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Thread: Is this normal?

  1. #1
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    Is this normal?

    Hi all, hope you're having a great weekend. So, I've been hired to manage the optical side of an optometry practice, with a focus on increasing sales and profitability. I've worked with 20+ practices, and the way they do things at this one seems a bit odd.
    So, considering the points below, would you be so kind as to tell me whether this stuff is weird/not a good idea, or it's just me.

    • They have one OD working at a time, but generally four or five techs. The OD's have a tech "write" for them, which to me seems a waste. I've worked with ophthalmologists who didn't need a "writer" in the room.
    • They do fields on everyone, take pictures, dilate, etc...Which is good, but it seems to me if they want to make more money they should generally just refract 'em, have a look for abnormalities, and get the next patient in the chair (I know I'll be scolded for saying that, sorry).
    • With all these techs, they still want me to (a) sell and dispense glasses (b) choose, order, and price frames and lenses (c) train staff to sell better (d) cut and surface all in-house jobs (and jobs from three other practices) (e) make appointments (f) call for appointment reminders (g) check out patients, even medical-only patients (h) submit claims...Now, this would be fine except that it's a busy practice (approx. 30 appointments per day), and I'm the only optician. I'm considering telling them it's just not possible to come in and re-vamp their inventory, re-structure pricing, train staff, etc., and that it would be better to let the techs do tech stuff (instead of selling glasses when it's busy in the dispensary) and the optician do optician stuff. Am I being a spoiled brat?
    • Davis...This isn't an "is it odd" question, but rather a "what's the best approach?" question. Is it better to sell a Davis frame or say a 400$ in-house frame considering "standard" mark-ups and Davis discounts?
    • Pupillometers. They don't have one. I don't need one, but they have techs selling glasses (when I'm tied up on the phone making a damned appointment, for instance), and I've seen that everyone measures PD differently and when I check the recorded PD's from prior visits, they're rarely accurate.
    • Seg heights...Again, untrained techs selling glasses...They do seg heights of 11 with an ellipse, which I think is a bad thing. I said it might (might) be okay if they bump the add, but they didn't know what I meant.

    Whew, that's a lot! Sorry for the long post, and thanks so much for taking the time to consider my questions. Hopefully I can help someone out here in the near future!

  2. #2
    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Java99's Avatar
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    If they want a profitable optical, they need to staff it with knowledgeable opticians who will listen to patients and provide patients with the best solutions for individual visual needs. They also need opticians who can perform the basics of the job so you're not remaking constantly for PD and segs or just plain bad ideas that a skilled optician would recognize. (-10.00 in a 54 eye, cheap PAL with a 14 seg, putting a FTT patient into a PAL without educating, etc.)

    If you can get better discounts buying your own frames than Davis will give you (and you can) then sell in house.

    Buy a pupillometer today. If the docs don't want to pony up, show them a report on % of remakes caused by PD error. Might help to run a report on optician error as well, to illustrate the need for opticians over techs selling.

    If they want profit and happy, repeat patients, they need to hire staff who can create that.

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    You need to have a "Come to Jesus" meeting with the owners. Maybe you need to have one once a month until things turn around. I would start with profitability. They hired you for your knowledge I assume so use it to your advantage. Let them know you will be choosing two techs to train in the art and science of optical dispensing, that you need a pupilometer and that you will soon be doing a frame board and sales analysis. Explain how each of these things increase profitability, the first two by decreasing remakes and errors and the third is simple math. At least it's maybe a start.

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    [QUOTE=Arbeiter;371173]Hi all, hope you're having a great weekend. So, I've been hired to manage the optical side of an optometry practice, with a focus on increasing sales and profitability. I've worked with 20+ practices, and the way they do things at this one seems a bit odd.
    So, considering the points below, would you be so kind as to tell me whether this stuff is weird/not a good idea, or it's just me.

    • They have one OD working at a time, but generally four or five techs. The OD's have a tech "write" for them, which to me seems a waste. I've worked with ophthalmologists who didn't need a "writer" in the room.
    • They do fields on everyone, take pictures, dilate, etc...Which is good, but it
      seems to me if they want to make more money they should generally just refract
      'em, have a look for abnormalities, and get the next patient in the chair (I know I'll be scolded for saying that, sorry
    • With all these techs, they still want me to (a) sell and dispense glasses (b) choose, order, and price frames and lenses (c) train staff to sell better (d) cut and surface all in-house jobs (and jobs from three other practices) (e) make appointments (f) call for appointment reminders (g) check out patients, even medical-only patients (h) submit claims...Now, this would be fine except that it's a busy practice (approx. 30 appointments per day), and I'm the only optician. I'm
      considering telling them it's just not possible to come in and re-vamp their
      inventory, re-structure pricing, train staff, etc., and that it would be better to let

      the techs do tech stuff (instead of selling glasses when it's busy in the dispensary)
      and the optician do optician stuff. Am I being a spoiled brat?




    • Davis...This isn't an "is it odd" question, but rather a "what's the best approach?" question. Is it better to sell a Davis frame or say a 400$ in-house frame considering "standard" mark-ups and Davis discounts?
    • Pupillometers. They don't have one. I don't need one, but they have techs selling glasses (when I'm tied up on the phone making a damned appointment, for instance), and I've seen that everyone measures PD differently and when I check the recorded PD's from prior visits, they're rarely accurate.
    • Seg heights...Again, untrained techs selling glasses...They do seg heights of 11 with an ellipse, which I think is a bad thing. I said it might (might) be okay if they
      bump the add, but they didn't know what I meant.

    Whew, that's a lot! Sorry for the long post, and thanks so much for taking the time to consider my questions. Hopefully I can help someone out here in the near future![/QUOTE






    Are you sure your not working for the big boxes sounds almost like there selling approach. Hiring unqualified people to fill roles that are general reserved for people who have licenses or at least have been an optician for a number of years and knows the difference from a pd stick and a slap stick. Wow are you in over your head. Remember Doc's listen and respond to one thing THE BOTTOM LINE. Nothing else matters to them, I know I have worked for quite few!

  5. #5
    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Jubilee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arbeiter View Post

    • They have one OD working at a time, but generally four or five techs. The OD's have a tech "write" for them, which to me seems a waste. I've worked with ophthalmologists who didn't need a "writer" in the room.

    There are many reasons why a doctor might prefer a scribe. If you have a single doctor seeing 30 patients a day, it might be a bit much to have them do all the documentation and all components of the exam. Particularly one that likes to be "thorough." Many trade journals/magazines advocate docs using a scribe to increase patient flow. The less time it takes for the doctor to complete an exam, the more patients you can see!

    • They do fields on everyone, take pictures, dilate, etc...Which is good, but it seems to me if they want to make more money they should generally just refract 'em, have a look for abnormalities, and get the next patient in the chair (I know I'll be scolded for saying that, sorry).

    Who is doing all the testing? Is it the docs or technicians? Many offices complete each of the components for every patient, but utilize techs to go the majority of this "pretesting." So the doctor's time is still just 10-15 mins with the patient. Do you have a separate room for testing? Or more than one exam lane? Speaking from a financial picture, there is also a lot of money to be made by some of this ancillary testing. How much are you charging for photos? Some ins companies now cover them, or many practices charge the patient. (or use it to justify a higher exam fee to begin with)

    • With all these techs, they still want me to (a) sell and dispense glasses (b) choose, order, and price frames and lenses (c) train staff to sell better (d) cut and surface all in-house jobs (and jobs from three other practices) (e) make appointments (f) call for appointment reminders (g) check out patients, even medical-only patients (h) submit claims...Now, this would be fine except that it's a busy practice (approx. 30 appointments per day), and I'm the only optician. I'm considering telling them it's just not possible to come in and re-vamp their inventory, re-structure pricing, train staff, etc., and that it would be better to let the techs do tech stuff (instead of selling glasses when it's busy in the dispensary) and the optician do optician stuff. Am I being a spoiled brat?

    How old is this practice? It reminds me a lot of my current employer. When the practice was less busy, they needed people who could be the jack of all trades. It is hard to support individual positions/roles when you are only seeing a dozen folks a day. I bet that as the practice has grown, they haven't thought past the current status quo. Perhaps that is why they wanted fresh eyes and ears.

    For us, we still need people to be able to do it all. There are times when the doctor isn't there that someone does end up running things solo, or when someone is off and the job still needs to get done. What I would advocate is coming up with set tasks/stations that need to be covered on a particular day. Then assign people to them. "Ok, Bob. I need you to run the jobs today. Sarah you are covering the front desk by answering phones, calling in reminders, and filing claims. Bill and June you are pretesting, and I have the dispensary. Bob, I will call on you to assist me if I get backed up."

    Then the next you can switch it up and run jobs, or have Bill cover the desk.. what have you. Just because you need to be able to do all those things doesn't mean you have to do it all alone. You just need to be capable of doing it.

    • Davis...This isn't an "is it odd" question, but rather a "what's the best approach?" question. Is it better to sell a Davis frame or say a 400$ in-house frame considering "standard" mark-ups and Davis discounts?

    Depends. Typically you are better off selling your own frames. It moves your inventory and often you make more money this way with typical markups. However a few plans, very limited reimbursement/wholesale/retail frame allowances (like Chrysler) and it might be a tough sell to patient when they can get a Blue tag for $25 and a similar one on your board sells for $150-200. The other thing is Davis. When you sell your own frames, you have to send it in. I have had a few get lost. The other thing is you might have to send that same frame in the following year. Davis only keeps the archive pattern for just over a year. That patient who bought that deluxe frame from you in June, but doesn't come back for her annual to August, just might have to do w/o her glasses for 2-3 weeks while Davis processes it.

    • Pupillometers. They don't have one. I don't need one, but they have techs selling glasses (when I'm tied up on the phone making a damned appointment, for instance), and I've seen that everyone measures PD differently and when I check the recorded PD's from prior visits, they're rarely accurate.

    Get one. This should be a no-brainer for the docs. Or you can see if they can document this for you if any of the testing covers their pd's. Only issue if you are concerned that it then becomes part of the script (And thus prone to be used for online.)

    • Seg heights...Again, untrained techs selling glasses...They do seg heights of 11 with an ellipse, which I think is a bad thing. I said it might (might) be okay if they bump the add, but they didn't know what I meant.

    Training! Time for a meeting.. or perhaps a lunch n learn to cover these things. In the meantime you might want to either have programmed in your software (if using) or a cheat sheet somewhere that covers the min fit heights for the different lens types, and which ones to use in various cases.

    Whew, that's a lot! Sorry for the long post, and thanks so much for taking the time to consider my questions. Hopefully I can help someone out here in the near future!
    Ultimately.. this is found in a lot of offices. It sounds like they realized they needed some help. AS was mentioned earlier, you got some work ahead.. Focus on reducing errors, and then the other ways of improving financials. Hopefully they are willing and able to listen, support you, and you don't end up beating your head against a wall.
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jubilee View Post
    Ultimately.. this is found in a lot of offices. It sounds like they realized they needed some help. AS was mentioned earlier, you got some work ahead.. Focus on reducing errors, and then the other ways of improving financials. Hopefully they are willing and able to listen, support you, and you don't end up beating your head against a wall.
    Why not copy the concerns you have written here, and sit down with the people who hired you. Ask them to help you understand why things are done in the manner they are, and if they are adverse to you helping make things more efficient.

    I agree that scribes have their place - especially for computer phobic eye doctors who never learned to type. The records are better kept in a digital format, and a scribe may help with this, and also help the doctor review the records at the end of the day.

    Good luck!

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    Sounds like "Bird Optometry" to me.....cheap, cheap, cheap. Thirty patients per day; you NEED a scheduler/phone answerer. And it sounds like you could exchange one multi-"talented" tech for one good optician.

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    With thirty patients a day they need more than one optician and techs filling in!

    Today at work 3 docs saw 68 patients and we had 4 opticians chasing our tails all day because we were one short. We had four techs, five on phones/checkout/check in/insurance/referrals and two people in contacts. Only one of the docs uses a tech as a scribe. Normally we run three more people than that and all of us are busy all day.

    We do a lot of pre-testing like the office in question does, too, on every exam. If that staff doesn't get help, the good ones will leave.

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    I believe in scribes for busy offices. With one doc seeing 30 patients a day, the pretesting needs to be done by the techs, and most of the tests are part of a quality eyecare visit. However, if you only have one optician in the optical, with techs filling in and the optician still answers phones, etc., my guess is the patient capture rate has to be affected negatively. Patients won't wait and will go elsewhere, and ultimately they'll go somewhere else for their exams as well. Time for the owners to hire a practice manager and make the numbers work. A good optician will never cost a practice money, they will make money for the the practice, which means 30 patients need more opticians.

    WOW, this practice needs a consultant.

    Diane
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    Quote Originally Posted by Diane View Post
    I believe in scribes for busy offices. With one doc seeing 30 patients a day, the pretesting needs to be done by the techs, and most of the tests are part of a quality eyecare visit. However, if you only have one optician in the optical, with techs filling in and the optician still answers phones, etc., my guess is the patient capture rate has to be affected negatively. Patients won't wait and will go elsewhere, and ultimately they'll go somewhere else for their exams as well. Time for the owners to hire a practice manager and make the numbers work. A good optician will never cost a practice money, they will make money for the the practice, which means 30 patients need more opticians.
    WOW, this practice needs a consultant.

    Diane

    I agree! Poor practice management! Just think how much money you would be making if you were running at peak efficiency. You need a consultant to come in and revise your whole set up. WOW

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    Your instincts are right; there are a lot of train-wreck practices happening at your office.

    The fact that you are also SURFACING, and doing work for THREE OTHER PRACTICES is ridiculous. It sounds to me like there should be three people on your optical side, minimum, doing your work. And with the volume of patients you describe, I can't imagine they can't afford it.

    Don't forget the bright side! You are blessed to have a secure job in a thriving practice where they obviously need your unique skills and expertise! In this economy, that's an enormous benefit.
    I'm Andrew Hamm and I approve this message.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Arbeiter View Post
    Hi all, hope you're having a great weekend. So, I've been hired to manage the optical side of an optometry practice, with a focus on increasing sales and profitability. I've worked with 20+ practices, and the way they do things at this one seems a bit odd.
    At least every other year you're working with a new boss?

    Unless they hire an outside consultant and I'm sorry to say it really shouldn't be you, I fear in the near future it will be 21+ practices.

    It looks terrible when I write this but it seems to me you're in over your head big time.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Uncle Fester View Post
    At least every other year you're working with a new boss?

    Unless they hire an outside consultant and I'm sorry to say it really shouldn't be you, I fear in the near future it will be 21+ practices.

    It looks terrible when I write this but it seems to me you're in over your head big time.

    I agree! But if you do happen to stay you should stop surfacing, sell the equipment
    And stay focused on finishing. Unless your a large operation with over a 100 jobs per week surfacing really does not cut it. If you do decide to keep surfacing you hire some one just to do that but in my many years of working in different practices only one did surfacing and after awhile found out it wasn't worth the investment and time wasted. :bbg:

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    Quote Originally Posted by Java99 View Post
    With thirty patients a day they need more than one optician and techs filling in!

    Today at work 3 docs saw 68 patients and we had 4 opticians chasing our tails all day because we were one short. We had four techs, five on phones/checkout/check in/insurance/referrals and two people in contacts. Only one of the docs uses a tech as a scribe. Normally we run three more people than that and all of us are busy all day.

    We do a lot of pre-testing like the office in question does, too, on every exam. If that staff doesn't get help, the good ones will leave.
    This sounds very much like the reality that I know...for a 3 OD practice. And we have the equivalent of 1 1/2 full time people in surfacing.

    To the OP...it sounds like the doctors want to move in the direction of more professional dispensing staff...which is good... Through your skills, you need to show them that professional staff pays. You've got to figure out the lay of the land there. Are the techs on comission? Are they pushing phone work off to you? But I have one other question,...you've worked in 20 other practices? Do you have longevity in a position? This practice sounds like it will need some time and hard work.

    Oh, forgot to mention the surfacing...No way you can actually do it and manage the dispensing part of the practice. Who did it before?

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    I missed that the OP said she/he surfaced. Could the OP have meant edged instead, I wonder.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Arbeiter View Post
    "...

    They have one OD working at a time, but generally four or five techs. The OD's have a tech "write" for them, which to me seems a waste. I've worked with ophthalmologists who didn't need a "writer" in the room.
    Scribes are "not a waste" of time in my opinion, if the doctor can be more efficient in 3 rooms at one time without hiring an additional doctor then the scribe pays for themselves

    Quote Originally Posted by Arbeiter View Post
    They do fields on everyone, take pictures, dilate, etc...Which is good, but it seems to me if they want to make more money they should generally just refract 'em, have a look for abnormalities, and get the next patient in the chair (I know I'll be scolded for saying that, sorry).
    Your perspective makes you inflexible in this position. I'm afraid you are misplaced. if the doctor was a refraction jockey then you'd be in the right place. Unfortunately for you, the doctor is interested in diversifying the revenue by increasing service revenue.

    Quote Originally Posted by Arbeiter View Post
    With all these techs, they still want me to (a) sell and dispense glasses (b) choose, order, and price frames and lenses (c) train staff to sell better (d) cut and surface all in-house jobs (and jobs from three other practices) (e) make appointments (f) call for appointment reminders (g) check out patients, even medical-only patients (h) submit claims...Now, this would be fine except that it's a busy practice (approx. 30 appointments per day), and I'm the only optician.
    Quote Originally Posted by Arbeiter View Post
    Pupillometers. They don't have one. I don't need one, but they have techs selling glasses (when I'm tied up on the phone making a damned appointment, for instance), and I've seen that everyone measures PD differently and when I check the recorded PD's from prior visits, they're rarely accurate
    I agree but no two people generally will have identical measures.


    Summary:

    1. You should train the other techs in opticianry. That is the value of the optician. It's not doing everything yourself.
    2. The practice is a modern optometric practice that is diversifying their revenue stream. Get with the program or leave.

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    Quote Originally Posted by npdr View Post
    Scribes are "not a waste" of time in my opinion, if the doctor can be more efficient in 3 rooms at one time without hiring an additional doctor then the scribe pays for themselves


    Your perspective makes you inflexible in this position. I'm afraid you are misplaced. if the doctor was a refraction jocke then you'd be in the right place. Unfortunately for you, the doctor is interested in diversifying the revenue by increasing
    service revenue.

    I agree but no two people generally will have identical measures.

    Summary:
    1. You should train the other techs in opticianry. That is the value of the optician. It's not
      doing everything yourself.
    2. The practice is a modern optometric practice that is diversifying their revenue stream. Get with the program or leave.

    Just like a Doc! Train the other people, another words dole out more work instead of streamlining it, make people there work more and at different jobs. People who are skilled in different areas are worth more than cross training a receptionist to fill in as an optician.
    The way he described it he needs a consult to show where to streamline and areas to cut. The generator should be the. You don't make money on a generator unless your doing at least a hundred jobs per week, then it's going to take at least 5 to 10 year pay back normally not worth it. But be as it may you have to decide what to recommend to Doc or Doc's! Just my 2 cents

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    Quote Originally Posted by eye2 View Post
    Just like a Doc! Train the other people, another words dole out more work instead of streamlining it, make people there work more and at different jobs. People who are skilled in different areas are worth more than cross training a receptionist to fill in as an optician.
    The way he described it he needs a consult to show where to streamline and areas to cut. The generator should be the. You don't make money on a generator unless your doing at least a hundred jobs per week, then it's going to take at least 5 to 10 year pay back normally not worth it. But be as it may you have to decide what to recommend to Doc or Doc's! Just my 2 cents
    Ok, so I'm counting to ten and not wanting to sound like a complaining nightmare.

    I'm a dispensing optician and very proud to be one, qualified and licensed in 1984 in Virginia, USA and again in 1999 in New Zealand. In the current economic climate everyone in the practice needs to work to sustain the business and provide the best service possible. If this means cross training in roles, so? I provide guidelines for non qualified or registered staff members, and allow them to provide service in any area I/they feel they are capable of.

    Nothing burns me more than a business hiring me to train their front line team to do adjustments, minor repairs and frame styling (from a fashion and technical perspective.) Only to hear a staff member say, "Why should I do this, he/she isn't going to pay me any more!" or "This isn't in my job description, and I have enough to do."

    I feel like telling them to borrow the money, set up their own firm, and spend the nights awake wondering how they will pay all of their staff ... who only will do what you hired them to do. Including the optometrist who refuses to answer a phone, take a payment, make an appointment ... spoiled kids, that's what we've become, spoiled kids!

    On the other hand, you have people who will do whatever it takes to help a client, provide service, and more. I watched a very qualified optometrist make a client a cup of coffee (while she was on her break) because everyone was busy, and she wanted to make sure the patient was comfortable while waiting. Amazing.

    Which side of that fence do you lean on eye2?

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    4-5 scribes for one OD is overkill, I can't help but think that two scribes with a tech doing all the pretesting could accomplish all and more than the doc needs freeing up two positions. One I would say needs to be a practice manager and the other an optician. The additional testing is the sign of the future, with medical billing all docs are looking for those extra dollars in every case, and it pays so it's a trend that I would personally not reverse. In the dispensary one optician and lab work including surfacing is ridiculous and if the doctors don't see it they need a refraction. Spreading yourself too thin is going to hurt the bottom line. I would say focus your attention to patients and ordering in finished work until additional staff are in place to relive the work load.
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    Quote Originally Posted by MarySue View Post
    I watched a very qualified optometrist make a client a cup of coffee (while she was on her break) because everyone was busy, and she wanted to make sure the patient was comfortable while waiting. Amazing.
    I love to hear that. It's nice to see people that don't consider themselves above the tasks that need to be done.
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    AND you do the surfacing as well? When do you have the time?

    I'd suggest hiring a well-trained manufacturing optician (or hoist someone up who is already working for you) and let THEM run the lab while you concentrate on the other aspects of the business.

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    Quote Originally Posted by MarySue View Post
    Ok, so I'm counting to ten and not wanting to sound like a complaining nightmare.

    I'm a dispensing optician and very proud to be one, qualified and licensed in 1984 in Virginia, USA and again in 1999 in New Zealand. In the current economic climate everyone in the practice needs to work to sustain the business and provide the best service possible. If this means cross training in roles, so? I provide guidelines for non qualified or registered staff members, and allow them to provide service in any area I/they feel they are capable of.

    Nothing burns me more than a business hiring me to train their front line team to
    do adjustments, minor repairs and frame styling (from a fashion and technical
    perspective.) Only to hear a staff member say, "Why should I do this, he/she isn't
    going to pay me any more!" or "This isn't in my job description, and I have enough to do."



    I feel like telling them to borrow the money, set up their own firm, and spend the nights awake wondering how they will pay all of their staff ... who only will do what you hired them to do. Including the optometrist who refuses to answer a phone,
    take a payment, make an appointment ... spoiled kids, that's what we've become,
    spoiled kids!

    On the other hand, you have people who will do whatever it takes to help a client, provide service, and more. I watched a very qualified optometrist make a client a cup of coffee (while she was on her break) because everyone was busy, and she
    wanted to make sure the patient was comfortable while waiting. Amazing.

    Which side of that fence do you lean on eye2?


    Reread the post you took every thing out of context! It's offices that use there receptionist as an optician that burns my butt! Again reread post! :hammer:

  23. #23
    Just An Optician jediron1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MarySue View Post
    Ok, so I'm counting to ten and not wanting to sound like a complaining nightmare.

    I'm a dispensing optician and very proud to be one, qualified and licensed in 1984 in Virginia, USA and again in 1999 in New Zealand. In the current economic climate everyone in the practice needs to work to sustain the business and provide the best service possible. If this means cross training in roles, so? I provide guidelines for non qualified or registered staff members, and allow them to provide service in any area I/they feel they are capable of.

    Nothing burns me more than a business hiring me to train their front line team to
    do adjustments, minor repairs and frame styling (from a fashion and technical
    perspective.) Only to hear a staff member say, "Why should I do this, he/she isn't going to pay me any more!" or "This isn't in my job description, and I have enough
    to do."


    I feel like telling them to borrow the money, set up their own firm, and spend the nights
    awake wondering how they will pay all of their staff ... who only will do what


    you hired them to do. Including the optometrist who refuses to answer a phone,
    take a payment, make an appointment ... spoiled kids, that's what we've become,
    spoiled kids!


    On the other hand, you have people who will do whatever it takes to help a client, provide service, and more. I watched a very qualified optometrist make a client a cup of coffee (while she was on her break) because everyone was busy, and she
    wanted to make sure the patient was comfortable while waiting. Amazing.


    Which side of that fence do you lean on eye2?


    WOW! WHo burned you? I see eye2's point! Maybe as eye2 said you should reread the post. Seems pretty clear. Maybe you have not dealt with the big boxes putting in unqualified people or frame stylist that didn't know a pd stick from a slap stick. Or putting unlicensed people in where a license is suppose to be! Sound a little hard it is because I have seen and tried to fight it with no luck so maybe we should say to you AMAZING! You just don't seem to get it! :hammer:

  24. #24
    Bad address email on file
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    I pretty much ask myself: does the COT/miscellaneous tech do things that are unnecessary for an OMD to do so the OMD can spend more time caring for the patient and give the patient superior care without minor tasks that could be delegated getting in the way, or does the tech do things so the OMD can spend less time caring for the patient and the usual <120 seconds speaking to the patient so more money can be made per hour?

    If you work there, you know the answer - you just need to be honest with yourself.

  25. #25
    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Jubilee's Avatar
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    I actually looked at it as, even though I am the most qualified optician at my employer, I am not above answering the phones if needed as well. I still believe that it just might be possible that the doc wants him to be able to do all of these things, but doesn't expect him to do all, all the time. Just if they are short, can he answer a phone.. that sort of thing. We also don't know how many medical only, or contact lens patients there are. Just because they average 30 exams a day, doesn't mean there are 30 orders a day for the optician.

    They state that techs help out in the dispensary. My suggestion is that if they aren't up to *snuff* designate one to be the first to be thoroughly trained. Work with them on taking proper measurements, adjustments, and dispensary stuff. In my experience, it has been easier to train the "front end" skills more so than the lab based ones.

    While we don't surface, I do everything else he has listed above and more for my practice. We have 3 people that work at this location, and we have a second location as well. We do all the edging for both locations. I order in the frames for our packages for both locations, and I also take care of our IT stuff. Yes it can get overwhelming, but we prioritize, assign rolls for the day, and we make it work.
    Last edited by Jubilee; 11-29-2010 at 07:41 AM.
    "Some believe in destiny, and some believe in fate. But I believe that happiness is something we create."-Something More by Sugarland

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