Dr. Zolman conducting an exam as part of the InfantSEE program, which her practice participates in. Dr. Zolman says early care for children is essential to their eye health and development and a great way to bring whole families of patients into the practice.
Bringing expanding families into your practice.
By Jennifer Zolman, OD, FCOVD
Jan. 17, 2024
Getting whole families to come into your office for regular care can be hard. There is a national program I implemented in my own practice, however, that has brought many of our youngest patients—and their parents and siblings—into my office.
Here are the details.
Being a Part of a Larger Program
At our office, we love taking care of our community and the families that live here in Charleston, S.C. One way we do that is through the InfantSEE program.
When I started at my office as an associate doctor right out of optometry school, I embraced this program as a new grad to establish my own patients and families of patients. I talked to pediatricians, hospitals, daycare centers and other community organizations that had direct care with parents of infants.
This was not only a gift to our community, but also helped build our practice with new patients. The babies I saw at the beginning are now seniors in high school, and I have been on their vision/eye journey with them all the way.
We also love the change of pace of seeing a fun baby between the routine, day-to-day exams in the office. Our entire team in the office always seems to have a smile on their faces after a baby has their exam with us.
No-Charge Exams for Infants that Safeguard Eye Health & Help You Build Your Practice
InfantSEE providers agree to provide no-charge comprehensive eye assessments to infants between the ages of six to 12 months regardless of family income or access to insurance coverage. This does not include medical visits or referrals for a specific eye condition, but an eye wellness assessment for the babies.
According to the American Optometric Association, babies should have their first exam between six and 12 months of age. By this age, babies should be able to focus, see color and have depth perception. Optometrists will make sure their eyes are developing normally, checking for signs of near or farsightedness, lazy eye, crossed eyes or much more serious conditions, such as cancer.
Early intervention is critical for successful treatment. Despite the nation’s present system of preschool vision screening, there exists a lack of understanding by the public of the importance of periodic professional eye and vision assessments. It is estimated that one-in-five preschoolers has vision problems that can interfere with learning and behavior, yet during the course of their young lives, many children never see an eyecare practitioner who can provide the kind of professional eye assessment necessary to correct those problems.
Providers are strongly encouraged to submit a Clinical Reporting Form for each assessment that is performed as part of the program. Reported data not only provides information on how many babies’ lives are impacted by the program, but also provides crucial reporting that helps fuel our mission as healthcare providers, and that of the InfantSEE program. When you submit a report you ensure that eye and vision care continue to be readily accessible to infants across the country.
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Long-Term ROI
The infant exam does cost a practice exam-room/doctor time, but if the children are pre-appointed to return, and you can capture the families, the return on investment for that short exam will come back to you many times over. You also establish yourself in your community as the infant/children doctor and become known as the doctor who takes amazing care of your community and families.
As a doctor seeking to hire a younger doctor, this would be an excellent program to add to your practice and put under the management of your younger doctor. As a new OD out of school, InfantSEE is something you could offer to add to an existing practice as the new OD to bring in new patients and help grow the practice.
In our practice, when an infant comes in, we ask if they have any other children who are in need of an eye exam, or even when the parents last had eye exams. We also talk about the importance of annual comprehensive exams for them and their children.
We Let All Families Know that Infants Can Receive No-Charge Exams
We educate any pregnant patient (or expecting father, grandparent, etc) who comes into our office that we provide no-charge exams for infants.
Our pre-test team initiates the conversation during the testing with future parents, or if they learn there is an infant 6-12 months old in their lives. We even have some baby-loving team members who give their business cards out to strangers with babies in public and brag about the program, letting them know they should bring them in for the first FREE exam.
The doctors educate patients on the importance of that critical time in vision and overall development that starts at 6-12 months and how important it is to get their babies in at that time, followed by annual eye exams for children through school age.
At check out, they receive a folder with more information about the InfantSEE program, vision development and a infant simulator card. The question we so often get asked, especially from new patients is, “Oh I have a 3-year-old at home, should they come in for an eye exam?” Of course, the answer is a very affirmative YES!
Talking about the InfantSEE program will also bring in the other children for comprehensive eye exams who missed their opportunity as a baby. We always pre-appoint the babies and children, so they return every year to have their eyecare with us.
Jennifer Zolman, OD, FCOVD, practices with Draisin Vision Group in Charleston, S.C. To contact her: jsmith@draisinvision.com
