Drawing Kids to Your Practice
School is about to begin. That brings the topic of scheduling to the forefront in practices that cater to both kids and parents. To help, we’ve come up with eight solid strategies for booking and then seeing the whole family.
Tip: The American Optometric Association (AOA) suggests you liken the eye chart to a puzzle and instruments to a kaleidoscope.
1. EDUCATION. Keep the conversation relevant to your young patients. The Kaiser Family Foundation suggests, “Explain to families that before age 10, kids’ eyes aren’t completely developed, so the crystalline lens and cornea remain mostly transparent. Too much blue light may, therefore, be an issue. Use that as a way to encourage parents to supervise and limit the amount of screen time and, of course, to bring their kids into the practice.”
2. PREPARATION. When it comes to young children, encourage parents to schedule an appointment for early in the day. When a parent does make an appointment for their young child, make sure you tell them to prepare their youngster by explaining the exam before the appointment and answering the child’s questions honestly. For example, the American Optometric Association (AOA) suggests you liken the eye chart to a puzzle and instruments to a kaleidoscope.
3. PRE-OPENING. Take 10 minutes every morning to go over the day’s patients with staff. Do some have kids that haven’t been seen? If so, bring up with the parent how important an annual eye exam is for school-age children. If the child has been seen previously, but isn’t scheduled yet this year, be sure to comment, using the child’s name and age, with the parents.
4. OPTICAL DEPARTMENT. If the parent comes in for new glasses, check the records and say something like, “I see John is starting third grade in a few weeks. We haven’t fit him for new glasses this year. We’d be happy to try and squeeze him in for either a fitting or full exam.”
5. PRE-APPOINTMENT. An EMR pre-appointing system will go a long way toward making all this easier. You can also create a less formal system with email reminders or even post cards. Better yet, you can make scheduling part of the check-out procedure by asking the parent to schedule now for next summer or fall.
6. WRITTEN RECOMMENDATIONS. At Spring Hill Eyecare in Spring Hill, TN, owner Ron Szeliga, O.D., uses an interoffice messaging system called Blue Note to notify the optician to come to the exam room to go over the recommendations. He also has a frequently updated lens menu form that he and his staff have created, and he completes it for each patient.
7. UPDATING SELECTION. Update your kids’ frame section frequently…not just the selection, but the look, too. You do have a designated children’s section, don’t you? Change up background colors of the displays. Change out display props, and don’t put toddler toys in the pre-teen area. Keep it fun and age appropriate.
8. DESIGNATED SPACE. Also, create a corner where kids can be comfortable while waiting. You don’t have one, look for an unused or under-used space. Every office has one. Paint the under-utilized wall a fun color, and invite kids in. Toss down a few beanbag chairs or fun animal-shaped chairs, and you have it made.
What have you done in your practice to cater to kids and make your office fun for them? Tell us about it and share in the conversation on Facebook here.
Erinn Morgan
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