Table of Contents
Key takeaways:
- August is a busy time for optometrists in Oklahoma. To ensure a good patient experience, it’s important to streamline appointments.
- Watch out for lab restrictions. Patients with this type of coverage are looking at longer wait times as labs get busier.
- With VCD, you can accept flexible plans with no lab restrictions and great value for your patients.
It’s the end of the summer, and families are shopping around for back-to-school eye exams. Competition between optometrists is high as patients call around to find appointments and compare prices.
The practices that can deliver fast scheduling and a great experience have an opportunity to grow their customer base, but adding new patients can get overwhelming if you don’t have the right processes in place.
Here’s what VCD recommends for optometrists in Oklahoma facing their busiest season. ‘
Offer a Great Experience From Scheduling to Payment
While your competitors are filling their schedule for next week, you can stand out with next-day appointments. It’s possible if you improve scheduling efficiency:
- Use digital tools to automate scheduling and let patients book their appointments online.
- Schedule siblings (and parents) together.
- Batch similar appointments together, and schedule the patients who need more advanced services during slower times.
- Offer a simple intake process where patients can share health and insurance information online ahead of their appointment to save time.
- Think about making some changes to your practice design for better patient volume management. For instance, you could create a dedicated children’s waiting area with tablets and activities to keep kids occupied while the parents complete paperwork.
Once you have these time-saving practices in place, you should review your triage process. Gathering information via digital channels before the appointment can help you spot patients who need more than a simple eye exam, so you can make more time for them.
Payments are another process you can streamline, with options to pay in advance online or pay at your practice with contactless payments. You should also focus on cross-training or consider hiring more staff to deliver great interactions and give patients the opportunity to share their questions or concerns with someone before their appointment.
The experience you offer goes beyond your practice. Follow up with your patients to share personalized recommendations and reminders to schedule future exams. Sharing educational materials should also be a priority. Creating a great patient experience with future communications is crucial for turning new patients into long-term ones.
How to Avoid Lab Bottlenecks During the Busy Season
You’re not the only business seeing higher demand in August. Labs are busier, too, which often means delays when ordering eyewear and contacts.
Lab restrictions are still a reality, and for patients with those plans, there is no way around these delays. This delay can mean they won’t get their child’s new glasses in time for the new school year. No matter how smoothly things went at your practice, this delay will leave the patient with a negative impression of their experience.
Break free from lab restrictions by being more selective about the plans you accept or guiding patients toward plans without lab restrictions. These plans give you the freedom to recommend the best lab for a patient’s needs and to give them alternatives if their top choice comes with a delay.
These quick turnaround times contribute to a great experience and help make your practice more competitive. In addition to partnering with the right plans, you should also contact the labs to get the latest news on wait times and catch up on new products ahead of your busy season.
Local Outreach Tips for Back-to-School Promotions
To fully take advantage of the busy back-to-school season, you might need to do some outreach and educate your community about the importance of eye exams.
Digital outreach doesn’t have to be complicated:
- Your social media pages are a great way to connect with local parents. You can explain that vision screenings offered in Oklahoma schools aren’t enough and that children need comprehensive eye exams.
- Offering a back-to-school eye exam bundle or a discount will help you stand out from competitors.
- Connect with pediatricians and schools. Many parents schedule eye exams after getting a recommendation from a doctor or teacher who noticed some vision symptoms in their child.
- Don’t stop your outreach efforts once school starts. For many children who skipped the back-to-school eye exam, undiagnosed vision problems will make learning difficulties apparent in the first few months of school.
Don’t overlook adult patients in your communication. Many adults are busier in the fall, and they’ll take advantage of the end of the summer to schedule an exam if they’re aware of the benefits, such as catching health issues early.
Build a Competitive Optometry Practice With VCD
Vision Care Direct of Oklahoma is a doctor-owned plan dedicated to offering real value to your patients. As a prepaid vision plan, we offer savings on exams and other services to your patients, as well as some of the highest reimbursements in the industry for your practice. Plus, we don’t have any lab restrictions. You’re free to recommend the products and coatings your patients need without worrying about lab bottlenecks or inflated prices.
Combine VCD’s flexible plans with the strategies discussed above for a successful back-to-school season. Learn more about becoming a VCD provider.
FAQ
Should I extend my office hours during August for my optometry practice?
If you have enough staff, yes. August is a busy time, and extending your hours will give patients more options for pediatric eye exams. Plus, extended hours allow for a less stressful pace, which is good for the work environment you’re creating.
What should I do if a lab can’t deliver glasses before school starts?
Inform the patient as early as possible, and present them with other vision plans that don’t come with lab restrictions.
How do I explain to parents why their child needs a comprehensive exam versus a school screening?
You can explain that school vision screenings focus on visual acuity, which only catches a small fraction of eye health problems. A comprehensive vision exam looks at issues with visual acuity, eye structure, eye coordination, and more.
