WHEN IT’S TIME TO GROW YOUR PRACTICE, SHIFT YOUR FOCUS TO TOP-PRIORITY TASKS

ONE TOOL that can drive practice expansion, the theme of this month’s issue of OM, is delegation. Dozens of examples exist. For instance, a technician can help train staff or perform additional testing. We often don’t delegate because we “cling to tasks that make us feel busy and thus important,” write Julian Birkinshaw and Jordan Cohen in the new book, HBR Guide to Being More Productive. The authors studied 15 executives and found that when these executives shifted time away from low-value tasks to those that mattered most, they saved an average of eight hours a week. Imagine how saving even a few hours each week could improve your management of priority tasks, including those that can expand your practice.

LESSONS IN PRACTICE EXPANSION

This issue’s feature section offers five takes on practice expansion, beginning with “Bolster Your Practice With a New O.D.,” by Drs. Brooke Schaeffer Kaplan, Mark Schaeffer and Jack Schaeffer. The authors provide advice on when and how to add a new optometrist, as well as tips on finding the “right” doctor.

In “Increase Efficiency by Adding a Lane,” Dr. Jason Miller stresses the importance of analyzing wait times. “If there is a consistent wait time for an open exam room of more than five minutes, it is time to add a lane,” he writes.

Opening a new location can be daunting, writes Amanda Nanasy, O.D., in “Serve More Patients with Location No. 2." To ease the growing pains, Dr. Nanasy offers six practical steps to help doctors make the leap to a second office.

Dr. Selina McGee explains how to add a niche line of care to the practice in her feature, “Leverage Your Passion." Dr. McGee added three specialties to her practice in the past year and has found each both personally rewarding and profitable.

Finally, Dr. Craig Thomas tackles a question all practices must answer: When do you add or upgrade equipment? By answering the questions in “Equip Your Practice for Stellar Patient Care," you, the reader, can create an equipment acquisition plan tailored to your practice. OM