Course # 160 Online Optical: What Does it Mean for Private Practice?
Online Optical: What Does it Mean for Private Practice? Course description 1 hour CE credit. Neil Gailmard, OD, MBA, FAAO President and COO, Prima Eye Group 2625 Cumberland Pkwy, Atlanta, GA 30339 Telephone: (800) 668 0599 www.primaeyegroup.com ngailmard@primaeyegroup.com E commerce has been a game changer for many industries, but what will the impact be on optical dispensing? It s a hot topic and this course presents a rational approach without all the hype. We ll discuss how to compete with online optical stores, how to set your policies and fees, hosting your own online optical, and how private optometric practice can adapt and thrive in the future. Course objectives Upon completion of this course, the attendee shall: 1. Understand the current market data for online optical purchases. 2. Be able to formulate office policies for online shoppers. 3. Know how online companies manage optical measurements. 4. Make a decision about hosting an online optical store on the practice website 5. Understand how practice revenue can be maintained as more optical sales occur online. 1. Questions about online optical a. Is online optical really viable? b. What does the future hold for optical dispensing in private practice? c. What office policies should I adopt? d. Should I charge additional dispensing fees? e. Should I host my own online optical store? 2. Online optical market data a. This segment of the industry is small right now, but growing. 3. Online optical quality a. Is it poor quality? b. How do we measure quality? 4. Challenges to quality a. PDs b. Seg heights 1
c. Wrap, panto, vertex, vertical OCs d. 3D Photographic technology i. Essilor VisiOffice ii. Zeiss iterminal 5. Challenges to sales a. Can t tell what the frame really looks like color, detail, weight b. Can t tell how the frame feels c. >> Virtual try on technology 6. Office policies a. Restrictions don t work b. Your practice looks bad; creates ill will c. If you stand in the way of commerce in any way, you are the jerk d. Look at what happened when we restricted CL Rxs. 7. Withholding the PD a. We don t have a record of your PD. We do not release the PD. We charge a fee for measuring the PD. b. The patient will discover what a PD is. c. There appears to be no good reason why you would refuse to measure it. d. Charging a fee for something that small makes you look greedy and sour grapes. e. It appears that you are trying to stop the patient from buying glasses wherever they want. 8. Office policies for online optical a. Prepare a handout. b. Only provide it to patients you know are shopping online. c. These policies will change over time based on the amount of interest you see for online optical. 9. Office policies for online optical a. Make it clear that you agree with the patient s right to his spectacle Rx. b. Educate the patient about the problems to expect. Not too strong. c. List what you will provide for free and for an additional fee. d. List what you won t provide. 10. What I provide a. Provide the PD (upon request only). b. Rx Verification c. Be kind no attitude, no I told you so. d. Same as you would with a local optician. e. Recheck the refraction at no charge if needed. f. No troubleshooting of the problem, but write a note for the patient if something is wrong. 2
g. Take back the case for an office visit fee. 11. What I don t provide a. Seg height measurement b. Vertical optical center measurement c. Vertex, wrap and panto measurements d. Eye Size e. Bridge Size f. Temple length g. Frame model and color h. Lens material and index 12. Should you charge for adjustments and repairs of online glasses? a. Maybe someday. Now? b. See the big picture. c. How will your staff know when a patient walks in? i. Is the cost of checking greater than the cost of doing it? d. I know how you feel how does the patient feel? i. Rich, greedy doctor won t take two minutes 13. Should you host your own online optical? a. Embed on your own website. b. Essilor: MyOnlineOptical.com i. Subscription fee ii. Fulfillment center iii. Fairly high service fees 14. Eyeconic.com a. Eyefinity / VSP project b. Only Marchon and Altair frames so far c. Eyeconic handles the entire sale and pays the practice a professional support fee. d. Stated goal is to direct patients who would have shopped online back to their network doctor. e. But will a large marketing presence aimed at VSP patients lure more of them to online optical? 15. Hosting your own online optical a. Goals b. Will you be able to compete with national online vendors? c. Do your patients really want an online option if they are buying from you? 16. Hosting your own online optical a. Strategies b. Carry only frames that are different than your in office lines. i. Expand your inventory 3
ii. Avoids price comparisons 17. What factors work against online optical? a. The trust in the eye care provider. b. The convenience of getting glasses at the time of the eye exam. c. The desire to see what you really look like in new frames. d. The complex nature of lens options. 18. What factors could work against online optical? a. Vision plans could restrict benefits to providers with physical locations. b. Freeform lenses are more complex to fit they could become accepted as superior to standard lenses. c. Advanced fitting devices may work better in person. They could become accepted as state of the art. 19. What will happen to private practice? a. Optical is not immune to online buying trends. b. What percentage of eyeglass sales will occur online? Over what time line? c. Slower is better. d. Optical profitability will erode. e. ODs will find other services and products to compensate for lost profit. f. ODs may charge more for professional services; eye exams. 20. Our biggest threat is not the online system it s the low price. a. Private practice opticals have strong advantages over online only opticals b. If we matched the low prices, we could retain the vast majority of sales. There is no other benefit and there is much downside. c. We can be somewhat higher in price the market will dictate. 4