Meeting a Need in Private Practice

Like many of you, I graduated from optometry school with a plethora of knowledge about vision care and eye health. I was ready to conquer the world, providing superior eye care one patient at a time. However, when I went into private practice immediately following my residency, I realized there were some limitations to my education.

While I was skilled at providing excellent care to my patients, there were other areas of the business I had trouble navigating—how do you get and retain new patients, for one? How do you make your practice more profitable? How do you hire quality people and keep them? And, how do you train those people so they are set up for success? While my optometry education was top-notch, it didn’t include those topics that are vital to a successful small business owner.

Over the years, as I have networked with peers in the industry, I’ve come to realize that this is a common theme among many of us. We are highly trained in our field but often face challenges when figuring out how to build and run a practice. Add to that the trainings our staff members are required to maintain just to be employees, and it’s clear that training can be a big challenge for a business.

Many of us have requested support in this area from VSP Global, so I am excited to share with you that this fall, VSP is rolling out comprehensive training for Premier Program doctors and their staff. Premier Academy360 will give us tools to differentiate our practices, elevate our patients’ experiences, and increase patient traffic and retention. It includes workshops and webinars on topics relevant to private practice owners, including practice management, staff retention, and marketing. And, it includes courses for practice staff, training them on topics such as optical fundamentals and billing.

Like most of you, providing the best experience for my patients is my main priority. This new education option from the Premier Program will help practice owners like myself master the business-side of practice ownership so we can focus on what we already do best. As I see it, running a practice that is efficient and profitable, with employees that are set up for success, enables us to continue to provide the level of care our patients expect and deserve. You can find more information at LearnPremierAcademy360.com.