My own personal reality check

[Jubilee]

So a person shouldn't take the time to reply to the adivce given so a more active and pertainable conversation takes place?

Anyway..

Myra,

I know you truly love what you currently do. If I recall correctly, it was when you were learning the art of retinal photography that you picked up your "obsession" in all kinds of photography that you find comfort in. You help make the doctors, other techs, and yes ultimately the patients lives easier.

You need to have a serious discussion with the lead Dr/owner. Have with you some key numbers and observations. You enable him to see 2 more exams a day. How much do you generally make (less insurance take, etc) on those two exams alone, and how many doctor days is that? Have that total.

Then taking your conversion rate, if that is 10 exams a week, and you typically have 60% patients get eyewear, 20% contacts, and 20% walk/need no correction.. you can use the office's average $ sale for glasses to figue up what those extra 6 eyewear sales a week contribute, the average contact lens fit/sale for those 2 extra and add that in to that total. So if the average $ sale for glasses is $350 and contacts $250, you can say you also add 6 x $350 = $2100 and 2 x $250 = $500 for a total of an additional $2600 in sales a week. Combine that with the exam income and you have a weekly contribution you are at least somewhat directly responsible for..

While you may not conduct the sale, you do provide the efficiency for more patients to be seen, and thus more foot traffic and patients/potential sales in the door.

If possible see if you can find out how many people found the office through the website you maintain, and how many patients took advantage of any adverstised promotions through the site or the newsletter.

I would also observe over the next few weeks how many times patients are left waiting for pretest services, how many times you are told or someone else instructed to interrupt/take over your sale, and how much extra overtime you end up having cause of the inability to work on some extras during the day. I would also let him know of any bickering that may occur cause you are getting sales and thus lowering another's bonus ability.

I wouldn't hammer it on him as in "You dork! look at all I contribute!" Simply ask to have a few minutes and tell him you would like to discuss how you do contribute in ways he may not have thought of before and let the numbers speak for themselves. When discussing the patient/coworker issues speak as if you are genuinely concerned about the care of the patient and the spirit of the office. While stressing that of course patients should come first and if someone is waiting for assistance in the dispensary and you are not currently with a patient, you will be more than happy to assist them.

The last thing you want to do is be angry and not take the opportunity to have a good discusssion about what you do. I recently did this with my employer/doctor (mine was I spend too much time with patients. Yes I may spend 10 mins more, but I generate $100 more per patient than the others too..) and it helped improved things greatly.

If you were happy till this came up, then fight to keep it girl!

[chrome surfer]

I got fired for trying to do my job correctly.

When I first arrived in C/S and I found a job in Sams optical what a joke. Only 1 choice available for pals the only thing I was allowed to sell. When I checked in orders and found errors I would send them back. That was not the right thing to do as it turned out :hammer:. I was told to tell the pt they well adjust :drop:. Common errors were off axis, rotated lenses, lop sided pals, made up segs and pds. They were more concerned with making sure the optical looked neat than the products arriving correctly. Heck even the doc evaluated cls & office visits over the phone. I was let go because they did not feel I was a good fit way to may redo’s.
They did me a favor.

[mlm]

maybe you should consider writing critques.

Oh you're sooooooo funny. But I suppose now you know why I write the docs' reports and the clinic newsletter.
:finger:

[Refractingoptician.com]

Can you commute to Ontario ? You have some skills I need . I like selling but I'd like to leave the paperwork part to someone that finds enjoyment in it . BTW could you bring the mountains and ocean views with you ?

[mlm]

Where are you in ON Gary? Maybe it's time for a change in scenery?? But then bringing the mountains and ocean views would defeat the purpose, wouldn't it? ;)

Thanks so much for letting me vent and giving me support. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do, but everyone's thoughts have helped me sort things out in my mind.

[Paul E. Carbonate]

Well, I now know that my job is actually on the line because of this. Right in this morning's staff meeting, in front of everyone, my boss called me out. He wants appointment priority given to patients who have a history of purchasing eyewear from us (as opposed to those who just have the exam done). He said he knows that will go against my sense of ethics (which it does), but "those sales are what give me a job". So, I'm supposed to start dispensing...

Apparently it doesn't matter that I do 90% of the pretesting, 99% of contact lens I&R trainings and problem solving, 100% of the clinic supply ordering/restocking, 100% of the repair/troubleshooting for the 9 computers and 3 POS terminals, create the yearly newsletter to patients, manage the clinic website, type up all his reports, field all his calls, I'll even edge if the optician's busy...none of that is important because I'm not generating profit.

Before someone goes and flames me, I have no problem with making money, and I'm well aware that a business that doesn't turn a profit can't support its staff. I was very clear at my job interview and in the 5 years since that I am not good at sales nor do I want to do sales. I focus all my energy on clinical work and leave the dispensing to the experts who've done this for 25+ years.

But he's the boss and owner, and I'm not performing to his standard. And I suspect that I'll run into this dilemma in every other optometry clinic in the country. So, it's time to look for a new job, and probably a new career. And man it'll hurt to give up something I'm so passionate about.

Why wouldn't you give priority to people who spend more at your office? I don't see anything unethical about that.
As for "so I'm supposed to start dispensing..." If you're so concerned about the patient, I would think you would demand to dispense, to make sure everything's okay.
Pre-testing can be done by a trained monkey, and I&R is hardly an expert field.
If you're such an IT wizard, you'd make more money in that field, anyway, and typing up letters isn't anything to brag about.
Your employer is probably trying to get rid of you because you're a whiner and you think using an auto-refractor and telling someone how to put a contact lens in makes you somehow indespensable.
If I were consulting your office, you'd be the first one to go.

[Snitgirl]

Myra,

My dear friend...When I read your post the first thing that went through my head....

Hummm, is the dispensary just not doing what they need to do $$$? Is the capture rate sucking that badly and the doc has to take it out on someone other than the dispensary person?

Reason that it went through my head was because the last visit I had to your office, I observed that someone wasn't into what they were doing. :D That was the manager in me observing..

[DragonLensmanWV]

Why wouldn't you give priority to people who spend more at your office? I don't see anything unethical about that.
As for "so I'm supposed to start dispensing..." If you're so concerned about the patient, I would think you would demand to dispense, to make sure everything's okay.
Pre-testing can be done by a trained monkey, and I&R is hardly an expert field.
If you're such an IT wizard, you'd make more money in that field, anyway, and typing up letters isn't anything to brag about.
Your employer is probably trying to get rid of you because you're a whiner and you think using an auto-refractor and telling someone how to put a contact lens in makes you somehow indespensable.
If I were consulting your office, you'd be the first one to go.

OK - IGNORING you, troll.

[mlm]

It's funny how people just assume that pre-testing involves an auto-refractor. Don't have one...the docs believe that retinoscopy is just as quick and much more accurate.

[mlm]

Myra,

My dear friend...When I read your post the first thing that went through my head....

Hummm, is the dispensary just not doing what they need to do $$$? Is the capture rate sucking that badly and the doc has to take it out on someone other than the dispensary person?

Reason that it went through my head was because the last visit I had to your office, I observed that someone wasn't into what they were doing. :D That was the manager in me observing..

You know Snitgirl, you're probably the only person on OB who knows directly what I'm talking about since you've been here. I know who you're talking about, and you know I know, but I'm still the punching bag. By the way, I want to apologize about how said person treated your friend today. I really enjoyed meeting him, and I was embarrassed by how he was brushed aside.

Thanks again for the milk and cookie too!!! :bbg:

[Snitgirl]

Mlm,

If I was an OD and opening a clinic, you know you would be the first person I would hire, right?


During your meetings, do you guys discuss what the clinic has done financially? If so, is it divided up so that it is known what the dispensary does?

[Fezz]

During your meetings, do you guys discuss what the clinic has done financially? If so, is it divided up so that it is known what the dispensary does?

I want to sorta Hi-Jack here:

Is it a good idea to openly discuss finances at office meetings? I know, it really depends on blah, blah, blah. But, I can see how discussion of, can affect the meetings tone and outcome.

[mlm]

We have weekly staff meetings, and no, we don't talk about hard numbers. I couldn't tell you if we're doing well or not, although some of the earlier comments have me wondering.

I don't really expect the docs to talk about the financial situation of the clinic anyway. I agree with Fezz that such talk could be counter-productive, particularly since our meetings are first thing in the morning. (I know you didn't actually say that Fezz, but that's how I'm reading your question.)

[Jubilee]

While it may not be good to state we as an office netted X amount of dollars last week, I do think it is a good idea to know at least the gross amount of sales and services being conducted, and those averages.

If you have more than one optician you necessarily wouldn't make public individual performance, but I think knowing the dispensary made 30k last week by selling 50 pairs with an average price of $580 would allow people to guage their performance, know how much they contributed to that directly, and give them a reference for knowing how they could improve. OR we did 40 comprehensive exams, and 5 contact lens followups/completions.. and knowing if there are ways you can make that better, or celebrate that you are at max capacity..