Vision Source

[JC1111]

what are the negatives and Positives?? why are so many people drinking this juice?

[kcount]

OD are trained in Optometry not business. Groups like this offer business advice and counsel as well as a buying group. An office near me signed up and showed me the 'Amazing' prices he was getting on his lenses. I didn't have the heart to tell them I was getting the same price if not better. In the end they want the practice management help.

IMHO.

[JC1111]

haha they are getting decent prices but my understanding they are paying 3% of there gross to get those. so in the end I don't think they are getting a deal at all. 3% of a million is 30,000$ a year. WOW

[EdgeOptical]

with my experience, thos ods that join, use it as a crutch instead of a good manager.
if things go great, its all because of vision source (and they are happy to tell you that)
if things dont go well, its because the employees failed to take advantage of the amazing(terrible) vision source options available.

vision source doesnt allow you to blame them.

its a genius system to prey on ODs that dont know better, or are too scared of their own shadow to do it themselves.



no offense to ODs. but if you got offended by it, its probably because you signed up for vision source and regret it, so that offended feeling is probably really guilt. give your manager and employees a raise, and let them do their jobs. you will make more, and have a much happier staff.

[HindSight2020]

haha they are getting decent prices but my understanding they are paying 3% of there gross to get those. so in the end I don't think they are getting a deal at all. 3% of a million is 30,000$ a year. WOW

Nothing more than a glorified buying group with perceived value and somebody to come into your office twice a year and question why you are doing things differrently and should be making more profit.

Oh ya, and there's an annual convention meeting where everyone gets to get drunk and have a group hug.

[HindSight2020]

with my experience, thos ods that join, use it as a crutch instead of a good manager.
if things go great, its all because of vision source (and they are happy to tell you that)
if things dont go well, its because the employees failed to take advantage of the amazing(terrible) vision source options available.

vision source doesnt allow you to blame them.

its a genius system to prey on ODs that dont know better, or are too scared of their own shadow to do it themselves.



no offense to ODs. but if you got offended by it, its probably because you signed up for vision source and regret it, so that offended feeling is probably really guilt. give your manager and employees a raise, and let them do their jobs. you will make more, and have a much happier staff.

There are many other ways to get great pricing and support from key vendors without having to sign onto a membership with product minimums, rules, restrictions and targets.

I guess people enjoy Kool-Aid??

[LENNY]

It works if you are small and/or starting out!
Can you get out of the contract later on?

[David_Garza]

Yes you can, but I only know of one OD who actually did that after 5 yrs in the group.

[sharpstick777]

Vision Source is a great way to make money... for the owners of Vision Source!

Its like so many things today that promise value, but there are huge downsides to consider:

1) VS Payments (6-7% inc Marketing fees) are based off Gross revenue for the whole practice. With ODs revenue at 40% medical that means you are handing over a significant amount of $ every month without any benefit, WHAT SO EVER.
2) VS offices often look the same. I can walk into a practice and tell in 4 min if its VS. Successful practices are DIFERENTIATING themselves, not looking like a cheap chain.
3) Vision Source "Advisors" survive by spiffs and commissions that vary on the VS products they sell. Their incentive is to sell whats best for them, not what is best for your practice or esp. your patients.
4) Products are often mediocre, and if you are choosing a lens by price not by quality, its one step closer to being a Sears Optical.
5) Discounts can be better if negotiated personally
6) A quick Yelp survey of the top practices on the West Coast in each city, found almost Zero VS practices occupied the top 10 spots in cities over 500K (they did OK is some smaller towns).

A study we did for a business class I taught found the top Yelp spot could be worth $500K to $700K in extra revenue a year in city over 2 million. The West Coast is very computer literate, so it may not translate to other areas of the country. Fewer small towns depend on Yelp, so the size of the city will also matter. But you can run Yelp on your city, and see for yourself. Very few VS practices score very high.

My motto, find out what the very top Yelp practice in your area is doing, and copy them.

Vision Source is a great way to guarantee mediocrity, if that is your goal go for it.

[DrHass]

Vision Source is a great way to make money... for the owners of Vision Source!

Its like so many things today that promise value, but there are huge downsides to consider:

1) VS Payments (6-7% inc Marketing fees) are based off Gross revenue for the whole practice. With ODs revenue at 40% medical that means you are handing over a significant amount of $ every month without any benefit, WHAT SO EVER.
2) VS offices often look the same. I can walk into a practice and tell in 4 min if its VS. Successful practices are DIFERENTIATING themselves, not looking like a cheap chain.
3) Vision Source "Advisors" survive by spiffs and commissions that vary on the VS products they sell. Their incentive is to sell whats best for them, not what is best for your practice or esp. your patients.
4) Products are often mediocre, and if you are choosing a lens by price not by quality, its one step closer to being a Sears Optical.
5) Discounts can be better if negotiated personally
6) A quick Yelp survey of the top practices on the West Coast in each city, found almost Zero VS practices occupied the top 10 spots in cities over 500K (they did OK is some smaller towns).

I joined Vision Souce about a year ago, you are off base on a number of these points.

1) The payment to VS is NOWHERE near that.
2) The "Branding" is entirely optional. I am not a fan of it myself.
3) Vision source does not sell anything, you continue to deal with the sales reps from the same companies you used before. You don't buy anything from vision source itself, and there is no such thing as a "Vision Source Advisor"
4) The "Truclear" lens is a rebranded physio from what I can tell, but that is the only Vision Source exclusive product, and you certainly don't have to sell that if you don't want to. Vision source practices are selling the same products any other private practice has access to.
5) Maybe, I don't know, I'm certainly saving much more than I was before.
6) That's interesting. keep in mind that the majority of Vision Source practices do not call themselves "Vision Source". Did you check the top docs against the member list or just look at the practice name? (I'm not saying you are wrong)

[opty4062]

Vision Source is a great way to make money... for the owners of Vision Source!

Its like so many things today that promise value, but there are huge downsides to consider:

1) VS Payments (6-7% inc Marketing fees) are based off Gross revenue for the whole practice. With ODs revenue at 40% medical that means you are handing over a significant amount of $ every month without any benefit, WHAT SO EVER.
2) VS offices often look the same. I can walk into a practice and tell in 4 min if its VS. Successful practices are DIFERENTIATING themselves, not looking like a cheap chain.
3) Vision Source "Advisors" survive by spiffs and commissions that vary on the VS products they sell. Their incentive is to sell whats best for them, not what is best for your practice or esp. your patients.
4) Products are often mediocre, and if you are choosing a lens by price not by quality, its one step closer to being a Sears Optical.
5) Discounts can be better if negotiated personally
6) A quick Yelp survey of the top practices on the West Coast in each city, found almost Zero VS practices occupied the top 10 spots in cities over 500K (they did OK is some smaller towns).

A study we did for a business class I taught found the top Yelp spot could be worth $500K to $700K in extra revenue a year in city over 2 million. The West Coast is very computer literate, so it may not translate to other areas of the country. Fewer small towns depend on Yelp, so the size of the city will also matter. But you can run Yelp on your city, and see for yourself. Very few VS practices score very high.

My motto, find out what the very top Yelp practice in your area is doing, and copy them.

Vision Source is a great way to guarantee mediocrity, if that is your goal go for it.

Wow, a simple "in my opinion" might have been nice before all that negativity. I work for a VS office. For the record, we buy and fit what we like and our product is FAR from mediocre.

[AngeHamm]

I joined Vision Souce about a year ago, you are off base on a number of these points.

1) The payment to VS is NOWHERE near that.
2) The "Branding" is entirely optional. I am not a fan of it myself.
3) Vision source does not sell anything, you continue to deal with the sales reps from the same companies you used before. You don't buy anything from vision source itself, and there is no such thing as a "Vision Source Advisor"
4) The "Truclear" lens is a rebranded physio from what I can tell, but that is the only Vision Source exclusive product, and you certainly don't have to sell that if you don't want to. Vision source practices are selling the same products any other private practice has access to.
5) Maybe, I don't know, I'm certainly saving much more than I was before.
6) That's interesting. keep in mind that the majority of Vision Source practices do not call themselves "Vision Source". Did you check the top docs against the member list or just look at the practice name? (I'm not saying you are wrong)

+1.

[AustinEyewear]

So what are the advantages of joining Vision Source? I suspect KCount is right, assistance with practice management? Anything else?

[Judy Canty]

To the best of my knowledge, TruClear is a rebranded Accolade.

[drk]

Hate to say it, but VS is BS.

[LENNY]

So the Trueclear is rebranded Accolade, which is rebranded Physio!?!? :)

[harry888]

Truclear is NOT the Accolade. Got a staff member that has both and notices a much narrower corridor with the Accolade.