Dr. Cazares in the pre-testing room in his office. Dr. Cazares says Google Workspace helps keep the many pieces of his practice on track and organized.
Automating optometry practice operations with Google Workspace
By Ryan Cazares, OD
Sept. 25, 2024
I am always looking for ways to automate how my practice runs. My philosophy is to run my business with systems that I could replicate for multiple locations.
I seek to run my business so that it can generate revenue without me there every day, generating the most revenue with the least amount of effort.
I set up Google Workspace in my clinic to help us achieve all of the above, and I’d like to share that with you.
Editor’s Note: There are other digital workspaces to choose from including Microsoft 365, Zoho Workplace, Dropbox Business, Slack, Amazon WorkSpaces and IBM Cloud Pak for Automation, among other options.
Be Assured of HIPAA Compliance First
If you sign Google’s Business Associate Agreement, like you should with all of your vendors, you can be assured of the following:
“As of February 21, 2024, The following functionality is Included Functionality under the applicable HIPAA Business Associate Addendum:
Gmail, Calendar, Drive (including Docs, Sheets, Slides and Forms), Gemini for Google Workspace (not including access to Gemini via gemini.google.com or mobile applications), Apps Script, Keep, Sites, Jamboard, Google Chat, Google Meet, Google Voice (managed users only), Google Cloud Search, Cloud Identity Management, Google Groups, Google Tasks, Vault (if applicable) and AppSheet.”
Click HERE to learn more about HIPAA compliance when using Google Workspace.
The Specific Google Workspace Tools We Use
- Gmail
- Google Forms
- Google Sheets
- Google Docs
- Google Calendar
- Google Voice
Gmail
Each of my employees has a Gmail account @scotteye.com. The accounts are easily managed should an employee move on to other opportunities or be let go.
I also set up multiple accounts to help me better organize my e-mails.
For example, my main business email is dr.cazares@scotteye.com, while my specialty contact lens e-mail is specialty@scotteye.com. This way I can track my specialty orders without them getting lost in the heavy traffic of my main e-mail address.
Other Articles to Explore
Also, for each e-mail address, I can set up Google’s Chrome internet browser differently.
For example, when I’m in my office, Chrome is logged into my main e-mail account, and I can set it to automatically go to our EHR, RevolutionEHR, and Gmail in two tabs when I open Chrome.
In my exam rooms, I’m logged into info@scotteye.com (our e-mail for general inquiries), and it automatically opens RevolutionEHR, ODSpecs.com for reference, our Optos directory, and All About Vision for patient education.
Google Forms
I set up several Google Forms to assist in referrals, employee feedback and metrics tracking.
On my website, I have a referral link for doctors to click should they want me to evaluate and fit their patients with specialty contact lenses. It asks for patient name, phone, spectacle Rx and best corrected visual acuity. It also asks if they would like my clinic to get the patient set up for an evaluation or if the referring clinic will take care of that step. The form e-mails an alert to me when a doctor submits it.
I also am able to create simple forms for when I need employee feedback.
For example, since my clinic is very active on social media, I plan to create a form to send to each of my staff that will allow them to submit ideas for posts or videos we can create for Facebook and Instagram.
I also use Google Forms to request my team members’ T-shirt sizes so I can get them shirts for our casual Fridays.
Lastly, the most powerful way I use Google Forms is to assign my employees to report on specific metrics.
Each employee is assigned a particular Google Form for two metrics which they are responsible for reporting on a weekly basis.
For example, I have one optician tracking capture rate and optical sales, another optician tracking anti-reflective percentage and revenue per patient, and a tech tracking the number of specialty contact lens evaluations and revenue generated from specialty evaluations and materials.
Each form reminds the respective employee how to find the number to report, whether it’s through RevolutionEHR, EDGEPro or Dr. Contact Lens.
After submitting the forms, the reported numbers are automatically laid out on a spreadsheet for my manager to easily read. She meets with my staff weekly to go over the numbers.
It’s great for several reasons:
1.) Now that I am busy enough with specialty contact lens patients to see them every day, the amount of work involved has taken away from the time I used to dedicate to studying our metrics.
2.) My staff feels more involved in our business and knows they share accountability for the performance of the clinic. It motivates them to keep the numbers up.
3.) All of my metrics are in one spot so that when I host a monthly staff meeting to go over the numbers, I don’t have to run several different reports with different software or websites.
Google Sheets
As I became busier and busier with specialty contact lens patients, I found it easy to get behind on orders, especially for scleral contact lenses. It was also extremely inefficient to comb through each chart for the day and place a contact lens order as I go. I want to go home at a decent hour and play with my dogs and guitars!
So, I created a Google Form that I fill out when I am with a specialty contact lens patient.
The form asks for patient name, date of birth, what lab to order from and OD notes/over-refraction and OS notes/over-refraction (in these fields, I type up over-refraction and changes I’d like to see made to the contact lens or diagnostic lens, whether it’s a steeper or flatter edge, more limbal clearance, etc. I also note if there is profilometry, topography, anterior segment photography or OCT to send to the lab).
Lastly, I can assign the order to myself or to my specialty tech if it’s a relatively straightforward order. At the end of each day, I can sit down at my computer and look at the Google Sheets spreadsheet created by this form. I can sort the orders and modifications by lab.
For example, if I have five orders to make from two different labs for the day, instead of scouring through each chart to and making a phone call or sending an e-mail per patient, I’m only making one call/e-mail to Alden Optical and one call/e-mail to Art Optical.
The best thing about this system is I can simply copy and paste from the spreadsheet into an e-mail to the lab, and then copy and paste the order info to a separate Google Sheets spreadsheet we use to track orders.
Since implementing this system, we are able to keep up with orders, decrease turnaround time for patients waiting on lenses and track orders way more efficiently than using our EHR to painstakingly enter each parameter of each lens.
Google Docs
Google Docs can easily be used to create a letterhead for your clinic. From that point, you can create many different documents, such as a medical orders form for ordering MRIs or bloodwork, communications templates for your patients’ primary care doctors and patient education documents.
I also have a template for firing a patient ready to go!
I created many documents for common eye conditions.
Each exam room has Google Drive on its desktop. I can access all of these educational documents and quickly print them, whether the patient has astigmatism, keratoconus, floppy eyelid syndrome or diabetic retinopathy.
Google Calendar
I run my life through Google Calendar. If it’s not on my calendar, I’m going to miss that meeting or forget that Zoom call!
I use Google Calendar to organize things, such as my rep meetings and contact lens consultation calls. I also have a dedicated Scott Eye Care team calendar. My manager can easily invite staff to team meetings, rep lunches, training webinars and retreats.
You can also use Google Tasks to create to-do lists for yourself and your staff that will show up on their calendars. I don’t like to use Google Tasks because it does not allow you to assign recurring tasks such as creating bank deposits or bringing the garbage to the street.
I instead choose to use Todoist, a popular app, that can integrate with Google Calendar. It has much more functionality than Tasks.
Google Voice
I use the Google Voice app for after-hours emergency calls. If a patient calls Scott Eye Care after we are closed for the day or over the weekend, our voicemail message has my Google Voice phone number on it, which is different than my personal cell number.
A call forwards to my personal cell phone, and my phone shows me that it’s an emergency call—this way, I know to answer instead of thinking it may be a spam call from an unknown number.
Ryan Cazares, OD, is the owner of Scott Eye Care in Scott, La. To contact him: dr.cazares@scotteye.com
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
