The Optometric Minute

Four ODs Discuss their Biggest Challenges

March 1, 2017

Four ODs, who attended the recent Rev360 Executive Retreat in Atlanta, Ga., share their biggest practice challenges–and their strategies for practice growth. The conference emphasized the importance of taking the time to improve your practice, and on employing electronic systems to better compete and flourish in a fast-changing marketplace.

 

Jason R. Miller, OD, MBA, is seeking to improve intra-office communication to ensure his staff works as a team to serve patients and reach practice goals. He will be using all the tools available to do this, including his RevolutionEHR system, and apps that can be added to phones and other mobile devices. Meanwhile he plans to take the time to not just collect data, but understand how to use it to improve the practice.

Lisa Greene, OD, wants to better understand how to implement change, including getting staff to understand the purpose behind the change, and to support the effort. She also is thinking about how she can further open her practice books to her staff. She currently is open about the money coming into the practice, but would like to learn from other practice owners how much of the doctor’s payroll to share. She believes that the more staff understands about practice expenses the more they can help keep practice spending in line.

Katherine Witmeyer, OD, FAAO, is striving to add greater cohesiveness to her staff, including putting systems in place to share information and make sure everyone is working toward the same goals. In addition, she has learned the importance of keeping a budget, and making each staff member responsible for tracking the metrics, including spending, for the area of the practice in which they work.

Michael Cymbor, OD, says he has realized the importance of taking time to evaluate the business to see where improvements need to be made. For example, he says a practice’s no-show rate can cut into staff time, requiring employees to spend added time with patients who should have had their issues addressed by coming into the office. Dr. Cymbor recently introduced improvements into his practice like having a staff member take notes at meetings, so the whole staff can benefit from the new ideas discussed.

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

To Top
Subscribe Today for Free...
And join more than 35,000 optometric colleagues who have made Review of Optometric Business their daily business advisor.