How are you kicking off the New Year? Getting a new, fresh start for your optical business can be as important—if not more so—than your personal goals to eat right and exercise more. It’s not too late to get a plan in action.
Need ideas? EB spoke with several ECPs to find out their plans for the new year.
 
Beverly Heishman, ABOC, NCLC-AC, with West Reading Optical in Reading, PA, explains that her practice’s plans for 2016 are primarily internal:
“We’re fine-tuning patient service skills, adjusting and working with ICD-10 billing, updating internal marketing, evaluating our ROI—especially frames— and adjusting our product offering in comparison to sales,” she says.
Changes made in the practice this year are sure to impact next year’s results, and it’s wise to not only plan new initiatives for 2016, but to consider spillover from 2015 in your planning.
“We recently had some personnel changes at our practice that will affect us moving forward,” reveals Jennifer L. Johnson, O.D., of Boerne Vision Center in Boerne, TX. “One retinal specialist partner retired while the other remains, allowing me to become a full time partner, so I’ll be even more active in the practice. We also hired a new technician and will likely hire another. In addition, we’re partnering with a local university and a student intern will be working with us. All this will help us increase our patient load in 2016.”
  Don’t limit yourself to planning for personnel changes. Be aware of any population shifts occurring in your community. Factor those into your planning as well.
For example, Optical Galleria, LLC, in Centreville, MD, recently opened a second location in Ocean City and the new location has received more Internet attention than the original office location.
“We’re getting more Google hits in Ocean City because the ocean has been hungry and eating peoples glasses so they’re desperate for replacements,” chuckles co-owner Niki Pino. “It’s such a pleasure to help people out and make them smile again when they get their new glasses. It helps that we’re set up to make eyewear in an hour as long as their Rx is within the range we stock; otherwise it only takes a day to get their Rx Fed Ex’ed.”
In Boerne, Dr. Johnson has noted considerable population growth, which will affect how the practice spends its advertising and marketing dollars moving forward.
“Our business is growing, helped by the growth of the community,” Dr. Johnson says. “Boerne is a big little town. So while our best advertising still comes from word-of-mouth, we’ll also be doing more advertising and marketing in order to reach more people in the area, including working with local organizations like the Chamber of Commerce.”
  The insurance and reimbursement landscape is changing quickly. Revamp your sales and marketing to consider changes that have occurred with the insurance system and those that you are willing to make and may be forced to make.
“My plans for 2016 are to crank it into survival mode;” says Dianna Finisecy, ABOC, president of Wagner Opticians in Washington, D.C. “Wagner Opticians is on a hospital campus and is supported by ophthalmology. I don't think they’re getting the same number of refractions as they used to because they don't participate in a lot of vision care plans. We don’t have an O.D. and the only insurance plans we participate in are VSP and Cigna. With so many insurances you have to have an O.D.”
“For years we've managed well giving 20% discount to patients who have vision care [coverage] and offer to help them get reimbursed,” Finisecy continues. “That’s not working for us anymore because too many have insurance. A huge amount of potential patients have D.C. Medicaid, and I could do a huge volume, but if you’re losing money on them, the more you do, the more you lose. There are a few insurances I would like to start taking that should help increase volume.”
  Pino thinks television may be a medium that could effectively reach local viewers and turn them into clients in 2016. She already has the ball rolling (and so should you).
“I’m considering TV commercials and am in conversation with a local TV sales rep. So far my concern and question to her was whether they capable of clearing all the ‘2-for-$99’ stigma out of viewer’s heads in order to create a good looking higher-end optical commercial on a low-end budget.  They think they can, so our discussions for a 2016 production schedule will continue,” Pino reports.
  Online eyewear sales has obviously had an impact on our industry. Plenty of questions—and differing opinions—abound regarding whether to release a PD measurement to patients (and if so, do you charge for it?). Another issue is how your practice will deal with customers who purchase eyewear online, but come to you for adjustment, repairs, or further measuring. So for 2016 establish policy and set pricing for these services now if you haven’t already.
“We have some very loyal patients, but we also have several who buy online and resent that I want $5 for an adjustment or $10 for nose pads, even if we didn't make the glasses,” Finisecy points out. “If what I do isn't worth $5, why am I interrupting what I have to do, which is always plenty! Fortunately, we do have others that get it and are happy to pay, but I can't survive on that.” Doing more with less seems to be the theme for 2016 plans. Here are some examples of things that you can focus on now in order to get ahead in the coming year:
 

1. Tackle billing and coding issues and remain flexible for changes that may occur ahead
2. Review accounting practices
3. Evaluate ROI
4. Assess insurance plan profitability in order to shift (adding more/other or jettisoning some) accepted plans
5. Hone patient service skills
6. Hire (if doing so is likely to bring in more patients)
7. Tweak employee hours to best benefit the practice
8. Increase internal marketing intensity
9. Focus on advertising in different markets
10. Revamp patient/employee discount plans
11. Consider fresh sales approaches (style shows, discounts, specials)
12. Open additional locations
13. Remodel and/or redecorate
14. Close marginally-performing locations