Marketing

High-Tech Tool: Educate Patients with Tablets

By Jeri A. Schneebeck, OD, FCOVD

SYNOPSIS

Tablets with eye health information are high-tech tools for educating patients on the eyecare services and optical products you provide.

ACTION POINTS

PURCHASE WISELY. You can use loyalty programs like Essilor Lab Edge Points to acquire tablets.

EDUCATE PATIENTS. Use tablets loaded with educational videos about eye health.

AID EYEWEAR SELECTION. Extend your inventory by usingtablets to showpatients different colors and varieties of frames.

When patients come to our office, they not only learn about eye health and related products and services from our doctors and support staff. They also learn via iPads loaded with material from Eyemaginations, a creator of educational videos.

Send a Positive Message About Your Practice

We have a very high-tech office, and I loved the idea of using technology to streamline our processes and “wow” patients. We invest in instrumentation such as the Visioffice digital lens measurement system in our optical. It’s fitting that we would also educate patients in an advanced way.

The optical dispensary at Dr. Scheebeck’s practice, Highline Vision Center in Aurora, Colo. The practice uses tablets to educate and extend inventory choices for patients.

Invest in iPads

The 13 iPads we acquired for our office did not cost us any money out of pocket as we used our Essilor Lab Edge Points, which enables ECPs to earn points via use of Essilor labs. Those points can then be used to purchase from a catalog of goods supplied by Essilor. Among the items we were given the option of “purchasing” were iPads. Acquiring the iPads with our Essilor Lab Edge Points saved the practice about $4,000.

Educate Patients

We use the iPads to run informational videos on lens products and frames, games to entertain children if their parents are shopping for eyewear, as well as optical surveys. We also use an Eyemaginations application for patients to check into the optical by way of a web program called Lobby Manager.

The Eyemaginations software program is especially good at giving patients compelling information in a short period of time, just a few minutes. The combination of the information with the graphic elements of the video helps patients “get the picture” much faster than they would by just listening to our doctors and opticians.

Use iPads to Help Highlight Optical Goods

Our iPads are used by our opticians in the dispensary to show patients different colors of a frame they’re interested in, along with product demonstration videos such as those produced by Transitions lenses. It helps patients to see different varieties of frames, and additional information about lenses, at the moment they are considering the purchase, rather than being asked to watch the video “when they get the chance.”

Highline Vision Center
Aurora, Colo.

Practice history: Bought an existing practice in February, 1983. Moved locations three times, in present building since May 2012.

Locations: One

ODs: Three (two owners, one associate)

Number of support staff: 22

Comprehensive exams: Over 7,000 comprehensive exams and over 10,000 patient office visits annually.

Secure iPads

The downside to using coveted products like iPads to educate patients is they are liable to be stolen. We have trained opticians to double-check that they have gotten the iPads back from each patient, and to account for all 13 of the tablets at the end of the day. At closing time, our opticians lock the iPads up in a cabinet in our dispensary.

Related ROB Articles

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E-Tablet Opportunity: Provide Exam Room Education

Patient Comfort: The Little Stuff Pays Off Big Time

Jeri A. Schneebeck, OD, FCOVD, is the president of Highline Vision Center in Aurora, Colo. To contact: jeri@highlinevisioncenter.com

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