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Staff Mix: Part 1

How to create the perfect staff model for your practice

DAVID MILLS, O.D., M.B.A.

All business owners would agree that creating the perfect staff mix is a major driver for success. Being understaffed can cause patients to go elsewhere, while being overstaffed can hurt your bottom line.

Here, I discuss two methodologies for creating the perfect staffing model for your practice.

METHOD 1:
Adjusted gross income

One method used to determine staffing needs is based on adjusted gross income. Most practices need, at a minimum, three full-time equivalent staff members. Typically, this would include two front-end staff and one optical staff member. This number should work for practices that have an adjusted gross income of $350,000 or less. Using this method, add one staff member for each additional $200,000 in adjusted gross income.

The drawback with using income to determine staffing levels is that with static or lowered reimbursement levels, many practices are seeing more patients to just achieve the same gross income level. Staffing levels must be able to accommodate increased patient volume, even if incomes are stagnant.

METHOD 2:
Patient contact points

Another, more accurate method is built on identifying the different patient contact points within the practice. The overall goal is to have enough staff to ensure an efficient yet cost-effective patient experience.

For most optometric practices, the patient contact points include all the eye evaluation services, contact lens and optical sales, as well as any specialty services you may provide, such as low vision and visual training. To do this:

► Identify your contact points, and write a job description for each. Get input from your current staff, as they may have a better understanding than you of what is involved at each step. At a minimum, you would now have job descriptions for front office staff, those who perform specialized testing and those who work in the optical and contact lens areas.

► Create the staff model. Once you have identified the different tasks, match staff to the contact points. Keep in mind that one staff member can be assigned to more than one contact point. For instance, one staff person could perform all specialized testing and also handle all contact lens order fulfillment.

The challenge, however, is having the correct number of staff to efficiently handle the workload. This can be accomplished by measuring the staff utilization percentages (see sidebar).

You would not expect 100% utilization by any staff member. In fact, if staff utilization is more than 80%, it will negatively impact the overall efficiency of the practice. Conversely, consistently lower utilization rates are a strong indicator that you are over-staffed. Striving for 70% to 75% time utilization for each staff member is key.

Next steps

Determining the perfect staff model is the first step in creating a successful business. In Part 2 of this series, I will examine the methods of training staff to maximize ROI. OM

DR. MILLS PRACTICES AT OCEAN STATE EYE CARE IN WARWICK, R.I., AND HOLDS A M.B.A. FROM PROVIDENCE COLLEGE. E-MAIL HIM AT MILLSD@NECO.EDU, OR SEND COMMENTS TO OPTOMETRICMANAGEMENT@GMAIL.COM.