Sponsored Content
By Margery Weinstein
Editor-in-Chief
Review of Optometric Business
August 10, 2022
Owning an independent practice means having to wear many hats, some of which an optometrist may not have expertise in. When building a practice it becomes crucial to have the help you need to make the best decisions and implement needed improvements. Here are details on an essential resource, ADO Practice Solutions, a doctor alliance with buying group benefits, that is changing the trajectory of one practice.
A Practice Investment With Ever-Growing Value
Michelle May, OD, FCOVD, owner of Advanced Family Vision Care in Gambrills, Md., initially thought she just needed help with basics like billing, but then found, when the opportunity presented itself through ADO Practice Solutions, that she could use a boost in other areas of practice management too.
“I initially joined ADO Practice Solutions at their Core level to take advantage of vendor discounts and consolidated billing, both of which simplified practice management while helping me save money. Having most of my bills consolidated into one billing statement makes keeping track of my practice expenses much easier, she says. “In 2020, I upgraded to ADO Accelerate to incorporate DONE4YOU® Marketing after learning about their REBOUND program. DONE4YOU and the REBOUND program assisted with reopening my office after being closed due to COVID. Since then, I have been working with my marketing manager, Jackie, on setting up and implementing optical promotions, as well as patient engagement and recall campaigns throughout the year.”
The support the practice received from DONE4YOU Marketing has done wonders for eyewear sales, says Dr. May. “Since coming onboard with DONE4YOU Marketing, our capture rate has increased by almost 20 percent, which far and away exceeded the goal we had set for ourselves. This, in turn, has contributed to an almost 25 percent increase in optical revenue for the practice,” she points out. “Increasing the capture rate was our No.1 goal – the combination of DONE4YOU helping develop and market optical campaigns, along with staffing changes that increased implementation of the promotions, got us there very quickly!”
Multi-Purpose Turnkey Practice Management Help
Running a successful practice is a multi-dimensional challenge, so it’s fitting that ADO Practice Solutions offers multifaceted support. Dr. May says this resource has helped with everything from marketing to the monitoring of key practice metrics. She says it has been invaluable in four critical areas:
Social Media Management. “DONE4YOU has completely taken social media management off my plate, which is an area of the practice that was really suffering due to lack of time for me to take care of it. I was previously the person handling social media, and my ability to do so was inconsistent because I did not always have the time to devote to this important aspect of marketing my practice,” she says. DONE4YOU not only personalizes the social media, but also tracks your results and effectiveness to make specific recommendations.
Monitoring Key Practice Metrics. “My ADO Accelerate membership provides access to practice analysis through EDGEPro, which has allowed me to start monitoring and making use of key practice metrics that I had previously been unable to monitor due to the time involved in analyzing the data by hand,” says Dr. May. It has helped to analyze frame line inventory and cost of goods analysis which helps tremendously in setting prices. These key practice metrics are also used by Jackie on a quarterly basis to analyze marketing results.
New Safety Protocols. “When we reopened after COVID, DONE4YOU assisted with implementation of our new safety protocols and helped us let patients know that we had reopened and were doing so with everyone’s safety in mind,” says Dr. May. “They also helped us with promotion when we implemented online scheduling.”
On-boarding New Associate. “When we brought a new doctor on board,” Dr. May remembers, “DONE4YOU helped us with getting the word out to our patients, so we could start filling her schedule. Now that they’ve added their new staff training program FUEL, I look forward to providing access to my team.”
Guidance Implementing New Patient Retention Strategies
The benefits from DONE4YOU Marketing keep coming in the form of marketing campaigns that bring patients back for care and optical purchases. These strategies help increase capture rate, revenue per patient and private pay appointments.
Among the greatest marketing wins powered by DONE4YOU Marketing:
- A blue light initiative that helped Dr. May’s practice increase sales of blue light products.
- Doctor recommendation cards that help make the transition from chair-side recommendations to optical without the patient having to remember everything that was discussed, so nothing gets lost in translation.
- Quarterly promotions, including direct mail with match-back analysis to determine the ROI.
- Projects currently in the pipeline: an upcoming trunk show for which DONE4YOU is helping with Dr. May’s marketing/promotion and the D4YReady program to help promote vision therapy and myopia management.
Regain Your Time & Energy
Dr. May says that, in addition to spurring great improvements in practice performance, ADO Practice Solutions takes tasks off her shoulders, so she can better enjoy life.
Read Another Success Story
“I would estimate that ADO and DONE4YOU save me on average 4-6 hours of practice management time per week. As a mother of young children and a practice owner, that time is precious,” she says. “The consolidated billing makes it simple to keep track of bills, and having an automatic payment option available makes it so that most of my vendors are getting paid without me having to write a single check. DONE4YOU saves time on social media management as well as practice promotion and marketing; whenever there is something I need in that arena, all I have to do is call or e-mail DONE4YOU and they take care of the rest! I’m now able to spend more time outside the office with my family without the stress of worrying about the things that ADO and DONE4YOU have taken off my plate.”
Margery Weinstein is editor-in-chief of Review of Optometric Business. You can contact her at: mweinstein@jobson.com