Connecting Ophthalmology with Optometry

Enhancing Your Refractive Referrals

Teaming Up Ophthalmologists with Optometrists

Co-Management Solutions That Work

Holly Venetos of Clear Advantage Vision Correction Center and Eyesight Ophthalmic Services founded Comanagement Consultants in 2013 after realizing that many ophthalmology practices were struggling with their relationships with optometrists.

Why We Are Unique

There is literally no other consulting group unique to building a OD comanagement network. After 10 years of practice level experience using alternative methods to developing an OD referral base, we realized that our successes could be shared in other markets.

What You Should Know

Knowledge of the OD’s in your market
I will provide you a database of licensed optometrists in your state, or if you are in a highly dense population, the surrounding counties. Keep in mind that LASIK patients will travel whereas cataract patients won’t, so I will want to concentrate on the largest possible geography to your practice locations.
Effective ways of communicating with Optometrists without having to hire extra staff to manage the program
I’ll teach you how to tap into your existing patient database and utilize their relationship with their OD to help you get into the door.
The ability to establish and run COPE CE courses
Chances are that your OD community doesn’t refer you patients is because they don’t KNOW you and they don’t KNOW what you do. Help educate the OD community about the various types of technology available through your practice by establishing yourself as an administrator and instructor though ARBO. Offering a free seminar once, or even several times per year will bring the referring doctor to you and provide them with much needed CE.
The foundation to build a co-management guide
We’ll provide a template that you can use to help OD’s understand what is expected in not only determining what an ideal patients is (i.e contraindications, treatment range, etc.) but what you expect from shared care. You will simply edit it based on the technology offered in your practice and what you expect for follow up care.
Digital Co-management Strategies
Using educational materials in Internet Marketing and best practices working with optometrists on this level is our specialty. We want to help our clients to be the best and most organized on the digital marketing level. Our training involves:

  • Internet marketing
  • SEO consulting
  • Patient education out reach
  • SEM consulting
  • Website design
  • Social media campaigns
  • Google places set up and profile creation
  • Local search
Effective strategies for increasing referrals from each OD practice
Once your initial steps are in place, we will show you how to further develop your referrals from each OD practice by providing simple marketing tools.

Immediate referrals from the OD community, with most practices gaining 5 to 10 new referring OD’s within the first 60 days!

Our Story

After over 15 years of working in higher education, human resources and IT, Holly Venetos began her career as Practice Manager for Clear Advantage Vision Correction Center in 2004.

The practice faced several challenges. First, the refractive surgeon, Dr. N. Timothy Peters was new to the Seacoast area and was a fairly recent addition to the medical community. Second, the refractive side of the practice, which opened at the end of 2001, was founded and owned by Eyesight Ophthalmic Services, one of the largest general ophthalmology practices in New Hampshire. Eyesight had a reputation of keeping referrals from the OD community. Third, competition was fierce. There were over 10 refractive practices within a 40 mile radius. Fourth, and probably the most devastating, we only had 2 referring optometrists and a poor reputation for shared care.

When I was hired, my number one goal was to not only create a comanagement plan with the OD community for the refractive surgery side of the practice, but to develop a trust through the refractive side of the practice that could benefit the general ophthalmic side. I was told that I would never be able to create and maintain a comanagement program without hiring a full-time comanagement liaison.

I never even looked into hiring one. After 10 years in this practice, I have successfully run the entire practice while single handedly developing a refractive co-management program with over 480 referring optometrists. Today, over 70% of our refractive surgery patients are comanaged. That’s 70%!

The best part of my program is that I rarely, if EVER, need to leave the practice to see a referring optometrist. I’m not on the road. Anyone in your office that is friendly and organized can easily start implementing a refractive comanagement program and begin a successful comanagement program that’s guaranteed to generate optometry referrals.

My program has been proven successful in several practices across the county, and most report a gain 5-10 new OD referrals within the first month!

The Comanagement Objective

Here are the steps that I will implement to get the program started:

Know your OD community.
I will provide you a list of licensed OD’s in your state, or if you are in a highly dense population, the surrounding counties.
Recruit your existing patients.
I’ll teach you to tap your existing patients by asking a few simple questions.
Develop a Guide to Comanaging patients.
We’ll provide a template that you can use to help OD’s understand what is expected in comanaged care. You will simply edit it based on the technology offered in your practice and what you expect for follow up care.
Communication.
I’ll help you develop communication strategies to keep the lines of communication open with your referring OD’s.
CE Programs.
I will help your selected employee become an ARBO administrator and teach you how to get informational presentations COPE approved.
Future marketing efforts.
Once your initial steps are in place, we will further develop ways to improve the number of referrals you generate from each OD office, and help you expand into more OD offices monthly.

Contact Me Today!

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