Eyeworld

OPHTHALMOLOGY BUSINESS 74 May 2016 4. ODs must be actively coached to strive for MD levels of patient throughput. The default optome- trist clinic pacing of 1 patient ev- ery 30 to 45 minutes doesn't work in the typical full-service eyecare setting. The average ophthalmo- logically employed OD now sees 25 to 30 patients per full clinic day, and the most energetic see 40-plus patients daily. 5. Employed optometrists must be compensated at a level that will reward their superior skills, while still generating a profit for practice owners. The typical employed OD generates $50,000 to $100,000 in net passive economic benefit for their employing MD in 3 ways: • By freeing up surgeon time for higher-yielding patient services • Through net profits on profes- sional and testing fees • Through optical sales and profits This is only possible if the OD is paid at reasonable market rates, which today means a base sala- ry of $90,000 to $130,000, and total annual compensation before benefits at or under $150,000 for all but the most exceptional producers. Check your own approach to employing optometrists against this list. Bridge the gaps, and you'll have a better practice—and a better business. If you don't yet employ optometrists in your practice, con- sider doing so and join the most successful practices in America. EW by John B. Pinto and Corinne Wohl, MHSA, COE who has already worked in a higher-volume, medically oriented setting where they have grown accustomed to relative indepen- dence. ODs with military, Veterans Administration, Indian Health Service, or similar experience are often superior candidates. 2. They must be given appropriate staff and facility resources, propor- tionate to their patient volumes. For the typical clinic, this means 2 exam rooms and 1 or 2 techs based on patient flows. It is pos- sible for highly motivated ODs to work out of a pod with 3 lanes and 3 support staff, and to gener- ate clinical and optical collections exceeding $750,000 annually—but not if they are resource-starved. 3. Optometrists and ophthalmolo- gists in a practice must meet often to align patient care pathways and to bond as professional colleagues. The biggest rookie error made by employer MDs is to ignore or marginalize their optometrist colleagues. A monthly all-doctors meeting, with the practice admin- istrator in attendance, covering both clinical and business topics, is essential. full-service eyecare business. The na- tion is currently approaching a 3:1 OD to MD ratio. In the future, the average large practice will have this same provider ratio. Some settings are even experimenting with 5:1 and higher ratios in an effort to drive efficiency. Employing an optometrist is not just limited to large, full-service practices. Solo surgeons with a grow- ing base of postoperative patients are commonly bottled in; they don't have enough cases to add a second surgeon, but they can no longer handle all of their clinical duties alone. For such surgeons, adding an optometrist can allow practice growth without cannibalizing the owner's case volumes. But employing optometrists is only efficient, effective, and profit- able when following these 5 canons: 1. The optometric doctors must be bright, well-trained, and contem- porary "medical optometrists." The best doctors to add were in the top 10% of their graduating class. They are residency trained and have a full-time commitment to their professional life. The best choice when adding an optome- trist to your practice is someone This column by well-known authors John Pinto and Corinne Wohl presents a new, easily applied pearl designed to advance patient care, increase efficiency, and improve financial performance every month. "I'm not the smartest fellow in the world, but I can sure pick smart colleagues." –Franklin D. Roosevelt O ne of the major shifts in eyecare economics and business modeling over the last generation has been the employment of optometrists in an increasing number of ophthalmology practices. This is in line with the trend toward more large-scale/full-service practic- es and relatively fewer solo surgical boutiques. The average general ophthal- mologist reports that fully one-third of his or her daily clinic patients could be readily handled by an op- tometrist. This frees up surgeon time for higher-level patient care, which is more rewarding both professional- ly and financially. Employing optometrists makes sense if you want to be in the Are we correctly employing associate optometrists? Ms. Wohl is the administra- tor at Delaware Ophthal- mology Consultants. She has 30 years of hospital and physician practice management experience. She can be contacted at czwohl@gmail.com or 609-410-2932. Mr. Pinto is president of J. Pinto & Associates, an ophthalmic practice management consulting firm established in 1979, with offices in San Diego. His latest ASOA•ASCRS book, Simple: The Inner Game of Ophthalmic Practice Success, is now available at www.asoa. org. He can be contacted at pintoinc@aol.com or 619-223-2233. About the authors To the point: Simple practice tune-ups for complex times

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