|
Walk me around the dispensary
Sell me some glasses and contacts
I don't care if my insurance ever pays me back
Let me spend, spend, spend all I want to
If you don't it's a shame
For it's one, two, three strikes
You're out
At the (eye)ball game
It's eyecare season, are you ready to get off the bench and play some ball?
Our team is determined to win the Most Valuable Practice (MVP) award this year which requires outstanding performance from every position.
New patient on deck! Batter up!
The first pitch of the game is thrown by our everybody friendly receptionist who loves to put a positive spin on communication. She'll treat you like a winner regardless of the position you play. She works hard to make sure we cover all the bases during practice and keeps up with the daily patient roster.
The first patient up to bat is watching very closely as his stats are entered into the computer. He knows nothing about the game or what to expect from our team. He is here today because lately he can't see the score board without squinting. We will have this guy feeling like a champion by the time he leaves practice today. We believe all of our patients should have a grand slam experience. It keeps them from being putout by playing around with those minor league teams online.
Disappointing patients that come out to support our team requires us to change our strategy from time to time. Patients are excellent score keepers and often like to play by their own rules. Every team will have curve balls to dodge in order to keep their rankings up and their patients on a winning streak.
Here are a few curve balls to watch out for:
Be careful not to over promise on the expected delivery date of your patient's eyewear order. Speak in terms of business days to patients. If you don't practice on weekends, let them know their order may take a short stop until Monday morning when it resumes play.
Contact lens patients may be set up for automatic home plate delivery through your practice's website. That way your patients will avoid those curve balls of running out of lenses and long line drives to the practice during rush hour.
Discovering that your patient's frame is on backorder for whatever reason is a curve ball that can cause you to go down swinging. Most frame reps are designated hitters and will go to bat for you to find the exact frame and even do a nationwide search for it. Keep your patient in the know so they don't walk and take their business elsewhere. Your last out is to look at another line up and pick a different winner. Do whatever it takes to keep the patient from getting choked up and backing you into a hot corner.
Before passing the new eyewear, put it through the visual white glove test.
Visual White Glove Test
-
Match the lab invoice to your practice's RX order form
-
Patient's name
-
RX (from OD or MD coach)
-
PD (monocular, binocular)
-
Lens design (SV, bifocal, trifocal, progressive, occupational, anti-fatigue, computer, etc)
-
Seg height, fitting height, OC height, wanted or unwanted prism
-
Lens material (CR39, trivex, poly, hi index, glass)
-
Frame information (model number, name, color, A, DBL, B, ED, temple length)
-
Lens treatments (no-glare, photochromic, polarized, mirror, etc)
-
Special instructions (50/50 bevel, roll and polish, ET, CT)
-
The umpire at your lab will tell you it's safe to trust them to verify those freeform lenses that are out of the league of your practice's equipment
-
Make sure that the lab costs/charges/fees/bill plays well with your retail pricing
-
Check and tighten all screws
-
Inspect lenses closely for defects (scratches, gaps, crazing, waves, edged too large or too small, etc)
-
Check frames for scuff marks, stress or weak points, warpage
-
Make sure grooved and drilled lenses are mounted securely and are the correct shape and size
-
Adjust frames (four point alignment, face form, retroscopic tilt, pantoscopic angle and tilt, vertex distance)
Give patients their Certificate of Authenticity cards for Transitions, progressive lenses, branded frames and sunglasses. Make sure that the branded no-glare cleaning cloth being dispensed is the same brand that the patient is actually wearing.
Some players get a wall climbing feeling when there is a delay of game due to the whether.
Whether or not the coach will recruit more players always pops up on the list. If you are just sliding by with your current team, practicing without time outs, playing extra innings and overtime, then it's safe to say you need to recruit.
Whether the patient will be cool or get warmed up when they discover their vision insurance plan has no real sweet spot. Play softball instead of hard ball with these patients.
Whether you should answer the office phone that is ringing or help a patient that walks in at the exact same time. I always root for helping the patient first and returning the phone call ASAP. If you can't answer the phone by the fourth ring then let it go straight to the press box for further review.
Sometimes the coach may lose track of time or get stuck with a chatterbox patient.
Do your best to practice poised urgency when this happens. Most patients will understand and not have a problem waiting if they see their favorite team is working hard. It's worth the wait to them and there is no where else in the World Series they would rather be. If you have wild card or slugger that is getting impatient then you may need to tap on the coach's door with your stopwatch and call him/her out.
Game over.
|
