Afew years after optometrist David Cockrell opened his practice in Stillwater, Okla., he decided to visit large optometric offices on both coasts to see what his future would hold.
This Oklahoma O.D. figured back then in the mid-1980s that the technology and trends developed on the East and West coasts would eventually wind up in Middle America.
Today, Cockrell Eye Care Center remains in the forefront of offering new products and technologies. And, while the nation stumbled through a recession, Dr. Cockrells practice experienced 15% growth so far this year.
Many optometrists responding to this years National Panel, Doctors of Optometry, income survey cited a hard year due to the downturn in the economy.
New technology and staff training helped boost optometrist Terry Bonds practice. Photo by Anita Kilgore.
However, O.D.s such as Dr. Cockrell implemented strategies that not only helped them grow their practices, but also insulated them from the recent recession.
This years survey found the average net income for self-employed O.D. s was $137,030, and average gross revenue was $476,693. This represents a 6% increase in average net income of $129,567 last year and a 10% increase from gross revenue of $434,269.
Keeping it Current
Despite the downturn in the economy, Dr. Cockrell and some other optometrists kept their margins steady and increased revenues.
The number one reason we grow is that we are perceived by our patients as very technologically current, Dr Cockrell says.
Stillwater, Okla., is a college town of 40,000, with 12 optometrists in the county all competing for the same pool of patients. Cockrell Eye Care Center has 28,000 patients, more than half the citys population.
From treating infants to senior citizens, Dr. Cockrell has consciously made his practice all encompassing. Cockrell Eye Care Center offers routine care from basic eye exams and contact fittings to low-vision therapy, a large glaucoma practice and retinal and corneal topography.
Another key to his practices success, Dr. Cockrell says, is having a well-educated staff. His practice consists of four doctors and 20 employees.
Dr. Cockrell considers his staff the number-one educational resource for patients, so he holds weekly and monthly staff meetings on issues such as technology and office procedures. The topic of the latest staff get-together was How to Say It, focusing on how to correctly answer patients questions.
On the Cutting Edge
Cutting-edge technology and rigorous staff training helped optometrist Terry Bonds Jacksonville, Ala., Lifetime Eye Healthcare private practice weather a weak national economy and increase revenues. This year, Dr. Bonds medical procedures are up 44%, patient traffic is up 31% and progressive lens dispensing is up 25%.
Medical procedures at Dr. Bonds practice surged, particularly after he purchased new technologies. In the past two years, Dr. Bonds added a Paradigm/Dicon blood-flow analyzer (BFA), which measures retinal and choroidal blood flow, and a GDx nerve-fiber layer analyzer (NFA) from Laser Diagnostics Technologies, which detects retinal nerve fiber layer defects that herald early glaucoma.
He didnt stop there. He upgraded his fundus camera, slit lamp camera and tonometers. He has offered corneal topography since the early 1990s, and has upgraded his topography units three times since 1995. Later this year, he plans to update his NFA with Humphrey Systems Optical Coherence Tomographer III.
Today, competition forces all of us in private practice to stay at or near the cutting edge, Dr. Bonds says. Fierce competition is undoubtedly good for patients, but its tough keeping up with my local private-practice O.D. competition. They are all so good.
To keep a competitive edge, Dr. Bonds staff undergoes 90-minute weekly training sessions three weeks out of the month, an additional two-hour training session every month and a four-hour staff meeting every quarter. Meeting topics include eye disease, optical dispensing updates, how not to bottleneck patient care, and third-party issues.
The key is staff, Dr. Bonds says. You can never spend enough time motivating, teaching and utilizing your key staff members.
A trained staff also enabled Dr. Bonds to trim his weekly work schedulefrom 60 hours a week when he first started his practice 21 years ago, to approximately 22 hours a week currently.
The self-described control-freak said delegation was hard at first, but a trained staff enabled him to be out of the office more. I no longer seek to know how every technology actually works, Dr. Bonds says.
Today, equipment such as an edger, perimeter, topographer, NFA and fundus camera are used strictly by qualified staff. Dr. Bonds only sees the end results.
Other strategies Dr. Bonds implemented during dips in the national economy include doubling marketing efforts when times are tough and dropping some advertising when the economy finally rebounds.
Marketing Staples
B.J. Nibert, O.D., informs his patients on all the products that are available to them. Photo by Bob Wojcieszak.
Consistent marketing has been a staple since Jim Suydam, O.D., opened his Pottstown, Pa., practice, Primary Eyecare Associates, in 1985. Besides cable television ads and other marketing efforts, Dr. Suydam boosted his business by hiring an outside consultant from day one.
While some optometrists think consultants are too expensive, Dr. Suydam views them as a necessity. He says he realized his training after he graduated from optometry school was as an eye doctor, not as a business manager. Hiring a consultant was the best investment I could make in my practice, Dr. Suydam says.
In addition to marketing, consultants provided Dr. Suydam analysis and benchmarks to determine if he was bringing in enough new patients each year.
Dr. Suydam used consultants heavily at first. He now hires them sporadically, namely when he feels that he needs fresh ideas to continue to grow his business.
Where many O.D. s truly believe the latest new technology is a sure thing in making a profit, Dr. Suydam disagrees. Some practices think you need every gadget around, Dr. Suydam says.He and a fellow O.D. did invest in a Heidelberg Retina Tomograph.
Ahead of the Curve
Jeff Ekery, O.D., increased his practice by co-managing LASIK patients. Photo by Walter Schwartz.
In Fayette County, W.Va., B.J. Nibert, O.D., of Southern Eye Care Associates, kept his margins far above the national average of 27.4% this year, at approximately 40%.
He credits his success to a few factors, including hiring good people who may not necessarily have an optometric background. A good team provides a strong network when times are tough or when new competition comes to town, Dr. Nibert says.
Dr. Nibert also belongs to Practice Management Associates, a group of 12 optometrists from across the country who meet twice a year to share success stories and failures. The group is comprised of large, successful practices. Corporate partners often come to Practice Management Associates to share new products, putting Dr. Nibert on the ground floor of the latest threshold in contact lens technologies. It gives my practice a competitive advantage, he says.
Dr. Nibert does little marketing and relies mainly on internal referrals. It also helps to let patients know all the products available to them. If a patient doesnt necessarily need a change in contacts, you should still let them know whats available, he says.
That doesnt mean sticking patients with the most outrageously expensive products that he or she really doesnt need. They may not come back then, Dr. Nibert says.
A Little Help from LASIK
Comanaging LASIK patients helped optometrist Jeff Ekerys El Paso, Texas practice increase revenues by 20% this year.
Dr. Ekery sits by the patients side while he or she decides whether to undergo LASIK and then helps through the process during pre-op and post-op.
Its not just LASIK that pumped up Dr. Ekerys 29-year-old practice. He used a multi-prong approach starting with investing back into it. Besides new technologies such as digital photography and corneal topography that give him a big wow factor with his patients, his entire office is undergoing a facelift. He also used medical visits to generate more patient visits, and is selective in which managed-vision plans he accepts.
I also am not afraid to raise fees, even during a recession, Dr. Ekery adds.
Whether it was marketing, technology, or just good-old fashioned staff training, these optometrists weathered the storm this year and grew their practices, despite the economic downturn.
Dr. Bonds final key to having a successful practice isnt having the latest, greatest gadgets, or the most eye-catching external marketing campaign. Its his attitude. There has not been a single day when I dreaded going to the office, Dr. Bonds says. Thats the key, really.
