Originally Posted by
DanLiv
I am on the outside of this issue, we are all optometry but also do medical visits for diabetic, glauc, MD, pre/post cat and LASIK, etc. We book eye exams every 30 mins, max 14 per doctor per day, and a few medical visits as needed on the quarter hours in between. We do not overbook, we stay on time. 15 mins pretesting, 10 mins by the time doc gets to pt, doc spends 20 mins with pt, if they are shopping page optical, customer is selecting eyewear within 60 mins of their exam time. If a patient is in clinic for more than an hour, we're behind. 90 minutes and something is completely off the rails. This is different from your issue Krystle because we are optometry and the docs know optical and contacts drive the business, that's what we are all really there for. Our optical and contacts lens revenue is 65%+ of our business, and the office flow is geared toward that.
As you say your massive delays are all the "waiting for the doc" part. Your docs (the problematic MD at least) don't seem concerned with the value of patients' time, and don't prioritize optical in their business model. That's fine if their intention is to run a tiny optical, with one overworked optician, capture less than 20% of their refractions, only need optical/CL revenue to comprise 10-20% of the business, and are content with exam and insurance revenue comprising 80-90% of the business. Is that what they want? I presume if queried they would say not. But they work as if prioritizing clinic/optical 90%/10%, so it is only reasonable for them to expect revenues in line with that 90/10 priority.
It sounds like you are a heavily medically-driven practice, and it is understandable that docs fall into the rut of thinking like clinicians instead of business owners. But it doesn't have to be like that. There are several large multi-MD/OD practices in my area that heavily prioritize optical, have as many opticians as doctors, claim 80% capture, and have optical revenues alone that eclipse our entire annual practice revenue. The docs have to want that business model, and be willing to change their habits to reflect that priority.
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