The Disruptees Can Become the Disruptors

The year 2020 will go into the record books as one that threw us many curveballs, but one that also gave us many gifts, both now and for the future. Optometrists have talked a lot in recent years about the disruption of our profession by online ordering of contact lenses, spectacles, and even vision exams. But with the experiences we have gained over the past year, we now have the opportunity to become disruptors rather than disruptees. Let me explain what I mean.

From continuing education via Zoom to telemedicine visits with our patients, technology, especially health care technology, changed rapidly in 2020, and those changes are here to stay. I wouldn’t be surprised if the pandemic sped up the use of technology in our daily lives by at least 3 to 5 years.

We had to adapt to and embrace these changes quickly in order to continue moving forward. Now, in 2021 and beyond, we can either further embrace this movement and become disruptors, or be the ones disrupted and get cut out of the picture with our patients. If you were hoping that last year’s shift toward technology was a phase, like Facebook in 2010, snap out of it.

BENEFICIAL CHANGES

Using health care technologies to bring new areas of focus to our clinics can be beneficial for both our patients and our practices, and it does not have to be hard. Potential new areas of focus for our practices include offering myopia management, treatment of dry eye disease, medical eye care, telemedicine services, scleral lenses, and online ordering platforms for glasses and contact lenses.

We can either grow these areas or sit back, sink, and wish we had taken action. If we choose the latter and watch from the sidelines while new technologies continue to disrupt the doctor-patient relationship, both we and our patients will lose. Physicians need to be the ones guiding this balance, and we can do so by taking a proactive approach.

Note, however, that when you bring any change to your office, it is imperative to get your staff on board from the beginning. If you do not, you will get pushback and your effort will be bound to fail. Change and comfort cannot coexist. Establish the mindset that change will benefit your staff and make their lives better, and this will set you and them up for success.

BE OPEN TO EXPLORING

Technology can improve multiple areas for an office, but we have to be open to exploring it. When you evaluate a technology or a new area of focus for your practice, don’t ask yourself, “What is this going to cost?” If you do, you will think of a million excuses not to go for it. Ask instead, “What is it going to cost if I don’t bring this to my practice?” The answer may surprise you.

Patients want things to be easy (and so do your staff members). Patients want the convenience of short wait times and efficient visits. As we are all busier than ever, we need to use technology to eliminate mundane tasks and to free up our staff members so they can spend their time on more profitable tasks. Convenience is a new factor we can offer to our patients to make them happy and keep them coming back to see us and purchasing from us.

Below are some areas where you can adopt technology easily in your practice to help bring a great customer service experience to your patients, free up your staff to focus on more profitable tasks, and help your practice thrive. I’ve also included the vendors our practice uses to supply and support these services.

Online Scheduler

Answer the next phone call to your practice. If it is an appointment request, determine how long it takes to go through the steps. By adding a live online appointment scheduler that populates your schedule, you can save a significant amount of staff time. Our clinic uses Schedule Your Exam (Crystal Practice Management).

Online Forms

Ever wonder how you can be 20 minutes behind on your second patient of the day? Look no further than your check-in process. Most electronic medical record (EMR) systems have the capability to prepopulate filled out forms directly to a patient’s record. This cuts down on asking redundant questions and waiting for patients to fill out forms manually in the office. Online forms can save you time and money on printing and help keep your clinic running on time. Consult with your EMR vendor to get your forms added to your website, and start directing patients there before their visits. Our clinic uses Crystal Practice Management.

Text Messaging Capabilities

Many people screen their phone calls and avoid answering calls from unknown numbers, yet 74% of people will respond to a text message from a business within an hour.¹ Using live text messaging helps cut down on calls and decreases your no-show rate. This type of service helps us remind patients about their appointments, confirms patients who have not confirmed their appointments, and lets patients know their optical purchases are ready for pickup. Our clinic uses Weave, and we have significantly cut down on calls to patients and vice versa.

Contact Lens Ordering Platform

Beat your competitors to the punch by directing patients to a contact lens ordering platform linked to your practice. Optometrists are the first ones to lose the sale. When patients ask for a copy of their contact lens prescription, you know they intend to go elsewhere and that there is nothing you can say or do to change their minds. Instead of playing defense, go on the offense and give them a Federal Trade Commission–compliant digital script inside your contact lens store, and win that patient every time or at least give yourself the opportunity to do so. Our clinic uses Dr. Contact Lens.

Glasses Try-On Feature

Online retailers are here to stay. Give your patients the ability to shop with you before they even enter your door by offering online glasses try-ons to start their optical experience or even continue the experience online. As with contact lenses, optometrists are the first ones to lose this sale. Make sure you also have an affordable area in your optical to appeal to bargain shoppers. We are in the process of developing our platform with Optify.

Telemedicine

Pick a platform and select patients from your schedule who will qualify for telemedicine visits. Next, figure out the billing, then announce on your website that your clinic is now offering telemedicine visits. Easy areas to start with telemedicine visits are dry eye patient evaluations and myopia management consultations. (Note: Replace the word follow-up with evaluation. People think of follow-up as free.) Our clinic uses Doxy.me.

Website Robot

A website robot or chatbot can capture patients who are on your website and help drive them to easily make appointments or call your office. Think of this as your website concierge service. Most patients go to your website not to look around, but to find information such as your phone number, your address, or what insurance you accept, and to find it quickly. If it takes them too long to locate this information, they will leave your website, and now you have potentially lost that patient. A chatbot can capture this patient, which again helps decrease phone time with your staff and gets patients to make an appointment. Our clinic is in the process of setting up DearDoc, which is a HIPAA-compliant chatbot.

TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Optometry has been given many gifts, but we must be the ones to recognize them, receive them, and do something with them. These gifts include our wonderful patients, but more specifically the patients who allow us to manage their dry eye disease and provide their medical eye care, myopia management, contact lenses, and scleral lenses. Our patients love us because we take time with each of them, listen to their complaints, and discuss and treat their concerns.

Take your clinic to the next level by creating a new area of focus every 90 days, and watch your practice grow and thrive. The disruptees can become the disruptors, but you have to take action now. Your patients and your clinic will thank you.