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forms, are powerful tools. As t h e d o c tor i n a m e d i c a l ly oriented dry eye practice, you, too, must re-examine and fine-tune your interac t ions at ke y p oints in t he workflow. With patients, you should verbalize ever ything you're seeing during the exam, confirm the test f i n d i n g s a n d d i a g n o s i s , prov i d e further education on the findings, prescribe treatment, explain treatment expectations, and — most importantly — tell patients to schedule a follow-up visit. Patients should never leave your office without a return appointment, whether it's next week or 3 years down the road. Help Patients Obtain What They Need In a me d i c a l ly or i e nte d d r y e ye practice, you can't be afraid of charging for ser vices and products. Dr y eye bothers people and afects their quality of life. You can help by recommending what's best for them. If that means s e l l i ng t h e m a pro du c t , s e r v i c e, diagnostic test, or treatment, then it is your ethical responsibility to provide these products or services. Recognize, too, that you can treat patients whether or not you accept their managed medical plan. If you're not on their plan's panel, but they consider you a trusted provider who can solve their problems, many patients will pay out of pocket for your services. Simple is Effective A question that always arises when I dis c uss bui lding a me dic a l/dr y eye practice is how to promote it. Promotion and marketing don't have to be expensive or complicated. As previously noted, you and your staff promote dry eye care at various points in the daily workfow. In addition, you can raise awareness through your on- hold phone message, your website and social media presence, stickers on your envelopes, a booth at a community event, and so on — all of which are relatively simple and inexpensive ways to achieve to your goal. A Focused Approach Taking a focused approach to treating dr y eye will be the single biggest business-builder most of you will have in your practice. If you're willing to work ON your business rather than IN your business, you can make your patients' lives better and in the process, achieve signifcant practice growth. • REFERENCES 1. O'Brien PD, Collum LM. Dry eye: diagnosis and current treatment strategies. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2004;4(4):314-319. 2. Moss SE, Klein R, Klein BE. Long-term incidence of dry eye in an older population. Optom Vis Sci. 2008;85(8):668-674. 3 . I n t e r n a t i o n a l D r y E y e Wo r k S h o p . T h e epidemiology of dry eye disease: report of the Epidemiology Subcommittee of the International Dry Eye Workshop (2007). Ocul Surf. 2007;5(2): 93-107. Dr. Morris is medical director of Eye Consultants of Colorado and an operating partner in Morris Education & Consulting Associates. He is the president of Ocular Technology Solutions, Inc. and is also chief optometric editor of Optometric Management. PROMOTION PRODUCT Figure 1. If the percentage of your practice that is medical (medical revenue/total revenue) is less than 15%, it's very likely you aren't identifying your dry eye patients. FEBRUARY 2016 | 5