Sept. 9, 2015
Mary E. Boname, OD, MS, FAAO, owner of Montgomery Eyecare, focuses her practice on preventative care, educating patients on caring for their general health, and showing how that is related to the health of their eyes. As a service to patients, and as an additional revenue stream, Dr. Boname sells many of the products she prescribes, like blue light-blocking BluTech lenses, and nutraceuticals to safeguard macular and retinal health, and alleviate dry eye.
Share Your Own
Wellness Regimen
Educate Patients About Nutraceutical Options
Have Staff Reinforce
Wellness Message
Establishing a relationship of trust with patients, in which you share your own wellness challenges, can be a great help in creating a wellness-based practice, says Dr. Boname.
Key points:
Let patients know about your own family health history and vision challenges, and how you addresses your own needs. Then, segue the conversation into how you can help patients safeguard their eye health and vision.
Remind patients that their general health is not separate from their ocular health, and that staying well overall is essential to preserving their vision.
Discuss how products like blue light-blocking lenses and nutraceuticals are making a difference in your own life, and that of your staff.
When discussing medical and family history, and lifestyle, Dr. Boname weaves in information about the nutraceuticals that are available to help her patients stay well.
Dr. Boname set up a separate company, Ivy Eye Talk to pursue opportunities outside of her practice operations. The company also serves as a platform to discuss the value of nutraceuticals. In addition to Ivy Eye Talk, Dr. Boname is also involved with a NutraMetrix, a company that produces nutraceuticals.
It is essential, she notes, to get informed consent from patients, before having representatives from nutraceutical companies contact them.
Dr. Boname says it is important to make it easy for patients to find the products you prescribe and follow through with your treatment plan. All the products that Dr. Boname prescribes for patients can be found either in her office, or through the NutraMetrix company.
Dr. Boname believes in prescribing the same nutraceuticals and blue light-blocking lenses for her staff that she prescribes for her patients.
Staff can be a powerful reinforcement for your wellness message, Dr. Boname believes. After you’ve shared your own wellness story with patients, and spoken to them about partnering with you to write their own wellness story, you can refer them to your support staff for additional information, she says.
Staff can answer questions and offer greater details about the products the practice offers, she says. Also, staff can let patients know about the difference that specialized lenses and nutraceuticals make for them.
Mary E. Boname, OD, MS, FAAO, owns Montgomery Eyecare.in Skillman, N.J. To contact her: mboname@mecnj.com
