VisionWeb's I.O. View [SPONSORED]: How to Calculate and Improve Your Practice’s Optical Capture Rate

Optical capture rate compares the number of patients who received their prescription and the number of patients who filled their prescriptions at your practice. Since frame and contact lens sales are a big source of revenue for many practices, when it comes to your practice’s optical capture rate, the higher the percentage, the better. In fact, the industry benchmark says that 60 percent of your patients should be filling their prescription in your practice.

Use this formula to calculate optical capture rate:

Increasing frame sales can be hard as showrooming becomes an ongoing obstacle for practices. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, showrooming is when your patient gets a prescription from your practice, tries on a frame that they like, and then buys the product online at a cheaper price. Don’t turn your practice into a showroom! Find out how you can improve your optical capture rate with these dos and don’ts!

Do: Explain prescriptions to patients.

If your patient’s condition requires a specific lens type, they might not understand the benefits or importance of it unless you explain it to them. Take the time to talk to them about their prescription and inform them of the dangers of getting a cheap knock-off online. Make sure that you hand off a prescribed lens material and design to the optician so both doctor and optician can educate the patient.

Don’t: Assume contact lens wearers or patients without a new prescription are not interested in purchasing new frames.

Even if your patient doesn’t have a new prescription, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t interested in getting a new look. Introduce your new arrivals or new frame trends. Don’t lose a sale by assuming that they aren’t interested.

Contact lens wearers will also need backup glasses. When they get a new prescription, make sure they get a new pair of backup glasses as well. Simply mentioning this to patients and expressing genuine concern is usually all it takes. If that’s not enough to stimulate the sale, think about packages that you can offer that make purchasing backup glasses a good deal. For example, you can charge a flat price for a certain tier of frames when your patients purchase an annual contact lens supply.

Do: Feature promotions through email or your website.

If you plan on having special offers, make sure that your patients are aware of the savings they could enjoy. Keep your website updated with current promotions and consider sending out email or text notifications of coupons, discounts, and new products that are relevant based on their purchase history.

Don’t: Overprice frames.

Today’s consumers are smart shoppers and they know that they have other options. Word of mouth is powerful, and you don’t want them telling everybody how you overprice your frames. Do your research and price your frames competitively. Tools like Frames Data will be able to give you accurate wholesale and suggested retail pricing. If you’re looking for more profit margins, focus on second-pair sales or accessories instead.

Do: Keep inventory unique.

Carrying unique product lines such as private labels or high quality products that are not available from online retailers can give you a competitive edge. Find out which items are discounted online and carry the item in a variety of colors to encourage in-office buys.

Your optical capture rate is only one of eight important benchmarks your practice should monitor for better financial performance. Find out the other benchmarks in VisionWeb’s eBook, “ 8 Benchmarks ODs Need to Monitor in Their Practice.” Download the eBook to compare your practice’s performance to others around the country.

This piece was contributed by the Uprise blog. Uprise is a cloud-based practice management and EHR solution by VisionWeb. View the original post here: How to Calculate and Improve Your Practice’s Optical Capture Rate.