Posted on

Attracting New Optometry Patients

Attracting New Optometry Patients

Number 2 in the Hanks Monograph series is a Plan for Attracting New Patients.

The biggest challenge for most new practices is having enough patients. This is a practical plan that can be implemented to address this problem.

This plan covers the following areas: • Standard Patient Letters • Ongoing Patient Contact • Advertising • Spectacle Deliveries • Printed Materials • Samples for Local Businesses • Local Doctors as Referral Sources • Community Involvement • Talks About Eyecare.

Importantly, this monograph includes a complete example to show how the Plan for Attracting New Patients is actually used in a practical sense.

TIP: The plan format is easy to follow and work your way through. Then involve practice staff to achieve engagement and share the tasks that need to be completed.

Click here to go to the page.

 

Posted on

Library of Forms for Optometrists

This resource is getting a great response from optometrists in many countries – it’s a library of forms that are ready for use in their practices.

There are over 200 pages in the collection and they are indexed into 14 areas:  For Use In-Practice;  Schools;  Staff Meetings;  Calculators;  For Clinical Use;  Dispensing;  Contact Lenses;  Practice Management;  For Use by Others (like referral sources);  Patient Education;  Employment;  Community Talks;  Press Releases;  Reference tables;  In Practice Signs.

TIP: Print your choice of forms and make photocopies for use in your practice, or copy them onto your letterhead where appropriate.  This is an outstanding resource.

Click here to go to the page.

-or-

Click here to view the ‘Table of Contents’.

 

Posted on

School Vision Screenings

This is a plan for implementing a program of Vision Screenings as a community service for a local school.

There are 3 resources making up this program:

  1. A letter to offer the Vision Screenings to the school principal. You can use this form, or use it as a template to write a letter on your practice letterhead.
  2. A feedback form for teachers to record there observations about the vision of each child.
  3. The report form for sending Vision Screening results to the parents or guardians.

TIP:  Use this program as a community service and to help raise awareness of your optometry practice.

Click here to go to the page: Then scroll to >Forms & Misc.

Posted on

How to grow an optometry practice

One of the most common complaints from optometry practices in developed countries is that they are not busy enough.

Needing more patients is one thing, but doing something about it seems to be the challenge. The website in the link below has a practical plan for activities to make any practice busier.

TIP: Print the plan and work through each step and project. Delegate some of the tasks so that staff are involved and empowered. Be sure to take measures of the results – remember if you want to improve something, measure it!

​Click here to go to the page: Then scroll to >Practice Growth.

Posted on

A survey of new patients by an optometrist

Advertising is expensive, so it’s important to understand what is actually working. If we measure the facts we will know where our new patients are really coming from.

The website in this link includes a download of a short survey for new patients to complete in the waiting room. It only takes one minute for each patient, but the combined results will be very informative. It is also a good idea to repeat the survey over time, to see how the results change when different types of advertising are used.

TIP: Print the A5 survey and make photocopies. Place these on a clipboard and invite patients to give their feedback when they arrive for an appointment. A sample size of 50 completed surveys should give a meaningful result.

Click here to go to the page:  Then scroll to >Forms & Misc.

Posted on

How can an optometrist attract more patients

The most common complaint from optometrists in many countries is that they do not have enough patients. They say that they are trained, equipped and ready, but that their challenge is that they are not busy enough.

The website linked below has a free download that is a practical plan to be implemented by the practice owners and staff. (The worksheet plan is also supported by a separate discussion paper on the same subject, on the same website).

* This plan was originally published in the book What Patients Want

TIP: Print the worksheet plan and discuss it with all practice staff. The results are designed to be measurable, so assign appropriate tasks and then monitor these to the completion of each step.

Click here to go to the page:  Then scroll to >Practice Growth.