Originally Posted by LENNY
Question: Do the patients come to your location for the quality of the doctor and his/her exams OR for the glasses the optical provides?
Question: Do the patients come to your location for the quality of the doctor and his/her exams OR for the glasses the optical provides?
The start is Glasses!
Follow ups - Doctor!
Spoken like a true optician owner...
I guess the answer can never be both.
Legality aside (yes, it would be best to talk to a lawyer), I would give the OD the patient records with address and phone numbers redacted. That way he or she can't easily market to your patients, but he or she has a record of the treatment he performed which I think the doctor is at least morally entitled to.
Never trust anyone.
Chip
No the only reason why they are comming is because they heard that we hired a new OD!!!!!!!!!
Then this is a silly discussion. If they don't like the old OD then they won't follow him. If he sends a note to the patients that he's moved on and they didn't like him, they will come back to you because they know he is gone, and it didn't cost you a dime to let them know! My advise, chill and let him have what he wants. Wish him well and don't burn any bridges. You will be the better man, do the right thing for your patients, and confuse the heck out of the OD, who is probably expecting a fight. There will be some patients that liked the doctor AND your optical. If you do it right, these pt's will go to him for the exam and return to you for the glasses.No the only reason why they are comming is because they heard that we hired a new OD!!!!!!!!!
For instance if the Dr. is paying rent for his space such as a wallmart setting,than yes those records are his/hers. If he works for someone meaning he is an employee recieving a 1040 at the end of the year than no they are not entitled to take the patients records with them, The records belong to the establishment.
The above is another "typical" post regarding Opticians...
(your own post modified to Opticians)
DragonlensmanWV N.A.O.L.
"There is nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country."
Sounds like your just trying to pull a fast one on him. You really should do all or none. Earlier I said just give them to him, but If you want the records for your new OD, let the old OD pay to have them copied and you keep the originals. It takes a long time to make copies, and isn't cheap in manpower hours either.
"Ownership" of the records means the "original". If the newer OD wants a copy, the newer OD has to pay the older OD. "Access" to the records means " a copy" is sufficient.
Not if the older OD doesn't own the record. He was an employee and the employer owns the record.
Thanks. I was thinking that the OD was an IC.
Dragon,
In all seriousness, I am currently employed in a group practice where an optician has the majority of the ownership. When we sit down for contract discussions, he believes that ALL patients come to this office because of the eyewear that is offered...
In reality, yes some people come to the office for that, however a large amount of patients have been referred by word of mouth from other patients who have seen me and the care I have provided. The previous OD was horrible, and turned patients away...
So in the owner's mind, it's simply the optical...but in reality, it can be BOTH optical and optometrist...hence my comment.
:cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:
I just participated in a 2 day health fair at a local manufacturing company. They now have Eyemed, but before had no insurance. Everyone (840 employees) was required to attend each booth.
I asked them each a series of questions, one of which was, "Who is your current eye doctor?"
Of those that mentioned Sears, Lenscrafters, or WM, and many did, only one person knew the doctor's name. The majority of the time is was just the name of the chain. Some of the people couldn't even remember that, nor the location they went to.
On the other hand, if it was an independent OD, then they all knew (I would hope so) where they went, and who did the examination.
I don't know what it means, if anything...just an observation.
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
I'm OK with that. If you read my posts you will find nothing but support for ODs, as I've worked for ODs for 34 of my 38 years in optical.
Just pointing out that it's unfair to complain about opticians dissing ODs because there's plenty of it coming the other way. Maybe not too much on this site but others.
DragonlensmanWV N.A.O.L.
"There is nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country."
Dragon:
You must understand, we can be dissed because we are lower life forms. Actually instead of evolving, we seem to be de-evolving with time, especially in the eyes of the higher (drs) life forms.
Chip
Very true Dr. That's why it is un-wise for an optical's owner (Dr or optician) to shirk on hiring the best optician in the area, it's worth the price. They complement each other.
At my last practice, we had as many patients come to us for the optical service as came for the exam. We gained exams from patients satisfied with our dispensary, and gained new eyewear clients whom came for the Dr.
It very much can be a win-win situation for both optician and Dr. when you hire (and keep!) good talent. When a person finds a good Dr. that they like, they will keep coming back to you. It's the same for opticians. Most (patients) don't want to see a revolving door of personel. If they are a repete, you can bet most are coming back because of the person/s that helped them there before, not price or location.
Many times the difference in mediocre and excellent is a few dollars an hour. It's surprising how many owners think they are saving money by have a low cap on what they are willing to pay. An excellent optician or Dr will more than make-up the difference in pay with increased revenue and repete patients.
optical 24/7,
I completely agree with you on your posting.
I think the biggest problem I see is the owner (whether OD or Optician) skimping on equipment or personnel for the other.
Case in point for me is optician owner providing old equipment (especially slit lamp). Along the line of personnel, he believes that anyone who works the front desk can also run diagnostic testing (ie visual fields or photos) with great success, which is not the case.
When he stated this, I simply asked "Would you put someone from the front desk in the lab, manufacturing the lenses???" That sort of stumped him a bit.
I see it as the flip side as an OD providing meager equipment to the optican, and/or having untrained people off of the street assisting...
What's wrong with an old slit-lamp or chair if it does the job?
Long as you can see what you need to see, and get the patient in the position you need him in, what't the point of new?
Chip
My question would be, are you staying booked up? Are you making money? If you don't like your employment agreement with a cheap optician, leave, pure and simple. Why argue semantics about why they walk in the front door? Obviously, if 1 and 2 are true, then maybe in fact it is the optical draw that brings them in, and it could be the Doc's, but at the end of the day, it's still the cheap optician that owns it walking to the bank. Bad business? Maybe, maybe not, for him.
I think a nice lobby and exam rooms help to make the patient feel comfortable and have a better overall experience. They may get the feeling that they are getting a lesser exam if they go to an exam room left over from the 70's vs. a modern exam lane.
What is the point of new displays, carpet and overall appearance of the optical? As long as the patient gets glasses that they can see with, whats the point of keeping things updated?
I'm talking slit lamp that isn't set up for 78D and 90D lenses. These are straight vintage...ok to evaluate contact lenses, but nothing for posterior pole.
so what is their worth you ask?? Absolutely nothing.
So why would you want to work in these places!?
If you want to practice medicine!?
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