Is Your Practice Out of Focus?

Dr. Kevin Chan shares five expert insights for sharpening and modernizing your optometry practice

Modernizing your optometry practice is essential to meet evolving patient expectations that go beyond quality care. Dr. Kevin Chan, a U.S. optometrist, offers valuable insights and strategies for transforming the image of your optometry practice.

In today’s rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, simply providing excellent eye care is no longer enough. Optometry practices must adapt to changing patient expectations and optimize new technologies to thrive. This means embracing a holistic approach to modernization, encompassing everything from office design and branding to patient engagement and team development.

We spoke with Dr. Kevin Chan, who shared his top five tips for creating a thriving, future-ready, and patient centered environment.

1. Revamp your office with the ‘Three Cs’

While having a spacious office often allows flexibility to accommodate specific uses of space, it isn’t always feasible for all optometry practices, noted Dr. Chan.

“In most practices, office space is typically used to cover all aspects of eye care services. However, this can sometimes result in a ‘cookie-cutter’ look. To modernize an optometry office, it doesn’t necessarily mean getting a bigger space,” he explained.

Dr. Chan highlighted the three Cs of revamping your office:

Compartmentalization—Regardless of the square footage, creating a sense of flow in the office is key. Compartmentalization doesn’t mean dividing the office with physical walls but rather strategically planning the layout so patients feel a cohesive transition between areas. For example, does pre-testing need to be confined to a single space? How is the exam room connected to the rest of the office? The goal is to design compartments that make patients feel integrated into the experience, not isolated.
Categorization—Helping patients understand and feel comfortable with the office’s functionality is essential. Avoid rigidly labeling spaces as X, Y or Z, which might limit their multifunctionality. Instead, explain the purpose and benefit of each service. For example, replace “I’ll walk you to the optical section to pick out your frames” with “Let’s explore how progressive glasses can benefit your daily activities—my optical assistant will guide you further.” This approach enhances patient engagement and understanding.
Core value—It’s a common misconception that higher costs automatically equate to higher value. True value requires strategic and thoughtful delivery. Modernizing an optometry practice involves considering the patients’ perspectives, not just the owner’s. For instance, when recommending progressive glasses, do patients see them as worth the cost? This perception often depends on how well practitioners educate patients on the benefits rather than simply selling a product. Helping patients understand how a service or product improves their work and social lives can make a significant impact.

2. Build a strong brand (social media, anyone?)

“Nearly 90% of patients in America use social media for health information,1 and 74% search online before scheduling an appointment with an eye care provider,”2 said Dr. Chan.

Healthcare branding is no longer optional—it’s essential for providing reliable, authentic information and creating a unique identity that attracts patients.

“Beyond offering services, branding should promise quality care and enhance the patient experience. While a great logo or website is important, leveraging social media to engage patients is even more crucial,” he stressed. “For instance, sharing patient testimonials is a great way to celebrate the ‘wins’ of your practice. It also helps solidify the core values of how you want to portray your brand to the prospective patients.”

Dr. Chan highlighted another effective way to use social media: Focusing on patient education. “Not only does it increase patient engagement and autonomy in shared decision-making, but it also improves adherence to treatments and recommendations by the provider. A systematic review (2019) involving over 4,000 participants found that using smartphones or tablet apps could boost the overall effectiveness of interventions from 69% (under ‘usual’ or non-technologically driven care) to 78% when patient education included at least one ‘push’ notification per week. This demonstrates that keeping patients engaged with the latest medical information in a measurable way can effectively influence behavioral changes and elevate patient satisfaction,” Dr. Chan shared.

According to Dr. Chan, building a strong healthcare brand requires the following steps:

Defining your mission and values. Clearly articulate your practice’s purpose and values to shape how patients perceive your services.
Understanding your audience. Study patient demographics, preferences and behaviors to personalize branding and connect authentically.
Engaging with your community. Go beyond a static website by creating videos, writing educational blogs, sponsoring events and hosting eye health sessions. These efforts build trust, visibility and community connection, strengthening your brand’s reputation.

3. Enhance patient care and loyalty

In today’s society, developing patient loyalty has become more and more selective and competitive. The healthcare industry is no exception.

“One of the key differentiators between a ‘good’ optometry practice versus a ‘great’ one can simply be a matter of how to foster trust for doctor-patient relationships. In a survey by Deloitte,³ nearly 60% of consumers responded that ‘care’ and ‘compassion’ are the key determinants of choosing their healthcare providers. Just as good reviews can positively impact the reputation of a practice, four out of five respondents said that merely one negative experience with a healthcare practice can completely tarnish the doctor-patient relationship due to loss of trust,” Dr. Chan shared.

Meanwhile, loyalty marketing isn’t just about retaining patients—it also involves attracting new ones. Dr. Chan noted that according to consumer research by Forrester, it costs five times more to acquire a new patient than to retain an existing one.

To foster long-term loyalty, Dr. Chan suggested the following:

Seek feedback. Use social media to gather patient testimonials, both positive and negative. Address concerns promptly to show accountability and build trust.
Celebrate loyalty. Highlight real patient stories on social media to encourage usergenerated content (UGC). This inspires others to share their experiences, strengthening your brand and expanding reach through word-of-mouth.

4. Empower your team

According to Dr. Chan, the success of practice does not simply rely on the owner or practitioner alone—having a strong team with well-trained staff is also equally crucial.

Dr. Chan suggested the following:

Invest in staff training. “To revamp and enhance the value of optometric practices, it has become increasingly more important to invest in staff training and cultivate continuous support since they are the ‘face’ of your practice,” he said. “Depending on the roles involved, each staff member should undergo thorough training (either technical or customer-oriented) so that they would feel confident and proficient in fulfilling their job responsibilities.
Motivate the team. Just as incentivizing loyal customers, staff showing positive job performance should also be celebrated and incentivized periodically to further foster staff loyalty to your practice,” he added.

5. Set measurable goals to evaluate success

Measurable goals provide clear, quantifiable metrics to evaluate practice performance. Dr. Chan shared that his office used the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to help guide the measures of business performance, as well as a barometer for business improvement.

Below are a few key elements in the EOS that he has been using with his team:

Accountability chart—Define roles and responsibilities. It is essential for associate doctors and staff to clearly understand their specific roles and responsibilities. Effective teamwork requires each team member to actively acknowledge and participate in specific roles, ensuring accountability and maintaining team engagement.
‘Rocks—’Identify the most important task. Aligned with accountability, each team member is assigned a “rock,” representing a key task or priority they are responsible for. Acting as the “captain” of their task, they ensure productivity and work toward achieving measurable goals.
‘Scorecard—’Track measurable performance. A scorecard highlights key metrics to evaluate weekly and quarterly performance. “For example, one of my scorecard goals is to convert 80% of patients into first-time contact lens wearers. By tracking the daily and weekly number of patients interested in or eligible for contact lenses, I can project annual goals and drive sustainable business growth,” Dr. Chan explained.

More than meets the eye

Revamping your practice goes beyond aesthetics—it’s about enhancing care, adopting new technologies, building your brand and fostering an efficient, welcoming environment. By reimagining value delivery, you can establish your clinic as a trusted, future-ready leader in the community.

Editor’s Note: A version of this article was first published in COOKIE magazine Issue 18.

References

Healthgrades. 11 Healthcare Marketing Statistics You Need to Know Now. January 4, 2023. Available at: https://b2b. healthgrades.com/insights/blog/11-healthcare-marketing-statistics-you-need-to-know-now/. Accessed on December 30, 2024.
Invoca. 31 Senior Living and Senior Care Marketing Stats You Can’t Ignore in 2024. January 3, 2024. Available at: https://www.invoca.com/blog/senior-living-marketing-stats. Accessed on December 30, 2024.
Deloitte Insights. Rebuilding trust in health care. August 5, 2021. Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/health-care/trust-in-health-care-system.html. Accessed on December 30, 2024.