Dr. Tom Griffith helps teach a member of Dr. Lane’s practice team about ocular anatomy via the dissection of a cow’s eye. Dr. Lane says these kinds of opportunities help keep employees engaged in their work and growing in their careers.
Paraoptometric training & certification and staff development in optometry
By Bradley Lane, OD, MBA, MEd
Sept. 4, 2024
A well-trained support staff is essential to providing a high level of care and generating lasting profitability.
Here are the details on the training that makes it easier for us to create the team our patients and practice need.
Para-Optometric Training & Certification
The American Optometric Association (AOA) Paraoptometric Resources and AOA EyeLearn are incredibly helpful.
We use these online resources to help onboard new staff and to develop and train seasoned team members. There are many topics covered in this online platform, from front desk to technician training and beyond. There is even information about how best to manage human resources.
On-boarding a new hire can be time consuming, strenuous and cumbersome. We use these AOA resources to help jump-start the process in a methodical fashion.
Good Training is Cost-Effective & Increases Profitability
The AOA resources are cost-effective for us as they are free for AOA members. Moreover, getting new hires up and running quickly saves us money by increasing production and decreasing the amount of time needed to get new employees up to speed.
A well-trained staff can properly link diagnosis and CPT codes. This helps to decrease the time it takes for us to be reimbursed, thereby improving our cash flow.
Plus, our well-trained team knows what tests can be ordered for each diagnosis, which increases reimbursements.
Efficiency is increased with a well-trained team because doctors are able to delegate many tasks, such as testing, to a staff member they trust, freeing up time to see more patients per day.
Curate Training Offerings for Your Team
Look at all the offerings available and tailor the course offerings to the specific staff members you have. In other words, the number of options can be overwhelming for a new staff. As a seasoned professional, you should help sort through topics and levels of proficiency to find the right courses for each member of your team.
Other Articles to Explore
Devote Time for On-Site Training & Refresher Courses & Staff Retreat
We take one half day per month to do on-site training and refresher courses. Sometimes, it is just the doctors reviewing anatomy or features of contact lenses. Other times, we utilize staff to train the rest of the group.
For example, our opticians might review with our other employees how to do simple frame adjustments, or they discuss the features of different spectacle lens types.
Full Day for Staff Retreat
We also take a full day every six months to do a retreat with a whole day of education. The education covers all aspects of the office including customer service and commitment to patient care.
Sometimes we have paraoptometric speakers lecture. Sometimes we do it ourselves. Other times we have successful business people in the community talk about what they expect when they go to the doctor.
We have coaches come in and talk about teamwork. We use AOA resources and other reputable sources of training content. If we don’t find the content we want, or if it is not delivered in a way that is conducive to our format, we create the content ourselves.
Create a Custom Mock/Practice Certification Test
Over the years, we compiled a large bank of test questions. We put together a mock/practice certification exam and administered it to the staff. We use those results to help plan the monthly education agenda.
After the six-month education program, we reassess using the same questions to determine if we were successful in instructing our staff.
Results: Measurable Impact of Support Staff Training
As a result of our training and education efforts, we saw an uptick in key performance indicators. Our capture rate, premium lens sales and revenue per patient increased after the first year of implementing our current training program:
Our capture rate increased by 8 percent
Revenue per refraction increased $114
Pass rate for the CPO and CPOA certifications our staff completes via the AOA is now 94 percent
Our utilization of additional testing (ERG, fundus photos, OCT, visual field) and additional procedures, such as amniotic membrane placement, punctal plugs and botulinum toxin injections, also increased.
In addition, our Google Reviews improved. Our patients notice how well equipped our team is to serve them.
Training staff is paramount to running an efficient and profitable office. Some people may ask, “What if I train them and they leave?” My response is always, “what if you don’t train them and they stay?”
The eyecare field is constantly changing. Having well-trained and nimble, allied health professionals is essential to our success.
We never want our staff to stagnate. Continuing to encourage them to be certified and strive for professional development is important to our office. We are better when we are educated and trained.
When well-trained, our staff members are more confident and engaged. They feel more comfortable educating patients and take pride in their work. It’s not just a job. It’s a career.
Bradley Lane, OD, MBA, MEd, is a partner with Appalachian Eye Care in Princeton, W.V., his primary office, and Pearisburg, Va, a secondary location. To contact him: bmlaneod@gmail.com
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
