LIKE MANY PRIVATE practices, Beatty Eyes found itself caught between what insurance allowed and what patients needed. Rather than continuing to fill their schedule to bursting while compromising on quality, they went their own way and introduced an in-house membership plan that’s helped them reclaim time, boost revenue, and deliver better care.
THE IDEA
Fed up with the way many managed-care plans restricted the types of diagnostic testing she could perform, Beatty Eyes owner Dr. Rachael Beatty decided it was time to move away from accepting them. According to lead optician Whitney Head-Potter, another reason was the abysmal reimbursement rates. “To remain solvent our doctors had to be booked solid and that created massive wait-times,” she says. To solve both problems, Beatty Eyes came up with an in-house membership plan. The results have been impressive. Now, says Head-Potter, “We book three to four weeks out, see fewer patients per day, are free to offer any of our diagnostic testing and are reimbursed at a much higher rate per patient.”
THE EXECUTION
Dr. Beatty and chief financial officer Dan Beatty’s aim was to create a plan that was a legitimate replacement for third party plans, and that patients would feel comfortable paying on a monthly basis. First, the practice partnered with DirectOD.com to implement and administer the membership plans. “Dan and Dr. Beatty came to each member of the staff asking what each of us thought would be the most beneficial for our patients and what benefits would be the most attractive to patients considering switching,” says Head-Potter. “Through multiple meetings and conversations, we crafted two plans, Elite and Basic, which give patients the option to choose benefits and cost which work best for their needs and budget.”
Dr. Rachael Beatty, Beatty Eyes, Missoula, MT
As they moved into the implementation phase, Beatty Eyes’ social media coordinator created fun videos introducing the plans and flooded the business’s social media platform feeds. Staff were also trained to have conversations with cash pay and third-party insured patients regarding the plan when booking appointments, communicating clearly the value of the plan and how much the patient stands to save. “‘Billing’ the plan has been easy, and every staff member has been trained on updating patient benefits on the Direct OD site so that they accurately reflect the benefits used,” says Head-Potter. “The sign-up process is straightforward for patients, and they can often sign up via their phone in the dispensary to utilize their benefits same-day.”
THE REWARDS
Head-Potter says the response has been “enthusiastic.” Aesthetics appointments have increased due to the generous discounts offered under the Elite plan, and second-pair sales have grown from 9% to 24%. Dan Beatty is now working with local businesses to replace third party vision insurance offerings with the practice’s plan “to help keep the business local and our patients happy,” says Head-Potter. “Word of mouth has also been impactful in bringing in new patients and those wanting better benefits for purchasing glasses and contact lenses.”
Do It Yourself: Create an
In-House Membership Plan.
- CUSTOMIZE. What do your patients value most? At Beatty Eyes it’s a generous glasses allowance, and discounts on multi-pairs and aesthetic services.
- SPREAD THE WORD. Advertise your plan by posting on your social media and distributing QR code cards.
- TEAM UP. Partner with a service like DirectOD.com “to legitimize your membership plan and more easily keep track of
benefits used.”
- COMMUNICATE. Have staff break down the savings for patients to highlight the plan’s value.
- BE PATIENT. It’s taken some time to gain momentum, but Beatty Eyes now signs up two to three new patients per week, “which is great for a clinic our size.”
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