PRACTICE MATTERS
Developing thoughts This month, Phil Mullins explores opportunities for economic recovery as lockdown begins to ease
Easing into a new future While it is widely accepted that the battle to bring an end to the coronavirus pandemic will be impossible without a vaccine, the coming months should see us moving towards a reopening of business. Things will be far from normal though – and we will need to walk a fine tightrope between keeping safe and regenerating a working economy. Initially things will be very different – with practices having to erect screens, staff wearing PPE and only one or two patients being allowed into the practice at a time. This obviously creates many issues, not least a financial one. So how do we adjust to maximise our income from far fewer patients? Firstly, drop-ins will completely disappear; patients won’t just be able to drop in for an adjustment or repair. Even collections will have to be by appointment only. These appointments will have to be slotted in whilst one patient is in the consulting room, thus keeping them apart. One thing is for certain: there will be a much greater need for engaging communication with patients outside the practice. For example, you could use SpecCare’s repairs-to-home service, enabling patients to receive their repaired frames at home. You may look at taking a lot more measurements when dispensing a frame, so you can pre-adjust and then post them to the patient rather than the patient having to arrange a collection appointment. There are also plenty of options for having patients’ contact lenses delivered to them direct from the manufacturer. The main point of all of this, of course, is to have fewer patients coming in to the practice. This obviously goes against the grain but it will provide patients with the reassurance that you have their safety foremost in your mind – as well as your staff’s. To further reassure your patients, you should inform them about the steps you are taking
Let patients virtually try on frames with FittingBox
to ensure they remain safe. Why not have your staff complete the e-learning course from Xact, which provides an accredited certificate showing they have been trained in Covid-19 compliance. You can then share this accreditation with your patients. You might also want to get posters and social media images made up with bullet points saying what you are doing and why. You could display them on your website, in the practice and in any recall letters that you send. Above everything else, patients will need to feel safe.
LONG-TERM FIXTURES Many of the actions you take in the next few weeks will probably be short-lived; only time will tell. But there will be things you put in place for the long term. Much of this will revolve around technology and how we use it in practice. Is it time for the trial frame to go in the bin for good? Modern wireless phoropter heads, autorefractors, OCTs and fundus cameras can all be used either remotely or behind shielding. Importantly, they can be easily cleaned between patients. Many practices were already embracing such technology and so the current situation will just speed
up their adoption. Make sure your practice isn’t trailing behind. New technology won’t be just confined to the consulting room; spectacle dispensing will also embrace new ideas. Software such as FittingBox allows patients to virtually try frames on, both via your website and in the practice. This enables you to reduce your stock holding, whilst making it easier to keep display frames clean and sterile. It also means you can offer a much wider choice of product which, in turn, could increase sales. Or you might go with a 3D printed range, where you scan the patient and then display the options for them – therefore eliminating the stock frame and the collection appointment. And as this would be a bespoke service, you could charge a premium. A win-win all around. Obviously, I can’t cover every opportunity for economic recovery in this short article; I haven’t even mentioned websites, e-commerce, tele-optometry or social media engagement – all of which will become the norm for the modern practice. But hopefully I might have kick-started your thinking process or added something to your existing thoughts around returning to work post lockdown. Vision Now JUNE 2020
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