On today's episode, I sit down with Scott Rediger, CEO of Visible Genomics, and Dr. Steve Ferrucci, well known optometrist, lecturer, and clinical expert to discuss the power of genetic testing and the business opportunity for expanding AMD care within your practice. 

Key Takeaways:

1. Always be open to input from others.
2. The opportunity for AMD in the United States is significant. 11 million are currently living with AMD and 20 million are at risk due to genetic and lifestyle risk factors. AMD is an untapped market in your practice.
3. AMD revenue opportunities include: Selling nutraceuticals, providing genetic testing, ongoing testing as part of management, at home monitoring, and dark adaptation
4. Like any additional service, success requires involving your entire team to engage the process and communicate the test and benefits appropriately to the patient. Telehealth can be a phenomenal tool for follow up, creating a better patient experience and minimizing time for both patient and doctor.
5. Don’t be afraid of the cost. Connect the value of personalized care to their long term outcome, and the cost conversation becomes much easier.

Take your practice to the next level with PECAA Max!

What Steve is Reading:

• Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski by Ian O'Conner
• The Dynasty by Jeff Benedict
• Game: An Autobiography by Grant Hill

What Scott is Reading:

• S.C.O.R.E for Life by Jeff Fannin

In today's episode, I sit down with Doug Martin, founder of InD Eyewear, a private label frame line exclusive to PECAA members. Every day consumers purchase private label products and goods. Offering these types of products to your patients dramatically impacts your practices profitability while delivering a product your patients will love. 

Key Takeaways:

1. 4/10 consumers embrace private label AND 9/10 consumers will purchase private label products and goods.
2. Private label reduces cost by lowering the amount companies need to invest in marketing, merchandising, and branding. This means lower costs and higher margins to your patients.
3. Private label no longer means low cost and low quality. Most patients are not brand conscious especially when it comes to eyewear.
4. Private label is a proven success in other industries, it will work in optometry. It dramatically works to improve margins with managed vision care.
5. The primary avenues for private label:
   1. Patients only want what their insurance covers
   2. Long margin play
   3. Saving walking Rx's by creating packages

What Doug is Reading:

• The First Major by John Feinstein

Learn more about InD Eyewear and how to leverage the power of Private Label in your own practice!

For thousands of years, humans have communicated history and new ideas through stories and storytelling. This powerful tool has a dramatic impact on your practice's ability to attract new patients and capture more optical Sales. In this episode, PECAA Member Business Advisors Shelby Wade and Kayla Groves share strategies for maximizing your success. 

Key Takeaways:

1. Without wrapping them up in a story, humans only remember 5% of facts that you tell them.
2. Patient consumers make purchasing decisions first on emotions and then support that decision with logic and rationalization. Storytelling opens up that emotional connection that primes the individual to purchase from you. 
3. In the optical conversation, tell stories that connect with the patient. It's ok to tell your story that helps then connect to your passion for optical and eye care. The story should be easy for the patient to connect to their own life and their own story. 
4. Don't just show the frame and style the patient but share the story of the brand and what matters most
5. Spend time with the frame reps that come into your practice in order to understand not only the quality of product but know the brand story. 

What Kayla is reading:

Many practices do not effectively employ an office manager and do not delegate to or emplower them well enough to fully lead within the practice. Valerie Manso shares key strategies for employing an effective office manager. 

Key Takeaways:

1. A great office manager has have leadership and management skills and have the ability to make key decisions within the practice.
2. The role of an office manager really should encompass - leading and managing - everything outside the four walls of the exam room.
   1. Control costs and expenses
   2. Buying right
   3. Inventorying well
   4. Managing the day to day operations
   5. Hiring individuals and onboarding them well
   6. Making each team member feel valued and a part of the practice
3. The best office manager is an extension of you, the owner, not someone to whom you give up control. 
4. If you cannot spend the time to hire a good office manager, outsource it. One they're hired, slow down patient care to onboard them EXACTLY how you want to them to be. Train them the way you want them to be trained and teach them to make decisions they way you would. 

What Valerie is reading:

• Terminal List by Jack Carr
• Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Joseph Griffith
• Nightwork by Nora Roberts

On today's episode, culture expert and Millennial Whisperer Chris Tuff walks us through what is most important for millennial workers today, the majority of your office team members. With the right culture and leadership, your millennial team members will be fully bought in, not just for the short term but the long run, as well.

Key Takeaways:

1. The most important factor for millennials, especially post-pandemic, is flexibility. Flexibility in practice doesn't have to mean work from home. Work with them to create schedules that work for them AND your practice.
2. Leadership is critical to success with millennials. The three key features of leadership they need: inspiration, transparency, and autonomy.
3. Allow your millennial employees to make key decisions when it make sense. Giving them autonomy makes your life easier and empowers them.
4. Transparency does not have to be 100% financial transparency or sheer emotional vulnerability. At the core of transparency is context. What is the context behind key decisions that are being made?
5. Master the art of the fly-by

What Chris is reading:

• The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgensen

Chris's books:

• The Millennial Whisperer
• Save Your Asks

In this episode, disruption strategist Shawn Kanungo shares both experience and wisdom so we can disrupt our own businesses, growing our practices based on the needs and demands of the patient.

Key Takeaways:

1. Disruption happens when someone or some company, often outside of the industry, challenges the status quo.
2. Disruption is often seen as a joke. Be careful when technologies seem like a joke as they may not end up to be one. This is where the opportunity lies within your practice.
3. Schedule disruption time for yourself - 30 minutes a week. Take the time look at your processes, operations, and more. Find ways to disrupt it and improve.
4. Innovation is not just a flash in the plan, great idea. Innovation is driven by both logic and rational and creativity. It's a process, and leveraging the Innovation Brain can help you innovate more. 

Connect with Shawn on LinkedIn and get a copy of the Innovation Brain! Being a part of PECAA Max can help you innovate and grow your practice to the places you want to take it. Learn more now!

Customer journey mapping is a powerful tool within customer experience that you can use to map out your own patient journey. Our very own Dr. Manning dives into using this practice building tool. 

Key Takeaways:

1. The individual you are taking of in your practice is a patient customer or patient consumer. They are both a patient, receiving health care they need and value, AND a customer, making decisions like a consumer, both coming to you and purchasing from you.
2. Start with a high level journey map. Take time to identify what are the individual steps the patient takes from the very beginning of their journey with you through your ongoing communication.
3. Once you've confirmed your high level journey map, dive deeper into what the individual experiences at each what.
   1. What actions do they take?
   2. How are they feeling? What are their emotions?
   3. What means of communication or technology are they using?
   4. What do you want them to feel during and after that step with your practice?
4. Engage your team throughout the entire journey mapping process!

We want to hear from you! Let Dr. Manning know about your own customer journey mapping experience and what insights you uncover!

Gaining and retaining patients is critical for the success of an eye care business. Kevin Wilhelm, Jill Harder, and Shelby Wade share valuable tips for growing your practice.

Key Takeaways:

1. Retaining
   1. Deploy strategic marketing strategies
   2. Display strong patient reviews
   3. Provide anywhere, anytime scheduling
   4. Are you engaging your patients effectively?
2. Gaining
   1. Website reflects who you are
   2. Google search advertising
   3. Social media to generate leads

Learn more about how PECAA Max can benefit your practice today! Call 800.959.2020, Option 3. 

President and CEO of De Rigo Rem, Alessandro Baronti shares tips and strategies for managing KPI's within your practice and setting goals for growth. 

Key Takeaways:

1. 60% of the revenue in a n independent practice still comes from retail. Given the retail experience a patient has, patients must be seen as both patients and consumers - a patient consumer.
2. It is not enough to be a great healthcare provider and medical doctor. You have to run a successful business and if that's not you, hire a great office manager to run the business.
3. Important KPI's
   1. Capture Rate
   2. Revenue per refraction
   3. Average frame sale price
   4. Multiple pair sales
   5. Plano and Rx sunwear
4. Create a benchmark and then a realistic goal to achieve and manage that success.

Are you missing out on the PECAA Annual Meeting in Palm Springs, CA? Make sure you're a PECAA Max Member and join us next year in Nashville! Call 800.959.2020, Option 3 to learn more. 

Natalie Nixon, PhD, founder of Figure8Thinking is a creativity expert. We all have the capability to be creative and to be successful, creativity is no longer a nice-to-have. It's a need-to-have. Dr. Nixon shares strategies for expanding our creativity. 

Key Takeaways:

1. Creativity is our ability to toggle between Wonder and Rigor to solve problems. 
2. Innovation is an invention created into scalable value.
3. Wonder is the ability to be in awe, ask blue sky questions, dream, and be super audacious
   1. Who is your wonder mentor?
4. Rigor is structure, order
   1. Who is your rigor mentor?

Improve your creativity:

• The Creative Leap by Natalie Nixon, PhD

Are you missing out on the PECAA Annual Meeting in Palm Springs, CA? Make sure you're a PECAA Max Member and join us next year in Nashville!