VM REPORTS Dr. Korthals and Associates By Staff Monday, July 21, 2014 12:03 AM RELATED CONTENT Unlocking the Secrets of the $Million Practice Dr. Bauman and Associates, PLLC Northwest Vision Center Livermore Optometry Group The Million Dollar Practice's Keys to Success Dr. Korthals and Associates Owner: Mike Korthals, OD Location: Mason City, Iowa Annual Gross Revenue of Single Location: $2.1 Million Square footage: 4,700 Years in Business: 15 Number of employees: 10 www.mikekorthalsod.com “Personal, integrity, caring, distinctive and full service.” How would you describe your business? We are a full-scope family practice with an emphasis on ocular disease and specialty contact lens fits. How long did it take you to meet or exceed the $1M mark? Seven years. What sets you apart from your competitors? My staff is extraordinary. We also believe in consistently bringing in the best and newest technology for patient care. Do you have any previous business experience you were able to apply to this business? During optometry school, I worked for a doctor at a large private practice. His mentorship helped teach me everything that I needed to know for jumping into owning and running a practice. Have any vendors or industry groups been particularly helpful in your success? PECAA has extremely helpful in keeping my cost of goods under control and they have a lot of things in place to help me in the management of my business. Is there one investment in particular you feel help set you on the course toward the $1M mark? Four years ago, I bought the building that I am currently in. I doubled my square footage, and with it, my gross fees because we could handle the volume. With more exam lanes, the space to provide more testing and a much larger dispensary, the infrastructure is there to provide the high quality care that we strive for. Best book you’ve read or course you’ve taken as it applies to your business? “Who Moved My Cheese?” by Spencer Johnson, MD. It’s not an optometric business book but it was a good book to get me thinking and looking differently at my business. How do you measure R.O.I.? Before I do anything new, I always look at the potential for making or losing money. There have been very few instances that I brought something in knowing that it wouldn’t create a positive cash flow situation. I look at a piece of equipment cost vs. potential reimbursements and make a decision from there. What are some of the mistakes you made along the way? About six years ago, I was ready to try EHR and I found a program that I thought I really liked. The transition went horribly and the program wasn’t what was promised. It ended up costing me some money and I almost lost staff so I just went back to the original practice management system and added EHR to it. Closing Thoughts? A ship has one captain for a reason. A practice needs one voice or direction.