Recognized for their ability to provide discounted pricing for products and services, optometric alliances also offer a variety of opportunities to address staff-related needs. In this, our annual coverage of alliances, we present a sampling of ways alliances can assist with tasks, such as recruiting, training, retention, and services that help practices free up employees’ time. (The information contained in this article was provided by representatives of each of the respective optometric alliances.)

RECRUITING

For practices trying to find talented staff, alliances have several forms of help. Some, like IDOC, offer help in drafting job ads to make sure the most appropriate candidates apply. IDOC also offers new hire onboarding guides and salary survey data for recruiters. In addition, several alliances offer discounts to staff recruiting services, as is the case with Professional Eyecare Resource Co-Operative (PERC), Vision Source, and Opti-Port.

Some alliances, such as Opti-Port, also offer services that develop marketing materials useful in staff recruiting, such as creating videos and internet landing pages that display a practice’s culture and benefits.

To help members with recruiting, Vision Source uses the service Talentcare to give access to enterprise-sized recruitment technology and services, as well as offering services to help practices and candidates connect for interviews.

TRAINING AND EDUCATION

Of course, for most practices recruiting is just the first step of staffing a clinic. Several alliances also offer options not just for training staff but in continuing their education.

Online education is offered by alliances including Vision Source and PECAA, Delivering More with HEA (PECAA). Vision Source uses an online platform, Vision Source Learning, with more than 200 courses for onboarding staff, including training resources for front desk, technician, and optician roles. Vision Source Learning can also provide natioanl certification and recertification hours for AOA-CPC, ABO, and NCLE; Vision Source also offers in-person and management training programs.

PECAA offers an Office Manager Certification Course (OMCC), a 12-hour program taught via webinar that ends with an exam. Graduates receive a certificate from the University of Houston that is good for up to three years. A 6-hour OMCC re-certification course is also offered. Additionally, PECAA members can enroll in the Office Manager Certification Course – Leadership Academy, intended for graduates of the OMCC course and seasoned managers with significant job experience.

PECAA also keeps a series of training videos on its website, with five to six videos for roles across a practice, including administrators, opticians, and one specifically for new employees.

AUTOMATED TIME SAVINGS

Apart from recruiting and training, many alliances also help with tasks around the practice to free up staff to focus on other responsibilities.

Opti-Port and Vision Source members can use CLX contact lens-ordering system, which includes the the My CL Reorder service. This messaging system will automatically email or text patients that are due to order or reorder contact lenses; once contacted, the patients can click on a secure link to verify their prescription orders with the clinic.

Another Vision Source program is Focus on Contact Lens, which automates contacting patients for annual contact lens care, without needing an employee to make a call or mail a reminder. Similarly, Opti-Port offers the automated services Opti-Port Direct Marketing, which can automatically notify patients of upcoming eye exams.

Several alliances also offer frame board management services, to help practices run more efficiently, such as Vision Source’s Frame Dream system and PERC’s Frame Advantage 2.0. Under these systems, when a patient selects a pair of frames from an optometry office, the frames don’t leave the office. Instead, a lab with the same model of frames already in stock is contacted, which will fill the patient’s prescription and deliver them to the practice. This way, extra time is not spent sending frames from the office, and the frames selected can stay on the board as an option for other customers.

Some alliances also offer services that replenish frame inventory, including IDOC’s IDOC Inventory Management and Vision Source’s Frame Dream. Instead of requiring office staff to review frame inventory and replace brands, practices can delegate these decisions to alliances to stock based on practice needs and industry trends.

Vision Source also has the MAX program via its online portal, which practice staff can use to determine how much a patient owes for eyewear or contacts. By entering information like frame type, lens type, and insurance into MAX, it will quickly calculate how much is owed, instead of requiring staff to “math out” the payment on their own.

CODING AND FINANCES

Coding and financing are an important part of any practice, and alliances offer several resources to assist. PECAA has a billing and coding business advisor on its team. The alliance also offers a discount on billing and coding records audits of practices.

IDOC partners with a third-party billing service, Optometric Billing Consultants, with whom members can outsource their billing. Additionally, IDOC offers bookkeeping services for practices, taking care of entering, categorizing and reconciling transactions — from the bank, credit cards, loans, and payroll providers — and delivering financial statements.

Vision Source offers a number of vendor partners for coding, compliance and other HR services.

A VALUABLE ADDITION

At a time when staffing issues remain a top concern for optometric practices, it’s clear alliances can play a role in assisting practices with their staffing challenges, whether it’s finding the right people, providing effective training, or making sure they have the tools to help make practice operations run as efficiently as possible. OM

Alliances & Buying Groups

FOR ADDITIONAL information, below is a list of websites for alliances and buying groups. List updates will appear in the online version of this article at optometricmanagement.com .

ALLIANCES

FYIDoctors - https://fyidoctors.com/en

IDOC - https://idoc.net

Independent Optometric Partners (IOP) - https://iopnetwork.net

Opti-Port - optiport.com

PECAA, Delivering More with HEA - https://pecaamax.com

PERC - percalliance.com

Vision Source - visionsource.com

Vision Trends - vtrends.us

BUYING GROUPS

ABB OneBill - https://abboptical.com/abb-onebill

Alfred J. Villavecchia Buying Group - villavecchia.com

ADO Practice Solution - adopracticesolutions.com

CECOP USA - cecopusa.com

Nassau OOGP - oogp.com

 

The Eye Consurtium (TEC) - eyeconsortium.com/vendors/