Eyeworld

EW FEATURE 50 January 2011 Ophthalmic administrators share their strategies M any practices these days are beginning to draw from an in- tegrated eye care ap- proach in which ophthalmologists are hitching their wagons together with those of other related specialists such as op- tometrists, certified ophthalmic technicians, ophthalmic medical technologists, and even audiologists. We spoke to some ophthalmic ad- ministrators at the heart of these practices to see what keeps them pointed towards success. Minimizing petty competition while maximizing care At Minnesota Eye Consultants, which has 12 locations, diversity is the name of the game, according to Candy S. Simerson, president/chief operating officer, Minnesota Eye Consultants PA. The practice boasts 13 ophthalmologists, three of whom are medical ophthalmologists, and 10 other subspecialty trained sur- geons, 12 optometrists, an audiolo- gist, and as of April 2010, a physi- cian's assistant as well. "Typically in our community they get a ton of re- ferrals from both optometrists and ophthalmologists," Ms. Simerson said. "Anybody (in the area) who has a really complex case would probably end up at our place." The integrated model of care was a natural for the practice, which was founded by Richard Lindstrom, M.D., who himself was subspecialty trained. Here, for the practice that was founded approximately 20 years ago, diversity has been a key factor in continuing success. Ms. Simerson sees this as offering some shelter in times of economic uncertainty. "I think that what that allows you to do is as the market demands change you can kind of change your mix of services," she said. "So, in the eco- nomic times that we've had the last couple of years, people tend to put off maybe their routine eye care, but we have found that the surgical vol- umes are busier." As a result, she finds that the practice's optometrists and medical ophthalmologists are now doing more postoperative checks, helping with evaluations and providing other kinds of serv- ices. Ms. Simerson sees this ability to shift areas of responsibility as ex- ceedingly helpful. "I think that it just gives you the ability to tweak your operation depending upon pa- tient demand, the market, or maybe based upon seasonality," she said. Having different types of specialists on hand also allows the practice to capitalize on new developments and technology. "Especially in the glau- coma field, similar to retina, there are all kinds of new technologies or, procedure development, and cer- tainly here in America you have the aging demographics going on," she said. "So, I think that it does give you the flexibility to meet the mar- ket demand." She finds that the strategy also allows practitioners to be put to their highest and best use. "All of our surgeons are subspecialty trained so they can really focus on their sub- specialty," Ms. Simerson said. "If you were a regular patient and you wanted to get in to see say Dr. Lind- strom for a regular eye exam, he would do that but it would probably be two months from now." It usu- ally boils down to convenience for the patients. Once the patient is booked for an appointment it is then up to the staff to follow through. "I think that we do a good job of coordinating and communi- cating care plans so that if some- body does see one of the optometrists or medical ophthalmol- ogists, and they have some issue, that we communicate that to the surgeon," Ms. Simerson said. "They know that if they're in the system that they'll get to the appropriate care and get to the right level." The practice recently broadened into audiology as well—something that Ms. Simerson pegs as a natural for the already varied practice. "I think that we were just convinced by all of the data that between the demographics of our patients that there was a need that wasn't neces- sarily being met," she said. "We felt that vision and hearing kind of go together – it seemed that it was a similar patient base, with similar things that you were working on and if we had an optical shop (al- ready), obviously that's more retail oriented as well." From there it was simply a matter of finding someone with the right expertise to make this work. "It was just like everything else, recruiting the right professional to deliver the services and then just making sure that the patients got screened and got funneled back." A physician's assistant was also recently added to the mix here. "She's giving physicals for all of our surgery patients and in addition to that she's doing acute care for all of our employees," Ms. Simerson said. "So, if you wanted to test for strep throat or some of the real high-level basic things you wouldn't have to take time off of work." Since the practice is self-insured this has also proven to be an advantage with re- gard to rates as well. Ms. Simerson has found that one of the keys to succeeding with this integrated eye care model is to try to minimize any competition among those doctors who are pro- viding the same services. This she finds is a question of correctly script- ing and training the staff. The fact is that for something like a routine eye exam most patients don't know the difference. "I think that as long as they feel that they're being taken care of and that their needs are being met they're fine," Ms. Simer- son said. "So, we just don't try to make that a big distinction or a big deal." Instead a routine eye exam is based solely on access and conven- ience. "What we're focused on is a good patient experience," she said. "So, getting them to the right person for the right care and then making effective use of our resources." Providing vision for a lifetime Associated Eye Care, which has been in business since 1972 serving the Minneapolis St. Paul east metro area as well as western Wisconsin, also follows an integrated model, accord- by Maxine Lipner, Senior EyeWorld Contributing Editor Improving practice success with an integrated eyecare model? AT A GLANCE • With the integrated eye care model practices are expanding the idea of ophthalmic care to include special- ties as far afield as audiology, or even general medicine as adminis- tered by a physician's assistant • Having different specialists offers flexibility in capitalizing on prof- itable new techniques and technol- ogy • The integrated approach can help provide a buffer in uncertain eco- nomic times • Minimizing any competition among those providing the same services is essential to succeeding with this model • Strengthening relationships with optometrists outside of an inte- grated practice can also build suc- cess • Some, however, see a more special- ized approach as offering more credibility down the line Waiting room at the Minnesota Eye Consultants, PA, an integrated eyecare practice Source: Candy Simerson continued on page 52

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