Optometrist role in managing optical outlet and private

clinic

Mukund Pant, OptometristB. Optometry, IOM

Optometry

• Healthcare profession that is autonomous, educated and regulated (licensed/registered)

• Emerging eye care profession

Optometry

• Clinical and research oriented medical profession.

• Only course designed to specialize as vision & eye care specialist.

Optometrist

• Primary healthcare practitioner of the eye and visual system who provide comprehensive eye and vision

care, which include⁻ refracting and dispensing,⁻ detection/diagnosis and management of ocular

diseases⁻ rehabilitation of conditions of the visual system

World Council of Optometry

Areas of specialization

• Contact lens• Paediatric optometry• Geriatric optometry• Orthoptics• Low vision• Vision therapy• Community optometry• Behavioral optometry• Neuro optometry

Contact lens clinic

Well equipped set up for contact lens must need:1. Keratometry/corneal topography2. Contact lens trail set3. Contact lens solutions

Contact lens clinic

Pediatric Eye Clinic

• Walls of the examination room should be painted with fine & eye catching arts

• Examination room should contains toys to attract child’s concentration

• Sharp edged instrument should not be placed close to child

• Coloring books or complete-the-dots puzzles may be needed to make them busy

Pediatric Eye Clinic

Low vision clinic

Clinician helps in enhancing the existing potential vision of the patients

Options

• Setting up one’s own optical outlet and

practice

• Serve as an Consultant Optometrist

• Dispensing adviser in corporate optical outlets

• Work with Multinational companies as a

technical expert, professional services, etc.

Options

• work in association with variety of other health

care practitioners (Ophthalmologists,

Physicians, Neurologists, Rehabilitation

specialists, Occupational therapists)

• Academics

• Research work

Optometrist role in optical outlet

Optical outlet

• Place where lenses, frames & other optical accessories are kept to sell to the customers according to the prescription

Optical outlet

• In optical outlet, optometrist have to do:

– Patient care as an Optometrist– Customer care as an Optician

Patient care

• Routine history taking includes personal history like age, gender, work and its

environment. chief complain, history of glasses, previous consultation and its details family history, personal illness and related history

Patient care

• Refraction: automated refractionretinoscopy and subjective refraction.

• Slit lamp examination & torch light examination

Special care to contact lens patients

– Keratometry should be performed, mostly now a days it is attached with auto refractor

– Pre fitting evaluation should be done

– Contact lens care includes teaching methods of insertion and removal thoroughly

Special care to contact lens patients

– Care and regimen to be explained and observed in the follow ups

– Personal hygiene to be explained

– Caution to be given about complications

– In follow up, fitting characteristics should be checked again & contact lenses to be checked for any deposits or spoilage of the lenses

Important things

• After giving the prescription it is better to check his inter pupillary distance and also monocular PD, especially for progressive lenses.

• Appropriate pantoscopic tilt and facial wrap should be done

• For the progressive lenses it is must to explain them about its usage .

Dispensing

• It is easy to convert the customers to take high value added products for optometrists rather than opticians.

• Practitioner always should emphasize the benefits of the lenses and coating when it is priced high, so that customers can understand it.

• Practitioner always concentrate on multiple pairs to increase the profits for opticals like-suggesting contact lenses and spectacle, contact lenses and polaroids or sunglasses, progressives and office lenses (only for the office purpose), AR Coated lenses in nights and sunglasses in the mornings & sunny day

Optometrist role in private clinic

Private clinic

• Place where outpatient are given medical treatment & advice along with disease diagnosis, run by one or several health care practitioners or managers

Private practice

• Private practice is the best option for an Optometrist to be a full-fledged clinician who can deliver variety of optometric services like

– comprehensive examinations of both the internal and external structures of the eye,

– Evaluate patients’ vision and determine appropriate treatments

Private practice

• prescribe spectacles, contact lenses and low vision aids,

• diagnose and treat eye diseases,

• provides vision therapies

• Rehabilitate the visually impaired

• Diagnose complications due to the aging process, accidents, or malfunction

• Pre- & Post-operative care &

• Proper referral of patients having serious ocular diseases

Private practice

Advantage/Attributes of private practice

1. Self-respect

2. Peer respect

3. Community respect

4. Good income

Advantage/Attributes of private practice

5. Scheduling freedom: taking days off for vacation or other reasons are personal decisions

6. No fear of job loss

7. No pressure to prescribe:

• Following Business Skills are necessary to attract patients in optical outlets & private clinics:

1. Professional marketing

2. Practice management

3. Patient communication

4. Business management

Professional marketing

• Marketing is not a bad word, you must market yourself in palatable manner

• Hanging out shingle & listing telephone/mobile number

• Trick is how to market effectively to retain your professional image

Professional marketing

• Optometrist play an important part in increasing the sales/patient flow of an optical outlet/private clinic like:– suggesting the customers for a better lenses

which will be not only benefited to the optician but also to the customers like making aware of disposable lenses, AR coated lenses, progressives etc

Contd….

• Optometrist can do surveys/screening like percentage of refractive errors in a specific places and making them aware of optical outlet/private clinic and giving some brief about eye health, refractive errors and importance of its correction.

Practice management

• During patient examination proper counseling is utmost

• Proper management of supporting staff & other aspects of practice is vital for success

• Doctor should be intelligent, well skilled, & up-to-date in his or her field

• Is always better discussing with sales people whenever practitioner have time and teaching about some minor things like advantages of lenses like glass & plastics, bifocals and progressives etc. So that it would be easy for them when explaining to the customer.

Contd….

Patient communication

• To retain patients & obtain their referrals, you must communicate your expertise & caring concern to them

• Doctor should answer questions in patients’ language with taking sufficient time

Contd….

• Tele calling is necessary to remind the customers for their follow up, it not only increase the business but also creates the good impression to customers

Business management

• To become best optometric clinician, one must pay attention in managing their office finances well enough to pay the rent, salaries, other mounting expenses of running a practice timely

How to improve the atmosphere, to make clinic

more attractive & comfortable for patients?????

1. Patient should always enjoy while waiting the doctor, for example by reading, watching television etc instead of doing nothing

2. Every room should be clean & attractive with better lightening, better ventilation, better seating

3. Patient first come to reception so, it should be attractive

4. Receptionist should show good hospitality & be cooperative as well

5. Walls of the clinic should contains eye & vision care posters & brochures

5. Smoking should be prohibited in the clinic because smoking is offensive to majority of population

6. Examination room should have latest & adequate equipments & instrumentations which should be neat & clean.

7. Dust on the instruments will make very negative impression on patients

8. Doctors’ desk should not be so cluttered with unnecessary thing, if desk contains any magazines or catalogs, they should be professional one

9. Walls of the examination room should have framed licenses, diplomas, honors received by the doctor.

10.Good appointment system: patient will get tired of waiting for their doctor

so, every private clinic need good appointment system. Fixed time should be given to the patient to make them happy

for follow up patients on-call/Internet appointment system should be available

11.Good parking facilities: In urban area parking of vehicle is major problem.

To increase patient flow & increase sell there should be proper parking facilities

12.Toilet/Bathroom facilities is essential for example, many diabetic patients may come in

clinic who may need frequent trips to the bathroom

13.Optical outlet/Private clinic should be located in fixed location, so that patient will not confused

14.If owner of famous private clinic open another clinic in different place, it will be better to keep same name as a chain clinic/optical outlets

15.New fashion sunglasses, frame, special types of glasses should be available in sufficient amount

16.Money changing problem: It may be the problem, so sufficient change

money is needed

17.Proper computerized recording system with internet connection makes easy to understand the problems in follow up

Publicity strategy

• Proper counseling is needed to make them come in follow-up

• Some instruction sheet along with brochures & visiting card should be given to patient & his party after examination

• Advertisement in hoarding boards newspaper, FM radio, TV

Contd….

• If appreciation letter is received from some renowned person, it should be placed in the walls of clinic in attractive frame

• Also if renowned person visit clinic once, his photographs were also placed to increase reputation of clinic

Legislative framework

• Private clinic/Optical outlet should be registered according to law of state/country

• Paying of tax regularly & timely

• Timely renewal of clinical license

Finance management

• Income (revenue) is earned when services are provided to the patient

• Expenses are the costs of providing material and service to the parties those receiving the services.

• All transaction (income & expense) should be systematically recorded(computerized), so that it will be easy to know whether it is in profit or loss

Contd….

• After paying, bill should be given to patient to make patient aware & also to follow the legal process

• Office rent, salaries of staffs should be given timely, so that they will more concentrate on their work

• Financial statement should be reviewed regularly to make timely financial decisions, observations and, where necessary, corrections.

Supporting staffs in clinic/outlet

• Staff are the major ingredient for a successful practice, so they should:– be patience– Smart – Have good experience in dealing– Well skilled technically– Want to work not just for pass time but to

make money for family or for himself

Finally,

Clinician should consider following points….

1. Punctuality

2. Attitude

3. Personal neatness

4. Office neatness

5. Loyalty

6. Self-improvement

7. Competence

8. Concern about practice growth

9. Patients relations

10. Staff relations

 Death of an optometry practice . . . Service

Failure

• Miscommunication/Misunderstanding

• Patient does not receive product when promised

• Poor communication regarding fees

• Inconvenient/repetitive filling out of forms

• Excessive waiting

• No one present at front desk when patient arrives

References

1. Management for the Eye care Practitioner - Irving Bennett, O.D.

2. Management of private practice in health service hospitals in northern Ireland - November 2007

3. Internet

Thank you!!!