:idea:I am an optician owner who runs a tight optical boutique and I want to band together with other optician owners - are there any groups? I want our voice to be heard concerning vsp and being in network
Optician owner wants in network VSP
:idea:I am an optician owner who runs a tight optical boutique and I want to band together with other optician owners - are there any groups? I want our voice to be heard concerning vsp and being in network
I'm not trying to be flip or anything but how much of the history of VSP do you know?
PS- Welcome to Optiboard! :)
Vsp
VSP began as a high browed "Best OD Group" who were frustrated they weren't MD's. Now they are just a good old boy club and should be sued for directing people to their locations illegally. I was angry for a long time ... then 2 of my OD buds said,"Be careful what you wish for ... they are horrible.Originally Posted by hdvision
Better to differentiate and drop insurances in respect to eyewear little by little. They are all unfair in that reimbursement is less than rightful cost.
I am interested
I started a facebook page in order to network with people who are looking to put their voice together collectively. search for page "optician owners"
Talk to ANYONE who takes VSP and you will soon see that the two groups above go together about as good as oil and water......If you want to cut your profits in half or more the best of luck to you and your followers.
interesting... Are there other Vision plans that you can get on, but not VSP? Curious who are the Vision Plans you can get on?
ODs started this group for ODs many years ago. Opticians should do the same. Why does the OAA not consider this for a project? It can be done, if we can get Opticians to cooperate..........oh well, what was I thinking! Sorry.
You can be "in-(a)-network" Call marchon and ask about the VSP Marchon Preffered Provider program. Then, after you find out how much (or not much) they reimburse you can cry or throw a middle finger or two ;)
Pez:D
most optical insurances will accept optician owners with a few exceptions, some have more hoops than others. Eyemed has optician credentialling. I have talked to the big optician associations nationally and in my state and they are going to consider taking up this issue. As for the AOA they did nothing for the independent OD s who were franchise owners and were kicked out of the VSP network. They are too buddy buddy with VSP.
I think VSP's mission is first to make money. 2nd to team with independent optometrist to create a co-existence. They did not set out to exclude opticians, they set out to compete in a difficult market place. If opticians will allow them to compete more effectively, then I doubt they will have a problem accepting them, but there are many factors to take in to account. Davis and Eyemed seem to be closely related to big chains, which is probably why VSP dosen't deal with "next door" docs. From VSP's point of view, they want to sell policies, their markets are 1st, big corporations who want to provide health benefits to employees including vision care, which is where the optometrist comes in. When a person buys the policy, they want access to health care, they are NOT thinking glasses first and foremost, they are thinking vision health. They are also thinking contact lens so don't forget about that. They look up in the network a doctor to visit, not an optician. So adding additional sales force and support team at VSP to take on the extra burden of carrying opticians may not make financial sense for VSP. It will increase their costs of doing business, with less return than having O.D.'s only. OD's bring in more revenue to VSP than opticians, that is clear. It will take twice the staff to make the same amount of money if opticians are part of the equation. Of course these are rough thoughts, but you get the idea.
Part of VSP credentialing requires that you provide a minimum set of eye exam procedures, which of course, an optician can't do. You may be better off just going to O.D. school, rather than fighting this uphill battle.
Are you accepting other vision insurance now? You didn't really answer that question? Its one thing to "think" you can get on a plan, its another to really be on the plan. There are plans we thought we could get on, but can't for similar reasons that are explained above. There are hospital systems that won't take us because we are too close to one of their facilities and we are viewed as competition. Like it or not, competition is all around in the medical community. Health care is not free, as much as many people would like to believe it should be. It is a competitive marketplace that requires heavy investment and business decisions have to be made.
Its funny you want in, we want out. We spend an inordinate amount of time and energy dealing with insurance companies, it requires an additional person on staff and special software and software subscriptions to deal with it. It requires training staff, and more real-estate square footage, more cooling costs (more bodies and computers heat the place up), ect...... Its an expensive undertaking. I can't wait till the day that we can dump all insurance companies and simplify our lives, if that day ever comes.......
I take pretty much all other insurances, Eyemed, BCBS, HAP, Davis. I employ the OD who used to own this practice. It was a VSP practice before I bought it. It is just a whole lot more profitable and patient friendly on the dispensing side now.
VSP is a game that you win on the frame side. Don't stock frames whose frame facts price is very close to your cost. Even if you think your cost is good, don't buy frames whose frame facts wholesale is near what you pay and you will make a lot more money with VSP. If the wholesale is high enough to be above their particular plan, then you can upcharge the pt
I'm guessing the doc is credentialed, not yourself? I don't see why you can't do VSP the same way. VSP has an interesting method of taking those upcharges you speak of away from you. They seem to have all sorts of nasty little tricks. All of them seem to, VSP is not the only bad boy on the block. What frames lines are you finding whose frame facts wholesale is published higher than actual?
VSP is difficult. Certain plans have the patient pay dangerously close to your cost. I cannot tell you how much time I have spent on the phone with them arguing over reimbursements. They bet that you will cash the check, but not thouroughly examine the eob. They do send patients to your office, but keep in mind time spent on the billing and reimbursement, and the fact that once their plan changes, they will probably follow their insurance and not stay with your practice. If you choose to participate, the eyfinity program is pretty easy to use, and the customer service people are pretty nice.
there are a lot of frame lines that you can do this with, from budget companies like modern, idealoptics, etc. I also had huge dicounts with all the big hitters because of my volume - viva, safilo, luxottica etc. Anywhere you can make your wholesale less than the posted wholesale for vsp patients, you can upcharge your customary retail (minus their retail allowance) less 20% on most plans. A company to stay away from if you are VSP is Charmont - most of their frame facts posted wholesales are what you pay. I found I was loosing big on Aristar frames even though they sold like crazy their wholesale was within every VSP plan and I could not upcharge at all.
A number of people in my area just work a backdoor deal with an OD to say he owns 51% of the dispensary in order to take VSP, but I am trying to be honest.
http://www.optiboard.com/forums/show...Retail-Optical
Are you sure you want in this?
I've worked at the chains and at an optician-owned shop and I must say I am glad I've never dealt with VSP. That program is a ripoff and I think the fact that ODs still participate in VSP is a glaring picture at why OD-owned businesses are not nearly as profitable as they could be.
Not trying to pick a fight (I don't own any business, so most of you are better off than me), but many ODs don't really understand the retail/lab/dispensing part of the business. It drives me crazy when I have to educate ODs on what a slab-off is and why it could help certain patients. It's not the fault of the ODs, mind you, it's the schooling. But I've only met one OD who was even able to properly adjust a customer's frame.
The perfect way to explain VSP to a customer - "give ME $8-20 a month and every two years I'll let you pick out a junk frame and give you basic plastic lenses free of charge". I tried not to laugh when I heard the owner say this to someone who was concerned about not being "in network"...
Let me correct you - VSP is a game you can minimize losses on. That's all. You cannot win that game - I've played it for a very long time, 20 years to be exact. I've done exactly what you think you can do - purchased product at a substantial discount compared to the wholesale price listed in Frames Data. But VSP will still get you - they use assumptions - they assume that patient Bob Smith should only pay $X.XX amount OOP. You instead charged Bob Smith $Y.YY OOP. VSP will then withhold $Z.ZZ amount from your monthly reimbursement. I saw that on a monthly basis - didn't matter what the plan was or what the benefit amounts were. VSP simply 'caught on' that we were able to buy frames below the Frames Data listed wholesale - and they came up with a reason to NOT pay us.
VSP = lots of work for little money
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