Eyeworld

88 | EYEWORLD | WINTER 2024 P RACTICE MANAGEMENT Contact Rabourn: brabourn@medcgroup.com and education is poor. It also means that any money you may be spending to acquire new patients (marketing) is being wasted, and your practice or ASC is limiting its growth. These fac- tors alone are enough to justify the cost of this position. Make sure to consider all the factors before dismissing this option. Conclusion Prioritizing patient counseling is essential for ophthalmic private practices to thrive in today's competitive market. By investing in a dedicat- ed patient counselor or refractive coordinator, practices can ensure that potential patients receive the necessary information and support to make informed decisions about their eyecare. This results in higher revenue, greater patient satisfaction, and overall long-term success. Ne- glecting patient counseling can result in missed opportunities, decreased patient acquisition, and a negative impact on the reputation of the practice. It is important to recognize the value of effective patient education and make it a top priority at your practice or ASC. and did he or she provide enough information in a polite and courteous manner? Were they encouraged to schedule a consultation or ap- pointment to assess their options? Were they of- fered additional information such as a brochure or directed to the clinic website for details? Secret shoppers are a great way to find out whether your practice is missing opportunities to provide care. If the responses you receive are disappointing, the next step is to figure out why, and work to fix the problem. However, it's im- portant to keep in mind that there may be many reasons this may be occurring. Don't automati- cally assume your staff is not doing their job. Look at the patient services position. Does the practice employ a dedicated patient coun- selor for procedures such as LASIK and lens re- placement, or is that function spread out among several individuals? Is the refractive coordina- tor's primary focus on helping answer questions and educate potential patients, or is their time too divided with other duties? Is your staff adequately trained and knowledgeable? Do you have the right type of person in this position? Dedicate one person to focus on patient education and counseling Although each practice is different, the best way to ensure you are not missing opportunities through poor patient service and education is to have at least one person on staff whose primary job is dedicated to this function. This ensures all the bases are covered and greatly reduces the possibility that something is not addressed or overlooked. This is important because when people are seeking eyecare, they need good and helpful answers to their questions. If they perceive the counselor is not interested or does not know enough, they will quickly move on to a competitor who can better help. But is it worth paying the salary of a full- time patient services counselor or refractive coordinator? Consider the cost of not doing so. How much business are you losing? It's likely to be a significant amount if your patient service continued from page 86 By investing in a dedicated patient counselor or refractive coordinator, practices can ensure that potential patients receive the necessary information and support to make informed decisions about their eyecare.

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