Three P’s required for a prosperous dry eye disease specialty

The word “special” is defined as better, greater or otherwise different from what is usual. To make one’s practice “special,” O.D.s often implement optometric specialties to stand out from the crowd.

Specialty practices are blossoming across the country in dry eye disease (DED), contact lenses, low vision and more. I have discovered that creating a successful DED specialty practice, in particular, requires these three components:

PASSION

Regularly, colleagues contact my consulting group about starting a DED specialty practice: They want to know what equipment to purchase, how to incentivize staff, how much square footage is required and so on.

When these colleagues tell me, “I need to do it, but I don’t want to do it,” this is often a strong indication they will fail. Passion for the specialty is imperative; it is what keeps you warm on those cold days of conversions not meeting target, your best meibography technician moving out of state; you get the idea.

You’ve heard when the going gets tough, the tough get going. That’s true only if the tough have passion. Passion stokes the fire when it’s only an ember.

PLANNING

Passion without purpose is directionless. Creating a comprehensive plan is critical for measurable success. The plan must be robust, including staff education, incentives, internal and external marketing, patient selection and presentation and goal setting. (Some examples can be found in “The DED Plan.”)

Remember that plans need to be reassessed and, sometimes, refined to build on the practice’s strengths. Keep tabs on the data and trends within the practice.

PUBLICITY

Generally, I support a “soft” opening for a burgeoning DED clinic. This is because the quiet entry into the market allows for practitioners and staffers to get their feet wet and to not bite off more than they can chew. That said, once both practitioners and staff are comfortable with the ins and outs of the DED specialty, the practice should make an official announcement about the specialty to patients through a series of e-mails or social media posts. For example, we have announced via various media new DED equipment.

THE POWER OF THREE

A prosperous DED clinic is contingent on a genuine passion for learning about and managing patients who have the chronic and bothersome condition, a well-thought-out plan of implementation and a publicity campaign. With those three elements, your specialty really can be “special.” OM

THE DED PLAN

→ Develop a standard operating procedure for the DED patient journey through the office. Get specific about which team members will provide educational touch points and when they will be given.

→ Get the maximum on-board experience from industry partners when the practice takes delivery of new DED equipment.

→ Post internal goals in a common staff area for all to keep their eye on the prize and huddle up at set intervals to review progress.

→ Do not accept failure, but be willing to pivot and seek help from external sources.

→ Listen to feedback from staff about their encounter successes and barriers.

→ Reward exceptional customer experience.

DR. HAUSER practices at Memphis’ The Eye Specialty Group and is DryEyeCoach.com founder. Disclosures: Akorn, Alcon, Allergan, BioTeck, BioTissue, Johnson & Johnson, Lumenis, NovaBay, Paragon Vision Sciences, Rysurg, TearLab, Shire and ScienceBased Health.