BUSINESS

  MERCHANDISING

MERCHANDISE YOUR PLANS

THREE TIPS FOR EDUCATING AND PROMOTING MANAGED VISION CARE PLANS

GINA M. WESLEY, O.D., M.S., F.A.A.O.

THE “MERCHANDISING” column has covered the theme of this month’s issue of Optometric Management, dry eye, in both February and April. So I’d like to offer a merchandising perspective on a recent theme that captures virtually every optometrist’s attention. The world of reimbursed health care, specifically regarding the eyes, goes by many names: vision care plans, managed care…and maybe, as you think to yourself, some names that may remain, well, nameless. However you refer to them, you work with them on a day-to-day basis. In today’s constantly shifting healthcare arena, it’s not uncommon for patients to have a new or different plan every year they see you. How best can you educate, inform and merchandise those plans?

1 KEEP UP TO DATE

Keep up-to-date sources of managed care plans you accept. List the assorted vision care and medical plans you are a provider for in various places, including your website, brochures, in-office handbooks and even your social media. Basically, anywhere a patient may look to verify if he or she can see you as a provider for his or her particular plan. Remember, you should be sure to update these sources when plans are added or dropped.

2 BE PREPARED TO EDUCATE

Educate patients on the benefits of their plans. Go big or go home, as I say to my staff. I take just one vision plan, as well as many medical plans, and have tasked my staff to become experts on all the possible variations and benefit options of each. We are fully prepared when patients arrive, and we are sure to verify patients’ insurance prior to arrival. Additionally, we discuss phrases and ways to communicate the benefits to patients, avoiding words like “allowances” and “coverage.” We, instead, position the plan as more of a discount, saying things like, “You have $(fill in the blank) off any frame in our optical,” or, “Your plan states your co-pay for services provided are $(fill in the blank).”

3 CONSIDER YOUR OWN PLAN

Merchandising your plan participation may allow you to merchandise your own in-house plan. Perhaps coverage changes for patients, and you are no longer an in-network provider. This may mean you can continue to see this patient as an out-of-network provider, or use the opportunity to promote your own in-house vision plan, or benefits. It keeps it easy, it’s a private-pay transaction, and, generally, this will be much more profitable for your practice.

Merchandising plan participation is as much about what plans you accept as it is about what plans you don’t accept. Don’t be afraid to offer a formal, or informal, statement or letter as to why you don’t accept certain plans. The biggest differentiator here, though, is making sure you then offer your patients alternatives to stay with you as their doctor.

Insurance plans can be confusing, so find ways to make it easy for patients to participate, opt out or just understand what you can provide to them. OM

DR. WESLEY practices at Complete Eye Care of Medina, a Vision Source practice, which she opened in 2008. She was honored as Minnesota’s Optometrist of the Year in 2011. Email drwesley@cecofmedina.com, or visit tinyurl.com/OMcomment to comment on this article.