Patient Experience

3 Modernizing Investments Adding at Least $1,700 Per Month

Dr. Richard in her practice's optical. A few key investments enabled her to deliver better care and a more modern experience for her patients.

Dr. Richard in her practice’s optical. A few key investments enabled her to deliver better care and a more modern experience for her patients.

Eyecare technology advancements for enhanced patient experience

By Melissa Richard, OD

August 14, 2024

Patients today have different expectations than they did even just a decade ago.

Here are a few important updates I made to my office that changed how our patients interact with us, even before they step foot in our office.

Altogether, these changes greatly improved the patient experience and resulted in increased profitability, enabling us to generate at least $1,700 more per month.

Technology that Allows Patients to Shop Your Optical Before They Arrive

I wanted to give my patients the opportunity to see what we offered in the optical before they came in for their appointments, so I decided to invest in Optify technology, which I learned about during a Vision Source Exchange lecture. The technology creates a showroom for patients in which they can make their top frame selections ahead of their appointments.

Editor’s Note: There are other technologies that are similar to Optify that you can use in your practice to allow patients to browse and select frames on your site before arriving for their appointments. Examples include: My Frame Gallery, Fittingbox and Eyeglassify, among other options.

This gives us the opportunity to see who is interested in purchasing glasses. It saves time for our optician and gives us the chance to personalize our patients’ experiences. They choose three frames, and our optician then chooses a frame that she feels is similar to what they are interested in. Our patients are excited when they see that we chose a frame for them based on what they like.

There’s a monthly fee for Optify, but it has paid off for us so far. We increased our capture rate and decreased time for our optician, so it is much more profitable than costly in the long run. We are able to streamline the optical decision-making process because we already know what patients want to try on.

Optify reaches out to our patients to get the process started. We then get an e-mail notifying us if patients have used the service.

Patients love how this technology personalizes their experience in our office. They are already used to shopping online, so this is natural to them.

ROI: My frame capture rate went from 34 percent to 44 percent since adding Optify.

Virtual Reality Headset Device to Gauge Need for Contoured Prism Lenses

We have been measuring patients for years with the original Neurolens nMD device and then the nMD2. The N3 is more of a virtual reality headset that appeals to the next generation of patients.

Editor’s Note: Neurolens offers the only contoured prism lenses, however, prism lenses are also available from the Varilux XR series from EssilorLuxottica, iD LifeStyle from HOYA , GT2 Lenses from ZEISS, among other options.

I wanted a device that impressed and educated my patients in a format they are more familiar with. The way Neurolens allowed me to “earn” the devices also helped motivate my staff and I to reach our monthly Neurolens sales goals.

There was no cost to add the N3 since we were able to earn the new devices by selling 30 pairs of Neurolenses per device in a six-month period.

Patients love the experience of taking the test. It helps my techs and I in that it educates the patient and opens up the conversation before I enter the room. The test runs itself, so it frees up some of my techs’ time to do other things, like inputting information into our EHR.

We increased our Neurolens sales by about 10 percent. I think this is because we are able to test more patients. By testing more of the Millennial and Generation Z patients that we might not have tested with our protocol previous to having the N3, we are able to educate more patients too.

Our Millennial and Generation Z patients, who spend so much time in front of screens, are very interested in what they can do to protect their eyes. We (and the N3 device) educate them on the benefits of the Neurolens in addition to the blue-light blocking glasses many of them are already wearing.

ROI: My Neurolens sales went up 10 percent since adding the N3.

In-Office Eyelid Treatment for Blepharitis, Meibomian Gland Dysfunction, Demodex & Other Conditions

We decided that many of our patients could benefit from more aggressive eyelid treatments conducted in our office rather than on their own at home.

So, we decided to add NuLIDS Pro to our office. We had some patients using the home treatment version of NuLids, so it made sense to bring in the in-office version as the next step in the process for those patients whose at-home treatments were unsatisfactory.

We also wanted to offer an in-office treatment to address eyelid margin disorders while the patient is still in our chair. Patients can have the procedure done while in the office at their comprehensive exam if an issue is uncovered. They can also schedule to come in at a pre-scheduled appointment for maintenance or for their initial treatment if that is more convenient.

Editor’s Note: There are other similar in-office treatments you can add to your office to address conditions affecting the eyelid such as: BlephEx, LipiFlow and iLux, among other options.

The device was less than a $1,000 investment. There are disposable components with each treatment, but these are a minimal cost compared to other treatments.

I compare it to a cleaning at the dentist. Millenials and Generation Z like this option because they are used to one-stop shopping. Plus, they can relate to eyelid issues that are caused by, or related to, all the time they spend on screens/devices.

We charge an introductory price of $50 out-of-pocket for each treatment. We expect to increase this to $100 once we get more experience and word-of-mouth referrals. We do a quick anterior segment photo during pretest for anyone with dry eye/meibomian gland-related complaints. Showing them their capped glands or signs of demodex validates their symptoms and helps opt them into the treatment that day.

Our techs were trained online on how to do the treatment. It is simple for us to add the anterior segment photo because we’re able to do it on our Solix OCT right in our screening area.

ROI: Nulids Pro is adding about $500 a month, but I expect that figure to grow as more people return for repeat treatments.

We are able to boost care and convenience for our patients while adding to our profitability.

Melissa Richard, OD, MS, is the owner of Spectrum Vision in Chalfont, Penn. To contact her: mrichard@spectrumvision.com

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