IT’S TIME to get past the hackneyed advice of “exceeding your patient’s expectations” when (A) you might not know what they are, and (B) you have no way to know whether you’re succeeding.

Therefore, take a step back to ensure that, at minimum, you can define what patients want from your practice and you have metrics to determine whether you’re at least meeting them — let alone exceeding them.

Here are examples of what can happen when you don’t.

LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP

Dr. A added in-office eyeglass finishing after Super Duper Optical opened across the street and advertised, “Same day glasses or they’re free!”

Dr. A was convinced his recent downturn in patient volume was due to Super Duper’s heavy promotion. As a result, he purchased an in-office finishing machine, thinking patients would appreciate it and, therefore not go to Super Duper.

After recommending Dr. A contact those patients who did not show up during the last three months and asking why they didn’t, the results showed that 30% didn’t know they were supposed to come back, 50% said they were seeing OK, so they didn’t need to return, 10% said they didn’t like the frame selection so they went elsewhere, 10% said they didn’t like the way they were treated by staff, and 0% said they chose Super Duper Optical.

Clearly, while in-office finishing is a great idea that we generally support for nearly every practice, slow delivery time of glasses wasn’t the reason for Dr. A’s downturn in business. Instead, he should have focused on: better recall awareness (30%), recall education (50%) his inventory (10%) and staff training (10%).

FAILURE TO HANDOFF

Dr. B told his patient in the exam room, “Since you’re on the computer six hours per day, you’d benefit from a second pair of glasses to alleviate your headaches.” The patient replied, “Sounds like a plan.”

Two weeks later, Dr. B’s office manager received this email from the patient: “I waited a while to send this because I wanted to cool down. I still have really nasty headaches when I use my computer — which was the reason I came in to see you in the first place. It just struck me, that during Dr. B’s examination, he said I should get some special glasses for my computer. Yet, after talking to one of your frame people, and getting so deeply lost in using my crappy insurance benefits, that discussion never happened. So, due to Dr. B’s lack of communication to the frame seller, I have to make yet another trip to your office to get the computer glasses. Luckily you at least remembered to give me the prescription so I might just go elsewhere.”

Ouch!

CHANGES FOR THE BETTER

After the doctor read this email, he started working with us. The first thing we did? We worked on teaching him to make sure that what he thinks is happening (meeting patients’ baseline expectations) is indeed happening. In doing so, we helped the practice to implement checks and balances. OM

DR. GERBER is the president of the Power Practice, a company specializing in making optometrists more profitable. Learn more at www.powerpractice.com , or call Dr. Gerber at (888) 356-4447.