How does you office handle remakes?

[jeffsoptical]

I'm an independent optician and I accept Rx's from many OD's and MD's. Currently I will remake glasses over if there is an error in the Rx for free. I feel that I must do this in order for customers to use me instead of where they got their Rx. I would say that my work is at least 99% right on. I've heard that the redo rate is about 2%, but lately I've had more remakes then 2%. I'm thinking of not accepting certain Rx' from some doctors. My COG is going to force me into raising prices. I would like to here how you handle remakes?

Thanks,

Jeff

[Andrew Weiss]

Hi Jeff,

I started a similar thread awhile ago under a different name -- "redos" instead of "remakes." Check that one out and see if it answers your questions:

http://www.optiboard.com/forums/show...t=redos+policy

[jeffsoptical]

Hi Jeff,

I started a similar thread awhile ago under a different name -- "redos" instead of "remakes." Check that one out and see if it answers your questions:

http://www.optiboard.com/forums/show...t=redos+policy

Thanks Andrew

Jeff

[drd]

how you handle this will tell your customer a lot about your business. we can all agree that doing the remake is going to cost somebody some $$. whether its your lab doing the remake at no charge, you eating the cost, or the patient paying extra for the remake. Hopefully your fees are set so that this can be absorbed appropriately based on your typical remake%. I actually add a couple bucks hidden within my fee structure that acts as an insurance policy of sorts for remakes or god forbid refunds.

As for the outside Rx being correct or not, this is where you make your mark. As an O.D., its easier for us because I can re-refract the patient even if its from another doctors office. However, for opticians, you will probably feel the ire of the doctor if you send the patient back for a re-check even if you are correct in doing so. Unfortunately many of my colleagues have egos that bruise easily. So rock, meet hard place. If it happened at my office, I would check every conceivable issue about the Rx that could be off that is not Rx related. Have a very open and non contentious discussion with the patient to see if anything else could be wrong. Some patients want different add powers, or like things more customized and if those concerns aren't addressed, they complain. I'd then remake the Rx with no other questions asked unless the patient complains of distant blur at all head positions in which case the Rx is likely the issue.

So what happens if your best effort fails? Here's a suggestion that has worked for me. I have local opticals call me if this happens and schedule the appointment on behalf of the patient, and I am happy to re-check them(usually). If the doc won't see them, or gives you the standard b.s. of "the RX is right! they just aren't made right", see if you can find a third party O.D. who wouldn't mind "a new patient" in their practice. Call them up, ask what they'd charge for a refraction only, and see if your patient would be willing to get a third opiinion from a different office for a small fee. 90% of your customers will appreciate your genuine efforts and reward you with other referrals. 10% will go to Wal Mart and do the same thing to them. Anyway, these are just some of my suggestions to a tricky situation that you can work in your favor, or it can blow up if you aren't careful.

[jeffsoptical]

how you handle this will tell your customer a lot about your business. we can all agree that doing the remake is going to cost somebody some $$. whether its your lab doing the remake at no charge, you eating the cost, or the patient paying extra for the remake. Hopefully your fees are set so that this can be absorbed appropriately based on your typical remake%. I actually add a couple bucks hidden within my fee structure that acts as an insurance policy of sorts for remakes or god forbid refunds.

As for the outside Rx being correct or not, this is where you make your mark. As an O.D., its easier for us because I can re-refract the patient even if its from another doctors office. However, for opticians, you will probably feel the ire of the doctor if you send the patient back for a re-check even if you are correct in doing so. Unfortunately many of my colleagues have egos that bruise easily. So rock, meet hard place. If it happened at my office, I would check every conceivable issue about the Rx that could be off that is not Rx related. Have a very open and non contentious discussion with the patient to see if anything else could be wrong. Some patients want different add powers, or like things more customized and if those concerns aren't addressed, they complain. I'd then remake the Rx with no other questions asked unless the patient complains of distant blur at all head positions in which case the Rx is likely the issue.

So what happens if your best effort fails? Here's a suggestion that has worked for me. I have local opticals call me if this happens and schedule the appointment on behalf of the patient, and I am happy to re-check them(usually). If the doc won't see them, or gives you the standard b.s. of "the RX is right! they just aren't made right", see if you can find a third party O.D. who wouldn't mind "a new patient" in their practice. Call them up, ask what they'd charge for a refraction only, and see if your patient would be willing to get a third opiinion from a different office for a small fee. 90% of your customers will appreciate your genuine efforts and reward you with other referrals. 10% will go to Wal Mart and do the same thing to them. Anyway, these are just some of my suggestions to a tricky situation that you can work in your favor, or it can blow up if you aren't careful.

Thanks for your response. You are very right about how you handle this very tough situation.

Jeff:cheers:

[obxeyeguy]

I'm thinking of not accepting certain Rx' from some doctors.

Is this one doc over and over?? Charge him, I do. Re-dos are part of our world, not being able to refract should not be. Dr.'s with their own optical don't refer anyhow, what are they going to do, stop referring to you?? Let their optical re-do or pay.

[harry888]

To that 3rd remake frustrated customer, "I hope the Rx is the only thing they did wrong on your exam".

Harry

[Audiyoda]

I have a policy that if it's an outside Rx the first doctor Rx change is at N/C to the patient (my lab give me 50% on the first professional remake so I'm still not losing anything on the job - although my COG when all's said and done is about 15% higher than I'd like). But before I do the remake I call the prescribing doctor and verify the new Rx - at the same time I also confirm that if there are any future remakes that I will be billing their office for my COG. If the OD/OMD has a problem with that then I will inform the patient that their doctor refuses to stand by his/her prescription and suggest that before we remake anything they sit for our OD and get re-refracted.

[Audiyoda]

So what happens if your best effort fails? Here's a suggestion that has worked for me. I have local opticals call me if this happens and schedule the appointment on behalf of the patient, and I am happy to re-check them(usually). If the doc won't see them, or gives you the standard b.s. of "the RX is right! they just aren't made right", see if you can find a third party O.D. who wouldn't mind "a new patient" in their practice. Call them up, ask what they'd charge for a refraction only, and see if your patient would be willing to get a third opiinion from a different office for a small fee. 90% of your customers will appreciate your genuine efforts and reward you with other referrals. 10% will go to Wal Mart and do the same thing to them. Anyway, these are just some of my suggestions to a tricky situation that you can work in your favor, or it can blow up if you aren't careful.

This is a great idea for an optician owned shop. I have a friend out in AZ that does this - he has two ODs that he has this arrangement with (he trusts their skills impeccably). My friend even covers 1/2 the cost of the refraction for the patient (often the OD will take his payment as payment in full because the OD has often gained a new patient because of the time/care/effort both ODs offer their patients).

[orangezero]

So what happens if your best effort fails? Here's a suggestion that has worked for me. I have local opticals call me if this happens and schedule the appointment on behalf of the patient, and I am happy to re-check them(usually). If the doc won't see them, or gives you the standard b.s. of "the RX is right! they just aren't made right", see if you can find a third party O.D. who wouldn't mind "a new patient" in their practice. Call them up, ask what they'd charge for a refraction only, and see if your patient would be willing to get a third opiinion from a different office for a small fee. 90% of your customers will appreciate your genuine efforts and reward you with other referrals. 10% will go to Wal Mart and do the same thing to them. Anyway, these are just some of my suggestions to a tricky situation that you can work in your favor, or it can blow up if you aren't careful.

Its a bit inappropriate to ask other professionals to take on the liability (no matter how small) of seeing a patient, especially for a "small fee." I'm sure some practitioners would like to in the hopes of gaining a new patient. I'm sure many reading this don't understand why its a big deal. I'm sure virtually none of the patients understand either, its not their job :)

But the fact is, in many states you can't just provide a refraction service for someone without taking on the liability of determining their health status. There are ways it could be done, perhaps. Bring a copy of the completed chart to the new OD. Still, any pathology that is missed is now on the head of the OD trying to gain a new patient. Sloppy. In many cases the OD would essentially be required to take a look at their fundus. Was it something that happened before the new glasses? They'd also have to take a case history to determine what else may be causing their vision changes. Why not a visual field to determine if their problems are really related to something besides the new Rx. Sounds pretty close to a full exam to me. No way I'm doing all that for free, or even for a reduced refraction fee.

I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it. It just doesn't smell right. In a perfect world, maybe. But not in this one. Perhaps the lax nature of some providers refractions is the reason for the wrong prescription in the first place. Cutting costs on the refraction to make a patient happy seems counter to what we are all trying to accomplish, and reduces the value of the services in the patient's eye. Wouldn't the patient want the reduced rate next time they came in for an exam also?

Remakes need to be calculated in with the cost of doing business. Not used as a way to shuffle patients to a preferred provider.

In the extreme, just stop taking prescriptions from those initial providers that provide these "poor prescriptions." I know I would.

Its a tough situation in any regard. You have to hope/assume the prescribing doctor will see the patient back at least once and give the patient their "day in court" (so to speak) to make the needed adjustments. Who doesn't do this?? Its unfortunately too easy to blame people on the other side, especially because they aren't in the office to defend themselves.

just my $0.02, and perhaps another way of looking at this. sorry to be so gloomy.

[DrNeyecare]

We tell the patient straight out...
Outside prescriptions can be remade one time at no charge. Each subsequent remake is 50% of the U&C charge.

[DragonLensmanWV]

We tell the patient straight out...
Outside prescriptions can be remade one time at no charge. Each subsequent remake is 50% of the U&C charge.

Same as us. Obviously, any error we make is NC, but outside Rxs get one free.I use the pharmacy comparison.
I have had too many glasses come back from the Dr's office with a note along the lines of "Glasses made incorrectly - please remake" often with a Rx change, and usually with Humphrey Lens Analyzer dots halfway down the progressive and most of the way out of the corridor.
I really wish some Drs would have their people trained to actually read a lens correctly, and sadly, some of them have no clue as to how to do that themselves.