, these are usually handled by professional debt relief companies which specialize in dealing with business debts and would probably be able to handle the situation best. The commercial debt counselor with access to your current debt and set up a budget for you depending upon how much you will be able to pay. The debt counseling agency will also act as an intermediary and negotiate new credit terms, that is, lower the interest rate of the debts that you owe.

All the above three mention methods are ways to get relief from your small business debts. proper application will lead to effective results.