Today’s independent eyecare professionals are not standing still. Far from it. Many of the most successful, those “super” practices, whose revenues exceed $1 million per year, are proactive about both their eyecare delivery as well as the dispensing sides of their business.

Despite signs of a challenging economy, these ECPS are reinvesting in practice systems and technologies that are revolutionizing the eye exam process, communicating the value and complexity of eyecare along with their own expertise. They are systematizing patient records and tracking systems for continuous care and monetizing investments in practice management technology to help monitor costs and managed care involvement. They are also attuned to the patient demographics of each location, focusing on stoking select vendor partnerships for sharp presentations and merchandising in order to be sure their mix of eyewear, sunwear and spectacle lens and contact lens solutions is matched to their customers’ needs.

Vision Monday takes a look at four such practices around the country to highlight how ECP groups are carving out an important role for their positions in the markets they serve. --VM Editors

Investing in Primary Eyecare and Dispensing


Gaddie Eye Centers
Location: 4 locations in Louisville, Ky.
Founded: 1968
Owner: Ian Benjamin Gaddie, OD and Bruce J. Gaddie, OD
Web Site: www.gaddieeye.com

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--Marking its 40th year in operation this year, Gaddie Eye Centers is in the midst of a major expansion mode for its practices serving a range of patients throughout the greater Louisville area.

 

Ben Gaddie, OD, (l) and his father,
Bruce J. Gaddie, OD.

The practice, established by Bruce J. Gaddie, OD in 1968, operated in two professional offices for nearly 25 years. His son Ian Benjamin Gaddie, OD came back from optometry school in 1999 to join the practice and opened additional offices. What excites Ben Gaddie now is the major overall and redesign of the group’s main office on Shelbyville Road, its Oxmoor location, which is currently undergoing a million-dollar-plus investment overhaul, taking over space that became available adjacent to the original office, across from the two largest shopping malls in the state.

When it’s completed later this spring, Gaddie will have tripled its office space, boasting a new 8,500 square foot state-of-the-art facility. “We are trying to differentiate ourselves and it’s our goal for this to be the most prominent space for eyecare in Louisville,” Gaddie said, noting that the original location’s lack of space had plateaued the growth of the location. “It had been inefficient and really diminished the patient experience.”

Gaddie said that he, his father and his colleagues are “passionate about the integration of full-scope eyecare into the practice. The focus on primary care started with my dad, who specialized in contact lenses; I do a lot of disease and glaucoma management. In the face of the rise of vision plans in general, the ability to generate a medical component to our practice has been key.”

There are a total of eight ODs, including the Gaddies, who serve patients throughout all the locations; the expansion of Oxmoor will mean the addition of more ODs in that new facility, which will expand from four exam lanes to nine plus two fully-equipped pre-test areas. “We’re doubling our through-put there. We took a total team approach with our staff and tried to think about flow and gather input on what’s been frustrating us all due to lack of space until now.” Gaddie works with an experienced professional practice administrator, Scott Keiser, “who has been instrumental in helping us implement this new vision,” Gaddie noted.

 
 Gaddie’s LaGrange location.
The new space will be a true corporate HQ, with meeting rooms and a reconfiguration of space for billing, administration and a centralized phone bank to facilitate appointments and answer service questions. “Currently, the insurance people, bookkeepers and accountants are commingled in the professional environment, which can be disruptive. We want to focus on better, high-value customer interactions.”

Gaddie has been working with Eye Designs on the project and is focusing on the new look of its expanded dispensary, a devoted sun area, and its designer mix of frames where “each brand identity can be maximized,” he noted.

He continued, “We’re of the philosophy that we want to control our inventory, which is a crucial issue in running any dispensary. We’ve consolidated from a range of about 20 to 30 vendors to eight or nine partnerships. When an exclusive high-end line comes through, we’re still willing to take a risk to put in something new. We want people to get in Louisville what they might normally have to go to Chicago or New York to get.”

Gaddie’s other locations include one in Prospect, at the northeast end of Louisville, an upscale, growing area.

 

In the dispensary, a patient learns about eyewear via an Eyemaginations’ system.

The third location is in LaGrange, further northeast of Louisville in the next county, now in a freestanding building the company built. “This practice serves a mix of middle class patients, and we draw from six counties where there is no eyecare.”

The Gaddie location the farthest northeast of Louisville is in Carollton, Ky, in a very industrial area with limited health care. Gaddie is on the staff of the regional hospital there.

The practice started in-house finishing many years ago and until three months ago, operated its own surfacing lab to support all locations for most jobs. When AR coating technology changed, and recognizing that AR was becoming a more significant component of their lens business, Gaddie recently negotiated a new outside lab arrangement. The original surfacing lab space will be reconfigured. In addition, the Gaddie dispensary features the Cyberimaging tool, which hooks into Eyemaginations software, to provide a high-impact visual and dispensing experience for patients when they work with opticians. Gaddie noted, “This new technology will differentiate us from others; it has already helped increase our sales of traditional add-on materials and features.”

Of the new expansion project, Gaddie said, “We had an opportunity and wanted to be sure we took the chance when we had it to build out. If you have access to capital, when it’s a down market, it’s always a good time to invest for the future.” ■ --Marge Axelrad

Location Makes a World of Difference


Clear Vision Eye Center
Location: Las Vegas and Pahrump, Nev.
Year Founded: 2001
Owners: Michael Crutchfield, OD, Ronald Dutton, OD,
Lindy Thomas, OD
Web Site: www.clearvisioneyecenters.com

Location. Location. Location. It’s not just a mantra for the real estate market. Clear Vision Eye Center is a perfect example of how the right location can make all the difference in the world of business as well. “One of the things that’s unique to the Las Vegas area is that people are always moving here,” according to Mike Crutchfield, OD, a partner in this two-location practice generating $3.5 million per year in revenues. In total, the professional staff includes 18 employees, four full-time doctors, Ronald Dutton, OD, Lindy Thomas, OD, Michael Crutchfield, OD, and Joe Firmen, OD; all are partners in the practice with the exception of Firmen.

 
Michael Crutchfield, OD
“Our location is one thing that really sets us apart from the competition. The area where one of our practices is located is not far from the Vegas Strip, which as you know is filled with hotels.” And the downtown Las Vegas area is literally bursting at the seams: this year alone, there are some 40,000 hotel rooms scheduled to come online. “If you do the math, that works out to about three hotel workers per room and that’s good news for us since we get customers ranging from bus boys to hotel managers,” he said.

Clear Vision has all its bases covered between its two locations: one in downtown Las Vegas and the other practice in Pahrump, a suburb located about an hour west of Sin City. Between the two locations, this full-service optometric practice offers the services of three full-time and one part-time OD. In the Las Vegas location, there is a Lasik and cataract center in the building and the ophthalmologist sees patients two times per month.

Both locations offer high-end products in their dispensary, featuring frames from Luxottica, Marchon and Sàfilo and this fits right in with the type of clientele which Crutchfield describes as “upper middle class.”

However, getting people to walk through the door is only part of the equation--getting them to stay for an eye exam, make a purchase and hopefully come back several times a year is the key to running a successful practice, according to Crutchfield.

 
State-of-the art equipment is available in the exam room.
In an attempt to grow their practice, Clear Vision has been intent on providing the best level of customer service they possibly can. “We specialize in upper-end frames and are a service-oriented business. Our equipment is state of the art and includes a visual field machine and [Ophthonix] iZon equipment used to make high definition lenses. As the business has changed and grown, we’ve continued to add state-of-the-art equipment in an attempt to stay ahead of the power curve. We are always looking to add equipment,” Crutchfield said.

Clear Vision also invests a fair amount of time in training their staff on how to use the equipment. “At least once a week, we take the staff through some kind of training exercise. We also keep our front desk managers up-to date on the ins and outs of insurance plans.”

Clear Vision accepts several types of insurance including VSP, Medicare, Davis Vision and EyeMed insurance plans. “Processing people’s insurance is one of our biggest challenges here. We need to understand how the different plans work because our patients have come to expect this expertise as part of our customer service,” Crutchfield said.

On the efficiency front, all of Clear Visions records are electronic, making them a truly paperless office when it comes to tracking patients’ records, appointments and billing procedures. “We use a system called maximEyes made by a company called First Insight. I can absolutely state this has made us more efficient because we never have to look for records--we know right where to find things,” he said.

 

The dispensary offers high-end frames for an upper middle class clientele.

As for the future, Crutchfield believes the key to growing the business lies in availability. “One of the ways we can increase our business is to make sure we are more available, which is why we increased our hours at the Pahrump location. Another one of the reasons we expanded is because there are not very many optometrists in the area,” he said.

And when it comes to the economic gloom and doom perpetuated by the media, Crutchfield admits that Clear Vision, which is still growing, has so far remained untouched by the downturn. “As far as our patient base goes, about 40 percent are new patients and 60 percent are past or repeat patients and we are tracking our growth so far for the year at 26 percent. As far as the economy goes, we are all concerned because of what we read but as you can see, it really hasn’t had an effect on us.”  ■
 --Mary Kane



Affluent Patient Base, Franchise Support Help Cushion Economy’s Blows


Doctors Vision Center
Location: Pinehurst, N.C.
Founded: Became a franchisee in 2000 Franchise
Owners: L. Kennedy Bumgarner, OD; Scott Athans, OD
Web Site: www.doctorsvisioncenter.com

PINEHURST, N.C.--For partners L. Kennedy (Kenny) Bumgarner, OD, and Scott Athans, OD, being franchisees in the Doctors Vision Center network offers the freedom of owning and managing their own practice coupled with the benefits of centrally negotiated buying discounts and promotional support.

 

L. Kennedy Bumgarner, OD

Their shift from unaffiliated private practice to franchised office came in 2000, providing an infrastructure that helped the two optometrists build an active patient base of about 38,000 in this upscale retiree area. Last year, the practice generated more than $2.6 million in revenues from its single location, with about 12,750 patients seen during 2007. The professional staff consists of four ODs (two of them part-time) and 17 staff.

Said Bumgarner, “We’re big on planning, tracking patients and analyzing results in this office, and we focus strongly on the medical side of our profession as well as the retail side. And in terms of that, Doctors Vision Center invented the wheel--we just bought the wheel.”

That focus on optometry’s medical aspects--as well as its well-off patient base--has helped generate steady growth over the years for this 10,000 square foot office, Bumgarner told VM. For example, “we have a very big glaucoma practice, and we can take those patients to the point where when we refer them to ophthalmology, we always refer to a specialist, not a general ophthalmologist.”

Patient education--about eye disease as well as about the proper eyewear and lenses--is a key element of the practice as well, and another factor that has helped insulate it from the vagaries of the U.S. economy.

“The quality of the care we provide is very important to us, and part of that care is making sure patients understand that what they’re getting in their glasses in terms of lenses and lens treatments is as significant as a medicine they might be prescribed,” Bumgarner explained. “Our staff makes sure patients understand the value of AR or UV protection, for example.”

Because of that, the practice’s revenues from AR lenses rose 15 percent in 2007, while revenues from scratch-protection coatings were up 28 percent--despite a 12.4 percent drop in frame sales for the year. (“Because of the economy, I guess, we saw more patients putting new lenses into their old frames last year,” Bumgarner noted.)

 
The dispensary in the Doctors Vision Center franchised office in Pinehurst, N.C., holds a prominent place just off the waiting area.
In addition to strong word of mouth, a steady stream of promotions from franchisor Doctors Vision Center helps maintain patient flow. He said, “The company runs promotions on various topics--some oriented toward specific eye diseases or allergies, others more retail/optical focused.”

Staff training is another important part of the equation for Bumgarner and Athans. In addition to using training modules provided by Doctors Vision Center’s central headquarters, the practice holds weekly staff meetings to make sure all departments and employees are on the same page regarding its latest programs and products.

The practice is heavily computerized, with a goal of going “paperless” within 12 to 18 months, according to Bumgarner, whose wife, Katherine, serves as office manager. “At this point, pretty much everything is done via computer except the doctors’ writing out the exams,” he explained. “We’re doing email follow-ups with patients, and preappointing over the central Web site, www.doctorsvisioncenter.com.”

Looking ahead, Bumgarner is cautious but optimistic about prospects for the coming year. “We’re seeing some uncertainty in the economy,” he acknowledged. “But we’re very proactive, and revenues were up nearly 25 percent in February. We built this practice on the quality of care we provide, which Doctors Vision Center encourages, so we’re somewhat insulated from economic ups and downs--and what we do on a regular basis works to help us in these tough times.” ■ 
--Cathy Ciccolella

46-Year Old Practice Stands the Test of Time


West Valley Vision
Location: Goodyear, Ariz.
Founded: 1962
Owner: Dr. Chris Furey, OD, owner
Web Site: www.westvalleyvision.com 
 
 
West Valley Vision’s optometrists, from left to right: Dr. Christopher Furey, Dr. Stacee Burson, Dr. Steven Holt, Dr. Brent Wilson.
In the Phoenix area, West Valley Vision is a well-known eyecare and eyewear destination. Located just west of the city, this $3.3 million practice was founded in 1962 by optometrist Charles Heiner. Dr. Christopher Furey, OD, purchased West Valley Vision in 1995, three years after joining the practice. Dr. Furey and his staff of 25, including three other optometrists--Dr. Stacee Burson, Dr. Steven Holt, Dr. Brent Wilson--provide a full scope of eyecare services and products to about 25,000 patients. Technologically up to date, the practice features automated exam lanes and electronic patient records. Six opticians work in the large dispensary which offers an array of the latest frames and lenses. An on-site finishing lab ensures rapid service for eyeglass wearing patients.

“We add new equipment on a regular basis,” said Dr. Furey. “Last year, we bought an [Ophthonix] iZon abberometer, an updated digital field and a Humphrey Matrix that allows us to scan the retina for ocular disease.”

Dr. Holt added, “We’ve tried to stay up with technology. Our patients notice it. They tell us they get a more comprehensive exam because we use the latest technology.”

Upon entering the exam room, patients are often impressed with high tech touches such as seeing their retinal scan on the computer screen, or observing the doctor call up their files electronically.

 
The practice is located west of Phoenix.
“We’ve had some form of electronic records for five years,” Dr. Furey detailed. For the past three years, the practice has been using First Insight’s maximEyes program. In addition to tracking patients, appointments and billing, the software monitors inventory and calculates the percentage of profit on various products.”

“We can access the system from any computer in the office. We’re totally networked,” Dr. Furey said.

Offering the latest lens technology is also important at West Valley Vision. Products such as the Varilux Ipseo progressive or the Ophthonix iZon lens underscore this approach.

“[The iZon lens] is one of the few lenses you put on and say ‘Wow,’” Dr. Furey said. “Patients are becoming more receptive to it.”

Dr. Furey pointed out that maintaining a large, well-trained staff allows West Valley Vision to provide high-quality service. “Every doctor has a tech-and-a-half who works with them,” he explained. “We send the techs to training seminars regularly. We take advantage of our Walman Optical rep, who comes out to visit us about every six weeks. She works with any staff member that needs help. This month, she’s going to do a seminar on polarized lenses.”

 
Six opticians work in the practice’s large dispensary.
To keep its profile high in a competitive optical market, West Valley Vision does its share of advertising. Unlike some practices, it runs only a brief listing in the Yellow Pages, preferring instead to concentrate its advertising in local newspapers.

The practice also attracts patients through its Web site, www.westvalleyvision.com, as well as through Vision Service Plan’s site. “We’re heavily invested with VSP, and our name pops up on their Web site,” said Dr. Holt.

Yet Dr. Holt believes word of mouth referrals are the key to the practice’s success. “It’s our biggest asset,” he remarked.  ■
--Andrew Karp