CLINICAL

  SPORTS VISION

MARKET YOUR SPECIALTY

CONNECT WITH THE SPORTS COMMUNITY TO OFFER YOUR SERVICES

KEVIN GEE, O.D.

ANY ACTIVITY, from target shooting and aviation to soccer and football, requires specific visual demands of its participants. As a sports vision specialist, you should be well versed in these visual demands, so you can discuss them with patients seeking your specialty. But in order to garner patients, you have to first market your expertise.

Here, I discuss how to do so, specifically with community-based sports.

ENCOURAGE REFERRALS

Galvanize your patients to tell their friends and colleagues about your services. Consider providing them with cards and other branded-material.

Referrals are huge within tight-knit sports communities. Think about a baseball team catching fly balls during the offseason. One player stands out as most improved, and word spreads among players and parents that he has been working on depth perception-specific exercises at your practice.

I cannot tell you how many patients I have garnered in such a manner.

GET INVOLVED

Sponsoring activities, and, therefore, having your practice’s name at sports-specific sites, provides you visibility among prospective patients. Become involved in the community of your choice. It could be the community you live in, the community your practice is located, community your church or recreational activities are located in or even the community where your children go to school.

Like all marketing, there are levels of involvement and financial investment. Decide on your level of interest, and invest accordingly.

SHOWCASE YOUR SKILLS

Arrange with one of the teams you sponsor to set up a tent at a game or a tournament. Here, you can exhibit training exercises, either with a video or live demonstration. Athletes can then use the opportune setting to come to you with on-the-field/court needs for injuries and irritations. If you and the team agree, you may even garner the label, “Official Eye Care Provider.”

CONTACT ATHLETIC TRAINERS

Many sports teams, even youth teams, have athletic trainers who possess a great deal of knowledge when it comes to joint injuries, muscle pains and overall health, but may not have much knowledge of the eye. Take the opportunity to network with these individuals within your community.

I have found that giving them an orientation on the proper triage of ocular injuries is very beneficial. I go as far as to provide them fluorescein strips, eye wash, a key chain blue light, cotton-tipped applicators and some therapeutic medications. Of course, these items are provided with the understanding that I will be available for them at anytime and that they have a basic orientation on how and what to do with the goods.

BUILD ON THE BASICS

Starting with these basics will open doors to further market your sports vision practice and develop specific areas you may want to specialize in. Just like those sports activities, it starts with the basics. OM

DR. GEE practices in Houston, is an assistant clinical professor at the University of Houston College of Optometry and author of OM’s “Technology” column. He is a Fellow of the AAO, an ABO Diplomate and an OCRT member. Also, he’s on Allergan’s advisory board and is a consultant for Solution Reach. Email him at drgee@geeeyecare.com, or visit tinyurl.com/comment to comment.