Scaling and Freedom: When, Why, and How to Add an Associate Optometrist with Erich Mattei

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In this episode of The Optometry Money Podcast, Evon Mendrin, CFP®, hosts Erich Mattei of Akrinos to dive deep into a pivotal question for many private practice optometry owners: when, why, and how should you hire an associate optometrist?

Together, Evon and Erich discuss:

• The key motivations behind hiring an associate doctor – from scaling your practice for growth to creating more personal freedom.
• The role of associates in succession planning and de-risking your practice’s future.
• Critical financial and operational indicators that signal it may be time to hire.
• How to structure compensation plans that attract and retain top talent while aligning with your practice’s financial health.
• Best practices for onboarding and mentoring your associate for success.
• And more!

Whether you’re approaching capacity constraints or seeking a better work-life balance, this episode will help you make more informed decisions about hiring and transitioning to an associate OD.

Resources Mentioned in the Episode:

📄 Erich Mattei’s articles on public demand for eye care and the important role of private practice optometry  (Review of Optometric Business): Part 1 | Part 2
🌐 Learn more about Erich Mattei and Akrinos: Visit Akrinos
📚 Explore the Optometry Wealth Advisors Education Hub for financial resources and tools: Visit Here
📆 Connect with Evon for a no-pressure financial planning consultation: Schedule Here

Connect with Us:

• Follow Evon on LinkedIn
• Subscribe to the Eyes on the Money newsletter for weekly financial tips and insights tailored for optometrists: Sign Up Here

Do You Have Insights to Share?
If you’ve gone through the process of hiring an associate or have questions about the decision, we’d love to hear from you! Send us a message at [e-mail].

Thank You for Listening!
We appreciate your time and attention. If you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us reach more optometrists like you!

The Optometry Money Podcast is dedicated to helping optometrists make better decisions around their money, careers, and practices. The show is hosted by Evon Mendrin, CFP®, CSLP®, owner of Optometry Wealth Advisors, a financial planning firm just for optometrists nationwide.

Episode Transcript

Evon (00:04):
Hey, everybody.
Welcome back to The OptometryMoney Podcast, where we're
helping ODs all over thecountry, make better and better
decisions around their money,their careers, and their
practices.
I am your host, Evon Mendrin,Certified Financial Planner(TM)
practitioner, and owner ofOptometry Wealth Advisors an
independent financial planningfirm just for optometrist

(00:25):
nationwide.
Ed, thank you so much forlistening today.
Really appreciate your time andattention.
And on today's episode, I amexcited to have Erich Mattei of
Akrinos back on the podcast.
And we dive into all things,hiring an associate for your
optometry practice.
We talk about reasons andmotivations to bring in that
associate.

(00:45):
And we talked about certain dataand financial points to decide
when it's time to bring on thatadditional associate.
We talk about what the ownersshould look for in an associate,
how to structure compensation.
Best practices in implementationand so much more.
With such a big decision for anoptometry practice, whether or
whether not to add on theassociate, and when.

(01:07):
There was a lot to learn fromhere with Erich so really
appreciate Erich's time.
You can catch all of Erich'scontact information and all the
resources and stuff we mentionedin this episode, in the show
notes, which you can find eitherby scrolling down on whatever
app you're using or at theeducation hub at my website,
www.optometrywealth.Com.
And while we're there, if you'reinterested in what it looks like

(01:29):
to work with an Optometryspecific financial planning
firm, reach out, love to chatwith you over a no commitment.
No pressure introductory call.
And we can talk about what's onyour mind financially in how we
help optometrists solve thosesame questions and issues
nationwide.
And without further ado here ismy conversation with Erich
Mattei.

(01:54):
Welcome back, everybody, to theOptometry Money Podcast.
I am your host, Evon Mendrin,and I am excited to be joined
once again by Mr.
Erich Matte of Akrinos.
Erich, thank you so much forcoming on.

Erich (02:05):
Evon, man, thanks for having me back.
Looking forward to today'ssession.

Evon (02:08):
Yeah, I'm excited to dive into a question or maybe a
series of questions around Whenit's time for a single doctor,
owner, practice to bring on anassociate and this is something
that I've been thinking about alot just in my conversations
with clients, with otherdoctors, but then I've seen some
of your writings online as welland so I wanted to have you on

(02:31):
to dive a little bit more intothis because maybe the listener
is interested.
One of those owners of a singledoctor practice, maybe they've
been thinking about it.
Maybe they're reaching eithersome capacity or they want a
little bit more freedom in theirtime.
Or maybe they read an articleonline and are wondering, Hey,
should I bring on an associate?
Shouldn't I?
Does it make sense?

(02:51):
Or maybe the listener is wantingto, but afraid, uncertain about
it.
All right.
And so I want to dive more intothat and just kind of open it up
with a question and What aresome of the motivations, some of
the reasons, business orotherwise, that a, an owner of a
single doctor practice shouldbring on an associate?

Erich (03:13):
That's a great question to kick off this conversation,
Evon.
And, you know, the fact is youcan go and start searching
around and find all thesedifferent reasons, like these
long lists of reasons, when'sthe right time, et cetera, et
cetera.
But really, it boils down to, toreally two considerations.
And that is where, where, whereyou, the practice owner, are

(03:37):
either looking for more time orlooking for more money, right?
Again, we can start going downthese lists and build these
lengthy lists of when is theright time to add that
associate, but really if youkind of tie it back to the, the
motivations, it really ties backto as the owner of the business,
are you seeking to generate moremoney out of your business, the

(04:00):
likes of which scalingoperations with a second
provider is going to beimperative, or are you just
simply looking to have more timeout of office?
In which case, having thatassociate provider there to
maintain the business is goingto be a critical piece of that
equation.

Evon (04:16):
Yeah, one, two very different motivations, one
financially driven or, or maybejust business plan driven and
one more personal lifestyledriven, it sounds like.
And so from a financialstandpoint, winning more money
out of the practice, that'strying to get over capacity
hurdles.
Am I hearing that correctly?

(04:37):
And so a doctor maybe is findingout that they are getting booked
out X amount of weeks on theirschedule, or they're just
realizing, okay, they're hittinga plateau.
They need to take their businessto a next level by bringing in
an additional doctor.
opening up more capacity to meetthat demand and additional
revenue and profit that may comewith that.
Is that essentially what we'retalking about?

Erich (04:58):
Yeah, yeah, Evon, you're really hitting the nail on the
head.
And particularly, I think it'simportant at this time also to
kind of invite everyone to startthinking about this slightly
differently, right?
Because the fact is, you know, alot of doctors in their practice
and even those of us around theindustry, right?
We always talk about growth,growth, growth.
But I think now it's time thatwe really start to question, is

(05:18):
it growth that we want or is itscalability that we want?
And, you know, when we look atprivate practice healthcare,
private practice optometry,which is conventionally an owner
operator business, it'sdifficult to scale, right?
Because without the owner in thelane serving patients,
everything comes to a grindinghalt.

(05:39):
So, that's actually one of thethings I was looking forward to
and unpacking in thisconversation with you, Evon, is,
So it's changing this thinkingfrom growth to really think
about scale.
And when you start thinkingabout scale, it's about how can
more things be done without asingle person necessarily having
to put in more time or moreeffort.
And when we're looking at thefact that we still need doctors

(06:00):
to be taking care of patients,adding an associate provider is
key to scaling the business,right?

Evon (06:08):
So that's, that's an interesting.
distinction between the two.
I think a lot of times we can,we can combine those two as if
growth is always scaling.
And sometimes you might seethose terms sort of used
interchangeably, but they'revery different.
Yes.
Growth, you can grow, you canincrease revenue, but you might
see costs increase along withit, whether it's time or, I

(06:29):
mean, literally cost in terms ofthe financials.
Sure.
Scale is really about.
doing more with the same orincreasing your revenue while
maintaining costs, getting morerevenue out of the same or
similar amounts of costs, right?
There's, there is a differencebetween the two.

Erich (06:46):
Absolutely.
And, and as it were, I mean, Isuppose the simplest terms I
like to look at is like growthmeans that we're, if we're
growing, we're presumablyworking harder, whereas when
we're scaling, we're presumably,well, work a little bit smarter.
And I think now in optometry,Evon, when we look at all of the
amazing technologies that areavailable to, to practices and

(07:10):
to doctors in their business,now is the, the market is ripe
for scale, but by the sametoken, doctors need to be open
to some of these newer ways ofthinking, right?
I mean, look, a perfect case inpoint is like the role of AI.
in some of this stuff, right?
Or e commerce, you know, I havesimilar conversations.

(07:32):
I know Dr.
Brianna Rue, you know, cofounder of Dr.
Contact Lens.
She and I have had manyconversations about this, how to
scale the doctor, how to scalethe practice.
And well, you can't do it ifyou're kind of staying stuck in
the way these businesses werebeing run back in the nineties,

Evon (07:48):
you know?
Yeah.
Using technology to allow thedoctor to do what the doctor
does best and being able todelegate those other things.

Erich (07:58):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And utilizing all of the toolsand resources available, right?
And that's then where I thinkwhen we start to then look at
growing the patient's scene,that's where this role of an
associate provider comes intoplay, right?
Because there are some elementsof the business that can be
scaled with a single doctor, butthen ultimately you start to hit

(08:20):
these points where, to reallymake that next step, it is going
to be about bringing in thatassociate provider.

Evon (08:27):
Yeah, I'm curious what you've seen in terms of just
capacity of a one doctorpractice, because I know, I'm
sure you and I have both seenexamples of one doctor practices
working five patient days canreasonably hit over a million
dollars of gross revenue.
A lot of times I've heardobserved where a single doctor
practice is sort of hitting thisplateau 800, 000 to 900, 000 of

(08:52):
gross revenue or so.
You know, maybe they're workingfour doctor days, uh, with one
day of administration, ofmarketing, of operational work,
different things like that.
What have you seen?
I mean, have you seen sort ofsimilar plateaus, similar points
of capacity constraints?
Where do you typically see thatcapacity constraint come in?

Erich (09:12):
Absolutely.
That's a really, really greatquestion, Evon.
And it also brings up this wholetopic of, as you see so often in
business, right?
What comes first, the chicken orthe egg, right?
And this also, this is somethingthat I think for a lot of
practice owners is where thingsget kind of a little
uncomfortable, a littleconfusing.
Like, when is the right time todo this?
But to answer your question asfar as what is the true capacity

(09:36):
potential of a single doctorpractice, You know, which you
were hitting at, kind of thisnine, you know, the eight, nine
mil range.
That's, you know, that's kind ofstarting to get there.
If we're using a lot of the,what I would say, more
antiquated systems andapproaches to the business.

(09:58):
Because what we do see is whendoctors do embrace technology.
When they find ways to empowerand delegate more to their
teams, when they create a truestrategic plan that's, you know,
the, the, the appropriate timesto make these big moves in the
business, a single doctorpractice can easily go 1.

(10:20):
2, 1.
3, or in some cases, even 1.
4 mil of production on singledoctor, but at the same time,
Evon, Evon.
Do know that you're not going tobecome a 1.
3, 1.
4 million dollar single doctorpractice.
if you're doing stuff the way itwas being done back in like 1995

(10:41):
or even 2005, right?
So it's, it's really a matter ofkind of getting with the times
and the context of the businesswith systems, with operations,
with supply chain, with retail,and all these other, I suppose,
then getting more of thetechnical kind of operational
elements that a lot of our workin Akrinos, we're working with
doctors and their strategicgrowth planning.
You know, these types ofanalytics that we evaluate and

(11:03):
some of the decisions that we'relooking to help them optimize in
the business.

Evon (11:07):
So I, I'm curious then about the second motivation in
terms of just buying more time.
Tell me more about that.
What are you seeing in terms ofthe doctors you're talking to?
What are they thinking about asthey want to buy themselves more
time and, and add to theirlifestyle?
What are some of the thingsyou're seeing as you're talking
to them about that?

Erich (11:26):
Yeah, you know, Evon, that really is reflective of
where they are in their life.
Right, so, you know, that doctorwho perhaps has small children
or school aged children that'sreally worked their tail off
their first number of years inprivate practice and has gotten
their business humming along andthey'd like to maybe step back a
little bit to spend a little bitmore time with the family,

(11:48):
right?
And by the way, y'all, for ourlisteners out there, Sometimes
you think time is just forpeople that are like approaching
retirement, but let's get real.
I mean, and Evon, I know we weretalking before we go live, I
know, you know, your householdis on the cusp of welcoming
another, another, another babyand stuff, and you talk a lot
about parenthood and balancingparenthood and, you know,
professional ambition andentrepreneurship.

(12:10):
So again, the same applies inthe practice.
So we're talking about time,right?
Where are you in your, in yourbusiness life cycle and how can
more time afford you to livethat life you'd like to lead?
So.
If you're in the earlier years,presumably you're a younger
doctor.
And if you have children,they're presumably a bit
younger.
So perhaps the motivation therein finding the associate is that

(12:33):
you could have time to go coachthe little league team or go to
the dance recital or something.
Now, in that context, the timesought is presumably a little
bit of time sought because, youknow, you're still in kind of
your peak earnings years of yourbusiness.
So you really need to be, you asthe doctor do need to be in
there seeing patients.
Yep.
Yeah.

(12:53):
Um, to, to really get this thingto, to that top level.
But, so what are you wanting thetime for?
So if you're early in practiceownership and you would like a
little more time to perhapsspend more time with your family
or perhaps, Take to a hobby thatyou're interested in.
I know we've got a lot ofathletes out there and optometry
may be training for things.
Then you'd be looking to bringon an associate.

(13:14):
Now, are you going to be lookingto bring on an associate and
promise them two or three days aweek?
Probably not.
Now you won't exactly know untilyou actually dig into your
analytics.
And I know this is work that youdo and Optometry Wealth
Advisors, you know, more on thepersonal wealth planning side.
Obviously at Akrinos, we do alot of this analysis in the
context of the business and whatcan the business support do.
Yeah.

(13:34):
So perhaps earlier, if you'relooking for just that extra day
a week or afternoon a week to gocoach the little league team,
then maybe you're just lookingfor an associate to come in and
do one day a week with you.
But then we fast forward and welook as you're getting further
into your business life cycle.
And presumably the business isbecoming more sustainable and

(13:55):
hopefully more profitable.
If not reach out to Karinas,right.
But, but in that context, thenwhat we're looking to free up
time.
Well, then perhaps it's notlooking for an area doctor that
can give us one day a week, butmaybe we're looking for a bit
more consistent, true associateto the business.
And then ultimately, when you'reapproaching the retirement

(14:16):
years, you're really eyeingthat, and presumably you're
really wanting to reduce your,your patient load, that's going
to be the time to lean into thefull time associate, right?
And presumably, hopefully.
and if not, I would implore youto really take some time to
reflect on it.

(14:36):
That's when you need to also belooking at that full-time
associate being on a path topartnership.
Mm-hmm And Evon, I'd love tounpack that in another
conversation here, but let's getback to focusing here just on,
I, I wanna

Evon (14:46):
ask about that briefly, but I, I do want to, I just
wanna highlight what you'retalking about because there are,
you know, I think we have thissort of.
conception that okay, you can'tbuy yourself time freedom until
you're about to exit.
I think a lot of times we canfind ourselves that in that
scenario, in that way ofthinking that okay, that's
something that you do whenyou're about to retire.

(15:07):
And that's certainly the case,especially if you are getting
closer to the point where youwant to exit, you want to sort
of sunset your time in thepractice, start to focus on
other things in your life,preserve the value of that
practice, make sure that therevenues continue to come in,
patients are continuing to beseen.
Certainly, adding that associatecan buy you time later on in
your career, but I have examplesof conversations here on the

(15:30):
podcast.
I think Dr.
Andy Yarian is one.
If I'm remembering correctly, Imean, he, he was burned out.
He has a young family, growingfamily.
He was burned out.
I mean, that's an example ofgrowth, of growth.
Revenue was growing, profit wasgrowing, but his efforts were
growing.
He was constantly burned out.
He was constantly burned out.
And so bringing in that help,bringing in those associates,

(15:52):
allowed himself to free himselftime to not only just have a
better relationship with hisbusiness, but to fulfill his,
his desires to be more with hisfamily, with his kids, and some
of those other things.
There is a personal financialplanning and a business
financial planning aspect tothat, because you do want to
make sure that your personalfinances are met, you're able to
tackle some of those importantpersonal finance goals, but Even

(16:16):
mid career with youngerfamilies, you still can buy
yourself time.
It may not be the full associateschedule, it may not be four or
five patient days a week, butyou can do that.
And I have examples of even justclients I know that, like
myself, are welcoming new babiesto the family, having those
associates allow them to takemore time to step away, be with

(16:37):
their children a little bitmore.
Because they knew that patientswere still being seen.
So that, that is really gettingto, okay, what are you wanting
out of your business?
Because a lot of you listeners,probably got into private
practice because you want morecontrol and freedom.
More control and freedom overthe patient experience, the type
of care, scope of care you wantto provide.
But importantly, how thatbusiness interacts and your work

(16:59):
interacts with your personallife.
And so, really thinking aboutwhat do you want out of this
business?
What does it mean to your lifeand to your family?
Really can help you do thatbecause that's not purely a
financially driven decision.
It's more of a values drivendecision.
And that's okay.
You know, it doesn't need to bepurely financially driven.

(17:20):
One last thing I just want toask you, Erich, is, is how does
succession planning orcontingency planning sort of
play into that thinking too?
Like what, how does that factorinto this decision?

Erich (17:33):
Yeah, that's a really, really great question, Evon.
And you know, one of thosethings that has changed
radically in recent years,right?
Because quite frankly, eversince private equity came on the
scene about 10 years ago, right?
So this was recording in early2025.
years ago that we saw privateequity really make a surge into
the optometry space.

(17:54):
And well, that's changed a lotof things.
And what I think has changedmost notably is kind of a wake
up call for doctors to be moreproactive in planning their
future, right?
In other words, don't bedisillusioned by the fact that
we had some private equity comethrough and perhaps you had a
classmate that sold to privateequity, but don't think that

(18:17):
you're going to walk to themailbox one day or don't expect,
I'll say this, don't expect towalk to the mailbox one day and
get a letter from a privateequity offering to write you a
bigger check than you could everimagine for your business.
Quite frankly, that's theexception, not the rule.
But to take it a step further,and this is where I think things
get really interesting, Evon, isthat, and you know this, because

(18:41):
I mean, analytics, it's a matterof how you're going to spend
time with your numbers, right?
Because the fact is, when youstart digging into it, you can
come to see that, you can cometo see that, Hmm.
Maybe I can be more proactive inmy business today when I have a
longer runway to retirement andbe proactive in bringing on an
entrepreneurial associate andget them on the path to

(19:04):
partnership, the likes of whichnet net personal wealth would
serve you better than the singlebig payday from that private
equity, which by the way, thenit's going to work you like a
slave.
And actually it's questionableas far as to what degree
patience and your staff.
want to be employed by theseentities, right?

(19:25):
Yeah.
You may not like

Evon (19:26):
the way that deal looks on the other side.

Erich (19:29):
No, absolutely not.
As a matter of fact, Evon, look,I've got a, I've got an essay
that's been run as a two partarticle series in the Review of
Optometric Business that unpacksthis.
As a matter of fact, part onewas published just earlier this
year, part two, well, it wasreleased this week.
So please y'all go check out, goto reviewob.
com, search my name, E R I C H MA T T E I, and you'll see this,
this two part series, becausewhat we do there, Evon, is that

(19:54):
You know, that statement that Ijust made, it's questionable how
much your patients are going towant to seek care at this
entity, and it's questionablehow you will professionally be
fulfilled.
This essay actually cites thesources that are now uncovering
this data.
You know, it's fascinating thatnow we're far enough into the
corporatization of iCare thatnow we're starting to get our,

(20:19):
get data.
You know, you've got think tankscoming out of Stanford, you've
got think tanks coming out of,you know, UC Berkeley,
University of Chicago, theseeconomic think tanks, these
healthcare economic think tankswith these brilliant PhDs and
all they do is analyze thisstuff.
Y'all, the data is out there,the data is out there that

(20:40):
providers, patients, andcommunities are best served by
private practice healthcare.
So I think now we live in afascinating time where now that
we have access to this data andwe kind of see the facts, and
then with some advancedanalytics that you can get into
and looking at the numbers ofthe business, same way in
financial planning, right?

(21:00):
Optometry Wealth Advisors,there's new ways that you can
look at analytics for wealthplanning that even 10 years ago
you wouldn't be capable ofdoing.
So I think now is a remarkableopportunity for doctors who
really do want to take controlof their future and not hold out
for a private equity or acorporate buyer in the same way.

(21:22):
We can say, take control of yourfuture and not rely on some
managed care plan to raise yourreimbursement by five bucks.
And considering that your payraise, like there's a whole lot
of things we can do, you know,as a matter of fact, that's a
really cool topic in and ofitself.
You know, Dr.
Chris Lopez.

Evon (21:38):
I think we might save this for a second conversation
because I'd like to dive intothis specific topic a little bit
more, but it does sound likepart of that motivation then for
looking for an associate isn'tjust the capacity, but it's,
okay, now let's, let's plan asuccession for my business and
let's de risk the business alittle bit so that it's not
entirely on your shoulders.

(21:58):
Now, if something happened toyou, the owner doctor, you know,
that patients can continue to beserved.
and still maintain the value ofthat business in the worst case
scenarios, you know, in terms ofreally contingency planning.
So that's certainly a motivationas well to making sure that the
risk of your business is, isbrought down.
And there is a plan forsuccession.
You know that you can exit.

(22:19):
There is a market for yourbusiness that fits according to
your desires.
And if that's the, if that's theway you want to go.
So we've got a few motivationsthen we've got capacity or
financial motivations.
We've got, or just, or justentrepreneurial business growth
motivations.
We have personal time, buyingtime freedom motivations, and we
have a little bit of successionplanning, contingency planning

(22:41):
as well.
What are some of the, we'll callit data points.
What are, what are some of thenumbers that suggest to you,
depending on what yourmotivation is.
Now's the time.
What are some of the things thatdoctors should be looking at in
their business to tell them it'stime to start looking?

Erich (22:59):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So convey, by the way, there's alot of ways to look at this,
right?
I mean, as we were talkingbefore we go live, there's a lot
of really cool ways to look atanalytics these days, but you
know, genErichally speaking, Isuppose that the classic
approach would be like, youknow, Hey, if you're booked two
weeks out, it's time to add anassociate.
You know, that's kind of theconventional thinking.

(23:19):
But as it were, it gets, itgets, I would argue that we
could be far more strategic thanthat, right?
And I'll say this, one of thefirst things to understand is
truly what is the profitabilityof this business?
Because understand that when youdo bring in that doctor, their
wage is going to, it's, it'spart of doctor wages.

(23:39):
It's part of doctorcompensation.
So understand from the verybeginning that Unless they're
coming in and they're going todo something to really move this
needle, you're simply payingthem other money that would have
otherwise perhaps been in yourpocket.
But, but look, trade offs,right?
Because in the case of, I knowyou mentioned one of your guests

(24:01):
that was on the show that, youknow, added an associate
because, hey, he was just, hewasn't as fulfilled in the day
to day of the business.
He had other things that hewanted to get involved in.
So he was happy to give up someof that money to hire someone to
then afford him the time.
Okay.
So there's, there's something tobe said for that.
But when we are looking at theeconomics of the business, it is
imperative that everyoneunderstand that doctor

(24:23):
compensation, we want to lump asone category, whether it's one
doc, two doc, or goodness, halfa dozen docs across four
locations.
We want to have everythingbundled into this, this, this
doctor compensation piece.
So understanding that, and do wehave the bandwidth for that?
To take it a step further, it'simperative to consider chair

(24:45):
cost.
And this is one of thosecalculations that is so
overlooked.
I mean, dare I say it'sforgotten about oftentimes,
right?
You know, doctors will go, youknow, rightly so, you go to the
event, you connect with some ofyour peers, maybe at the local
society meeting, and people aretalking about their practice.

(25:05):
So what's everybody talkingabout?
They're talking about the funstuff.
They're talking about the sexystuff, like how much gross
revenue they have, or, you know,this cool new 200, 000 piece of
equipment that's doing, well,hopefully it's doing something.
If not, that's a lot of note tocarry or something.
That's a different podcast

Evon (25:24):
episode, yeah.

Erich (25:25):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
But where I'm going with this,Evon, is that Calculating share
costs, it's something thatunfortunately is so radically
forgotten about, and yet, if youask me, it's arguably one of the
most important analytics thatyou can crunch in the practice.
And what is that share cost?
You understand exactly what yourcost is of seeing a patient.

(25:46):
So it's a matter of assessingall of your fixed costs, what do
we need to keep this thinghumming along, and then break it
down to understand each patient,what's that going to look like.
Now there's a lot ofapplications then.
of utilizing share costs, but asit pertains to bringing on the
new provider, it's really amatter of understanding what

(26:06):
type of production is thatprovider going to be capable of,
understanding that we do havethis cost we need to cover.
Okay, so this is when we getinto things revolving around are
we, how are we setting thatassociate provider up for
success?

(26:28):
Are we providing them the toolsand resources they need to be
successful?
Whether it's team, whether it'sequipment, whether it's
infrastructure or anything else,right?
Because if we, if you as the, ifyou as the owner are seeing
patients, and let's just pullsome numbers out of the air,
Evon, let's say that yourrevenue per patient is, you
know, 350 revenue per patient,and those chair costs are, say,

(26:52):
180.
Again, just pulling numbers outof the air here.
Well, understand if you bringthat associate in and they're
not able to keep pace with yourthree 50,

Evon (27:03):
ah, interesting.
That's

Erich (27:04):
not a good look.

Evon (27:05):
Yes.

Erich (27:06):
So that's where, that's where we look to really, you're
wanting to seek out an associateprovider that has complimentary
skillset

Evon (27:14):
that can revenue per OD hour.
I mean, they can, they cancontinue that.
Yeah.

Erich (27:19):
Not only maintain it, but actually increase it.
And that's where I do, that'swhere it's, it's amazing to see
modern optometry and what newgrads are capable of doing out
of optometry school.
You know, Evon, I do workclosely with the AmErichan
Optometric Association Centerfor Independent Practice.
And through that, I've had thehonor of going into some of our

(27:41):
colleges of optometry across theU.
S.
and teaching students aboutbusiness, teaching students
about the path to associateship,the path to partnership.
Obviously, that's what I'm allabout, right?
Let's teach these students howto position themselves for
ownership if it's something theywant to do.
But the reason why I'm bringingthat up is because in so doing,

(28:02):
I get the opportunity to go onthese campuses.
Dude, it will blow your freakingmind what optometrists are being
taught in the modern era.
So now we look at these legacypractices.
And hey, you docs out there thathave been practicing for 20, 25,
30 years, 35 years, I'm talkingto y'all.

(28:23):
Because in all likelihood,perhaps you've made some
advancements in your practice.
But I'm willing to bet thatthere's still a lot of your
practice that's kind of stillthe way that you were practicing
when you came on the scene.
Fair enough?
Yeah.
So now we look at what these newoptometrists can do in bringing

(28:48):
a whole new scope of care toyour business.
And now's where we start toreally see these things happen
because now it's not, okay, Ihope this young doctor.
can wow these patients and havethem purchasing the eyewear out
of my optical the way I do orhave the patient purchasing the

(29:08):
year supply of contact lensesthe way I do as a legacy doctor.
I'll tell you right now, out ofthe blocks, they're not going to
be able to, they can't do that.
I'll tell you right now.
And how do I know this?
Because one of the thingsthey're not being taught at all
in optometry school is retailand sales and sales language and
handoff language and all theseother things you get into that

(29:28):
really drives production.
Okay.
So while it would be a dream tothink that they're going to be
able to maintain the opticalretail revenue and the materials
revenue, the way you have beenable to do legacy in your
business.
If we're relying on them doingthat, I caution you.
They are not going to maintainthat revenue head yet.

(29:49):
They're still going to have thatsame chair cost in your
business.
Yeah.
So this is where it's a matterof looking at all of these
aspects of eye care that you asa legacy doctor.
have not yet incorporated intoyour business.
And that is where you want tofind the associate.
That young associate that can dothis full scope of medical that

(30:09):
maybe, maybe you were nevercomfortable doing, right?
Interesting.
Yeah, not only

Evon (30:14):
the comprehensive eye exam, but they are able to add
in potentially specialties orsee complex medical cases that
maybe were not able to be servedbefore opening up, you know,
almost a new source of patientdemand.

Erich (30:28):
Absolutely.
Full scope.
It's called full scopeoptometry.
And quite frankly, Evon, likethis is where I'll reference
back to that essay that I wrotethat, that review of optometry
businesses running, you know,y'all, this is big.
This is big.
Like we, we are facing a huge,massive public health deficits,
unless we have optometristspracticing at the full scope top

(30:52):
of license.
We need our, we need ourophthalmologists.
In the surgery center, in theoperating room, okay, we need
optometry to practice full scopemedical top of license
optometry.
And we need optometry to empowertheir para optometric teams and
their opticians to step up andperhaps get involved in a bit

(31:15):
more of the vision than oldschool optometry would have
been, would have been into.
It's all a matter of economics,man.
It really is.
It's, it's, it's fascinatingwhen you start to look at some
of these, some of this data nowthat's coming out of some of
these healthcare think tanks,it's really fascinating.
And I believe while some wouldbe like, Oh my gosh, it's scary.
Evon, that's where I think welive in an amazing time and the

(31:38):
future is so incredibly brightin private practice optometry.

Evon (31:44):
I'm certainly going to.
I'm going to throw those intothe show notes, so anyone,
whatever platform you're lookingon, scroll down to the show
notes, you'll see that articlein there, but let's go back to
these factors here.
So number one, I think is, is,should be obvious, but maybe
it's not, is know your numbers,right?
Have clean, accurate accounting,please, optometry, practice

(32:04):
owners.
Have clean, accurate accountingthat's timely and usable.
Know your chair costs, right?
So what does it cost to put apatient in the chair?
What are your fixed costs?
And then know what your revenueper OD hour or, you know,
revenue per exam, however youwant to measure that.
So you can compare the expectedrevenue you might be bringing in

(32:25):
per, per patient you're going tosee.
So knowing your numbers is, isnumber one.
It sounds like the next thingyou talked about was patient
demand, right?
So there needs to be patientdemand.
If you're going to, if, if yourgoal is to try to creep through
a capacity constraint, you doneed to have the patient demand
in order to, to do that.
Otherwise, it sounds like theowner doctor is just simply
gonna be cannibalizing their ownincome.

(32:47):
And on the other side of that,if it's more lifestyle driven,
then you may be planning forthat.
That might be intentional, butif it's capacity driven.
growth driven, scale driven, touse the better term, then there
has to be that patient demand.
It sounds like that'straditionally looked at as two
weeks booked out or more.
It sounds like that's thetraditional measure of just
scheduling.

(33:07):
What is the patient demand?
And then you can look at, okay,do you have the infrastructure?
You mentioned infrastructure, soI'm assuming that's space.
So do you have the space tobring on an additional doctor?
Do you have an exam lane?
Do you need to build one out?
Do you have staff technology toallow for additional patients?
Because it's one thing to havethe patient demand, but if you

(33:27):
can't fulfill the patient demandbecause, because of
infrastructure, then thatrevenue number is not going to
meet the chair cost.
And in fact, you might beincreasing the chair cost,
right?
Because now you have to thenincrease fixed costs.
So that's something to look atto say, okay, can you
reasonably.
fulfill that patient demand,knowing your numbers, knowing

(33:48):
the cost to see a patient, andthen knowing just what your
infrastructure looks like.
Did I miss anything?
Does that sound like a prettygood summary of what you talked
about?

Erich (33:57):
Absolutely, Evon.
And I, and I, I think what I,what I really want to highlight
there is the difference betweenconventional primary care
refractive optometry and modernfull scope eye care.
Oh, that optometrists arepracticing, right?

(34:17):
So, so two, two differences.
And so I'm really glad that youhighlighted those as you were
kind of doing a recap.

Evon (34:25):
And maybe you can even see that for the listener.
You can potentially see thatjust in how many times you're
referring out for, for certainconditions.
I mean, you can probably get asense for how often, you know,
how much demand for theseservices are, are really in your
practice already that you're notfulfilling that could be if you
were to hire an associate that'swell trained by, by the

(34:45):
education they're getting.
And how about the ability tofind an optometrist?
It may not be an issue in, youknow, metropolitan areas, but
you might imagine there areplenty of.
Role Practices that have plentyof opportunity for an associate
doctor, plenty of opportunityeven for a potential partner,
but just can't find the doctor.

(35:08):
Like how, what have you seenaround that?
Just how easy or difficult it isto find an associate doctor?

Erich (35:14):
I'll say this, Evon.
If your interest in hiring anassociate doctor is something
you keep a secret and you're theonly person that knows about it.
You're going to have a reallyhard time.
But, if you broadcast it to theworld, you share it with your

(35:34):
community, you get in touch withyour state association and let
them know that you're looking,you get the list of the new
grads that just tested or folksthat just got licensed in your
state.
As a matter of fact, as we'rerecording this, it's early 25,
so you know, they do licensing,you know, mid year.
The new, the new grads will becoming to the state and taking
their tests, right?
So, lean into your stateassociation, y'all.

(35:57):
Lean into your stateassociation.
Number one, don't keep it asecret.
Number two, get involved.
Get out there in your communitywith other doctors, right?
Meet doctors.
Go to the networking events.
But don't keep it a secret.
And that is absolutely, Evon,look, we have, we, we, we have,
we have seen, we have seendoctors go in halfsies with a

(36:22):
good friend of theirs, one townover, and go like 50 50 on
hiring an associate, and thenwithin, within a year, the
associate goes all in with oneof them.
And do you want to know why?
Why?
Because, because, The other, theother counterpart over here, one

(36:43):
town over, was kind of secretiveabout what their intent was for
that associate.
Whereas the other doctor, a townover, that ultimately ended up
pulling that doctor in to buytheir practice, they didn't keep
it a secret.
They started, it was part of thedialogue from day one in having
that associate come and evenwork one day a week in the
office.

(37:03):
Then one became two, the nextthing you know, that's, that's
now the legacy buying thebusiness.
So I would say in all of this,the number one thing, number one
thing, if you want to hire anassociate, is be proactive and
don't keep it a secret.

Evon (37:23):
Open communication.
I mean, you're marketing yourbusiness to not only patients,
but to future team members,right?
And the way that your websitecomes off, the way you talk
about it with your peers, yourscope of care, the technology
you're using, the patientexperience, like you're, you're.
I've seen this from, from otherfinancial planning firms and
just other businesses that you,you are marketing yourself to

(37:45):
two different groups.
You are marketing yourself tofuture potential patients or
customers, and you're marketingyourself to potential team
members.
Because they're going to want toknow your story, what makes you
different, what is theexperience working at your
clinic versus others.
They want to know what they'regoing to learn and get out of

(38:05):
that experience as well.
So that's, I don't think wethink about our businesses in
that way a lot of the times.
And that open communication,man, how many times have I seen
the The story of, of not reallyknowing what the next step is
for that optometrist in thepractice they're going into,
whether it was because ofpromises that were never

(38:27):
fulfilled, the, the old story ofthe succession plan that never
was, or whether there was justno clear communication in terms
of what's next, how many daysare coming up next, what's the
path forward.
And that, I think that opencommunication is so important.
What should the owner look forin an associate?
And does that differ based onthe, the motivation?

Erich (38:52):
I would, I would say number one, Evon, is someone
that aligns in mission, vision,and purpose, you know, it's,
it's, it's just like with hiringa new member to your team, you
know, you know, Oh, I need tohire a new optician, how should
I kind of qualify somebody orwhatever, right?
Look, it all ties back tomission, vision, purpose.

(39:14):
You can teach people.
operations.
You can teach peopletechnicalities.
You can't teach commitment tomission, vision, purpose.
So that's number one.
Now, presumably they align inmission, vision, purpose, and
they do have a head on theirshoulders.
So they are capable of some ofthe technical, um, demands of,

(39:36):
of, of, of the role.
But again, it goes, it goeswithout saying that it's a
number one thing is mission,vision, and purpose.
And also I'd say to, to kind of.
To kind of bolster that, to goback to what we were just
talking about, and that's theopen communication piece.
So that's kind of number two,right?
This associate must align withthe mission, vision, and purpose

(40:01):
of your business.
Remember, they are going to bethe face of your business in
serving those patients.
So it is imperative, not onlyserving those patients, but also
interacting with your team.
I mean, heaven forbid you hirean associate and then when
you're doing your day a week outof the office or whatever, you
come back and you get reportsfrom your administrator or your,

(40:23):
you know, your office manager,Hey, I don't know about this new
doctor we brought in.
This is what I saw them doing.
This is what I discovered.
Right?
So number one, mission, vision,purpose.
Number two.
Open communication.
And that also lends itself to,as we're talking about the
degree to which now is the time,now is the time for
associateship to get on apartner path, that open

(40:47):
communication needs to be allthe more part of it, right?
Got it.
And I'll tell you, Evon, look,there are enough, there are
enough corporate, privateequity, and hospital system
entities out there that arepaying top dollar to hire
doctors to their business.

(41:09):
I don't have a hard survey.
I don't have hard numbers onthis, but if you just kind of
start to put the piecestogether, you can kind of come
to realize, huh, if they'repaying that much for doctors to
come and join them, again, thecorporates, the private equity,
and the hospital systems, thenwhat is the motivation for a

(41:30):
doctor to go, to go anchor theirwagon to, to a private practice?
And I'm willing to bet that thevast majority of them, they want
that ownership opportunity.
So tying back to it, what tolook for in the associate,
mission, vision, purpose, andopen communication from day one.
Got it.

Evon (41:50):
Yeah, that makes sense.
And how does, how does the ownerthink about compensation
structures?
What frameworks that they shouldthink about to figure out, okay,
what and how should I pay thatassociate?

Erich (42:02):
Yeah, that's a really great question, especially now
when it's ever more competitiveto hire doctors, right?
Look, 30 years ago, there was nosuch thing as private equity and
optometry.
Corporate optometry was, was,was a fraction of what it is
now.
And these hospital systems, ornot nearly the size they were,
okay?

(42:23):
So, 30 years ago, thecompensation conversation was
far less complicated, if youwill.
But fast forward to where we arenow with so much competition
recruiting doctors as a privatepractice, it is imperative that
you have a robust compensationplan that folks are gonna, folks

(42:44):
are not gonna feel like they'rewasting their time being a part
of.
Okay, so that consists of what?
That consists of salary, thatconsists of bonus on production.
If we want them to be vested inthe growth of our business, we
need to be, we need to invest inthem to be vested in the growth.
So salary, bonus based on theirproduction, and benefits.

(43:07):
Now, by the way, benefits cancome in so many different shapes
and sizes, right?
I know, Evon, in the work you doin Optometry Wealth Advisors, I
know you can help practiceowners figure out what's going
to be in their best interest fortheir group and also for
themselves, okay?
Okay.
But think about what doctorsstarting their career or early
in their career, what are theylooking for?

(43:27):
They're looking for salary.
They want to be a part of thegrowth.
Let's give them some benefits.
By the way, y'all, there's a lotof really cool ways you can do
benefits.
Don't think because I just saidbenefits that, oh my gosh, I
need to do like health insuranceand all this stuff.
There's a lot of really coolways you can offer some
remarkable benefits that doesn'tnecessarily cost the business a
ton.
Right?
But then from there, I encouragepeople to get a bit deeper in

(43:50):
it.
I say I encourage people thework that we do within Akrinos
and clients that are bringing onassociates.
And when we put together theseassociate comp plans, we take
them a step further and wereally want to help this
associate understand how theycan be a part of the growth and
actually how they can, how theycan play an active role in their
own success.

(44:11):
So in so doing to structure theplan in such a way that right
there.
Everyone can see clearly thenumbers on patient volumes,
breakeven patient volumes, andby the way, when I say breakeven
patient volumes, I mean thebreakeven to get your business

(44:32):
in the sweet spot of AssociateComp.
By the way, the sweet spot ofAssociate Comp is like 15 19
percent of their collections Nottheir billed revenue, but the
actual collections that wereceive in the business, that
they're getting somewhere inthis range of 15 to 19 percent
of that.
That's the sweet spot, butunderstand there's a different

(44:52):
ways to get into the sweet spotfor a doctor that may have a
lower revenue per head.
How are they going to get thatsweet spot?
Got to be volume based.
Does our compensation planillustrate that so that our new
associate clearly understands.
what the expectations are.
Conversely, that sweet spot canbe achieved by doing what?

(45:13):
Increasing that revenue perhead.
Once again, chair costs stayingthe same, increasing that
revenue per head, in which case,what?
They may not have to see as manypatients.
So, does the compensation planillustrate how changes in that
revenue per head, with thosecontrolled chair costs, is going

(45:33):
to impact the economics.
It's going to impact the patientvolume that they're, that
they're being asked to see.
And where it really comestogether, and I'll tell you,
Evon, and you know, firsthandfrom working with the credo's
clients through this stuff, it'sreally amazing when you get that
associate.
It's like, I want to see anextra patient a day.

(45:55):
And I'm going to become a rockstar to drive that revenue per
patient.
And that's when you start to seethese things really hum and
really start to turn.
And it's a win win foreverybody, right?
Yes.

Evon (46:05):
Yeah.
Both sides win when the, theassociates more productive in
that case.

Erich (46:09):
Absolutely.
So you're,

Evon (46:10):
you're seeing commonly, and I'm seeing commonly as well,
some minimum salary amount.
Which makes sense.
I think an associate doctorwants to know that there's some
minimal amount of income tocover at least just necessary
expensive.
Very commonly then productionbonuses on top of that.
And, and one of the most common,I don't know, complaints that I
see, one of the most commonthings that are frustrating to

(46:32):
the associate in those cases.
What's very heavily productionis that they're not sure what
the numbers are.
I mean, they're, they're notreally sure what formula drives
that number.
They're not really able to seetheir production amount.
That open communication goes along way.
Just from, just from what I'mseeing in many of the

(46:52):
conversations I'm having, manyof the groups that I'm in having
that communication.
And I, I do think in, inaddition to ownership
opportunities, One of the thingsthat I'm commonly seeing,
they're not getting in theselarger employers is that
mentorship or camaraderie isbeing able to sit down with you,
the senior doctor, go over thecharts and say, how, like you

(47:14):
met, like you were just talkingabout, Erich, how can we improve
my work as an optometrist?
How can we improve revenue peropportunity?
You know, how do we, how do wedrive improved results?
And I think that mentorship goesa long way just from what I'm
hearing.
Are you, are you seeing similarthings?
What are your thoughts on that?

Erich (47:30):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
I mean, and this is where I'llinvite, I'll invite doctors, you
know, think back to where youwere earlier in your career, you
know, and what you were seekingas a younger doctor in those
early years starting out.
And think about those of yourcolleagues, presumably the few
years ahead of you.
But look, a mentor is not alwayssomebody that's like 20 years

(47:51):
older.
I mean, a mentor can be, amentor can actually be someone
younger than you.
I mean, it's purely that youhave an expertise.
that you're eager to share withothers to empower them to really
achieve the best that they'recapable of.
And I think that mentorshippiece also, Evon, particularly
if we're talking about gettingan associate on the path to

(48:13):
partnership, that is absolutelyhuge.
Yes.
Because if you show that, thatassociate the time and you
invest in them, even if youinvest in them as simply your
time invested in them.
to have these mentorshipsessions to show them the
analytics, maybe even show themthe books, get into calculating

(48:35):
share costs, get into evaluatingthe handoff and some of the
sales skills that perhaps you,where you are now in your
career, take for granted howmuch you've developed simply
over time, but understandsomeone early, you know, they,
they need to be empowered withsome of this stuff.
So I think the mentorship piecefor anyone, it's imperative
because, you know, it.

(48:56):
Don't think you're going to hiresomebody and you're never going
to cross paths with them andthey're just going to keep
serving your patients and keepserving your patients well and
you'll just pay them every twoweeks.
Ain't going to happen.
You got to be actively engagedin that relationship with that
associate.
And if it's someone that you'reeyeing to be the, the, the, the,
the future, your future businesspartner or owner of your

(49:16):
business, then even more so foryou to, for you to lean into
that.

Evon (49:22):
So let's, let's drive that then let's follow that into, I
guess, the last thing to touchon is what are some best
practices to make thattransition as successful as
possible in terms of trainingand mentorship, in terms of
starting out with fewer days,leading to more days, like what,
what are some of the bestpractices to make sure that when
you onboard a new associate,there's as best of an outcome,

(49:44):
at least as you know, you'reincreasing the likelihood of a
good outcome as possible.

Erich (49:48):
That's a great question, Evon.
And I will say this ties back toa core process that within
Akrinos we apply to every, everyclient need, every client case,
but also it's a core processthat you all utilize in
Optometry Wealth Advisors, thatdoctors use in serving patients.

(50:09):
The first step of the process isthis.
And by the way, the process iswhat?
Analyze, strategize, implement.
Okay.
So step one, analytics.
So the analytics that you'regoing to want to evaluate when
bringing on that associate andEvon, you touched on some of
these, right?
Know your numbers, know yourproduction analytics, how many
patients are seen, how they'resegmented across vision,

(50:30):
medical, specialty care, anddigging into the retail side of
the business and understandinghow those patients are
converting.
And then conversely, looking atthe cashflow, the other side
that we don't see on theproduction side, right?
Because the other side has what?
Chair costs.
Basically like, hey, we got thismoney coming into the business,
but now what's going out of thebusiness?

(50:51):
What are we having to spend tokeep this thing running?
So, so that being said, it's amatter of the analytics.
And I believe for a newassociate doctor, the better
they can understand what the dayto day of the business looks
like, as far as patient flow,the need in serving those
patients, the better.

(51:11):
So analytics, understand yourpatients, your production
analytics, and understand thecash flow analytics because
that's going to come full circlewhen that associate does come
in.
Step two is strategy.
And this is something, as amatter of fact, I write about
this quite frequently indifferent capacities and I like
to speak about this and it's allabout a stakeholder centric

(51:32):
strategy.
Right?
And in the context of thepractice, there are three core
stakeholders.
There's going to be patients.
There's going to be people, asin your team, and there's going
to be the practice, namely likethe bottom line of the practice.
Again, this is a business.
We need to keep this thinghumming along, okay?
Right, right, right.
So, we need to ensure that thestrategy is going to empower and

(51:57):
serve each of our stakeholders.
So, for instance, if we're goingto roll out a new strategy or
new tactic in the business, andit undermines our staff, That's
not going to be a sustainablestrategy, right?
So, so even if it's somethingthat maybe delights patients,
and does good for the bottomline of the practice, but if

(52:19):
your staff don't like it, goodluck.
Flip side of the coin, we canhave something that staff love,
and patients love, but aw, crap,we're bleeding money through
this, it's not sustainable.
And then last but not least, youcan have something that is
profitable for the practice, andthe staff love it.
It, but if your patients aren'tinto it, it's not gonna take

(52:41):
flight.
So when you're putting togetheryour strategy and Bri and
pulling this associate in andonboarding them, just ensure
that what you're asking of themis something that all of your
stakeholders are gonna be fansof.
Your team, your patients.
and the practice economics.

(53:02):
And that then leads us to thethird piece, to ensure success,
right?
So we started with theanalytics, let's be sure we know
our numbers, production and cashflow.
Once we know those numbers, thenwe use those analytics to
develop our strategy.
That's what?
A stakeholder centric strategythat's gonna delight and empower
everyone, the practice, ourpeople, and our patients.

(53:23):
And then third isimplementation.
And this is really all about howdo we do it?
Follow up, accountability, andengagement.
And that's where I like to saythere is no substitute for the
weekly team meeting.
For that new associate doctor,there is no substitute for a
daily meeting.
Remember, they're early.
And even if they are establishedin their career, they're still

(53:45):
new to your practice.
So you really need to investthat time with them.
So that's why it's so criticalin the implementation piece.
That you have some, some changechampions in your office, some
business builders in your officewho's really engaged in the
context of the new associate,this is oftentimes going to be
maybe a practice administratorthat can serve as that, that,

(54:07):
you know, that lead person,perhaps even that mentor to that
associate when you as thepractice owner or are not in
office, right?
So having that change championin your office, having that
business builder in your office,that's going to really ensure
that that associate feels thelove.
And I mean feel the love, notonly the pat on the back, you've
done a good job, smiles, butalso feel the love with some

(54:29):
other things we were touchingon, which is like
infrastructure.
Do they have, does our associatehave the staff they need to be
successful?
Does our associate, are theygetting the patients on their
schedule to be successful?
These types of things.
So, so follow that simple threestep process, know our
analytics, develop thatstakeholder centric strategy.
And then the implementationpiece, which is all about

(54:50):
consistency and follow up to theplan.

Evon (54:53):
Yeah, it sounds like a big part of implementation is what
we've talked about earlier whenlooking for an associate.
It's making sure there's a fitwith vision and mission, which
the practice would need to knowwhat their vision and mission
is, right?
A culture fit.
I mean, a lot of times we callthat there, there needs to be a
fit for the culture, thepractice, That communication and
training and sort of mentorshipand someone leading that

(55:14):
onboarding effort is reallyimportant, you know, especially
if you are trying to maintain acertain set of processes and
procedures, a certain, a certainstandard of care, you don't want
to have anybody doing somethingdifferently than everyone else.
That training and communicationis going to be really important.
How, how about making sure thatPatients are ending up on the

(55:37):
new associates schedule versusthe owner doctor.
Are there any best practices tomake sure that staff's
comfortable referring over tothat new doctor, that patients
are comfortable with it, thatit's well marketed?
You know, what, what are yourthoughts around that?

Erich (55:53):
That's a really great question.
And that is a question that isabsolutely a, on a practice
basis.
Okay.
And so, and I say that from thestandpoint of.
Legacy practices, long standingpatient relationships.
But I also say that with highmedical practices, where you may

(56:14):
have that same provider you wantserving that patient, you know,
the glaucoma patient that'scoming in every six months for
checks and glaucoma, right?
We want to ensure that they areplugged into the same provider,
right?
So, as it were, the quickest wayto fill that patient's schedule
is for your scheduling team,whoever schedules patients in

(56:37):
your office, or if it's a pieceof software you use for patient
only scheduling, to haveeverything be first available.
Do not name names.
It's all about firstavailability.
Interesting.
Now, if a patient, if a patientSo the reason why I'm saying
that, Evon, is because Ibelieve, and again, there's no

(56:57):
hard data on this.
This is kind of more likeexperiential, if you will.
But the moment that we startsaying, Hey, would you like to
see our legacy doctor?
Or would you like to see our newdoctor that you've never heard
of?
I mean, not likely that they'regoing to say this one.
Okay, great.
Well, there we'll get you there.
They're first available in threeweeks, but we'll get you
scheduled there.
We'll look forward to seeing youin three weeks.

(57:18):
Yeah.
As opposed to fantastic.
We can't wait to schedule yourappointment.
What's the best day of the weekfor you?
Yeah.
Thursday afternoon is great.
Our first Thursday afternoon istomorrow afternoon at this time.
Let it start with FirstAvailable, then when you get
them scheduled and committed tothat time of First Available,

(57:42):
then, fantastic! You will beseeing Dr.
fill in the blank.
Now, there still may be, theremay still be some pushback
there, but understand, Why didthe patient call the practice?
To get an eye exam.
www.
optometrywealth.
com

Evon (57:59):
Yes,

Erich (58:00):
or to get a foreign body removal, whatever the case, you
know, they called the practicefor care, so let's get them
scheduled for care, then we'lllet them know who their provider
is, and if they object, we'llswitch them, but once, again,
we're meeting the need, that'swhy they called, they called for
care, great, we can provide youcare, this is the earliest day

(58:21):
and time we can provide youcare.

Evon (58:24):
This is a mentality shift.
It's almost in like an identityshift for probably the
underdoctor too, is you're,you're getting patients to see
the practice and the eye care ofthe practice, not the eye care
of the doctor.
And the practice has a standardof care and a patient experience
that is hopefully excellent inthe future.
And whoever's there is going tobe providing, assuming you
follow the good implementationsteps, it's going to be

(58:46):
providing that same excellentpatient care.
So you're changing the mentalityof really everybody, probably,
especially at that firstassociate.
So we're seeing the practice,the patients are seeing the
practice, we're not just seeingthe doctor anymore.

Erich (59:02):
Absolutely, Evon.
And you know, and that's, if youthink back to earlier in our
conversation, we were justtalking about like the changing
face of optometry and modernfull scope optometry and talking
about technology and howtechnology and equipment and
software and AI and all thesethings, that's really what's
driving a lot of this, but thatalso means what we need to

(59:27):
relinquish control.
We need to delegate.
That's a tough one.
Yeah.
Oftentimes, I say oftentimes,maybe not oftentimes, but well,
I'll just ask you as thelistener.
Is your resistance rooted inyour ego?
Yeah.
Because if it is, that's what'sgoing to hold your business back

(59:49):
in the long run.

Evon (59:53):
Planned pause for self reflection.
Planned pause.

Erich (59:56):
Holy cow.
Man, was that a baller.
Planned

Evon (59:58):
pause for self reflection.
That's, that's, that's a toughquestion.
I mean, that's a tough questionfor us as owners who've, you
know, many times have built,built the business from scratch
a lot of the time to sort of letthat go.
That's, that's something that,that's a hurdle.
That's part of those capacityconstraints is that's one of
those hurdles that, We oftenneed to get ourselves out of the
way.

(01:00:18):
Erich, this has been fantastic.
I think I can take the rest ofyour day if you allowed me to,
but I think we'll, we'll have tostop here.
One last question I'll just askas we wrap up here is as you
think about the future ofoptometry, particularly here
around private practiceoptometry, what excites you the
most?

Erich (01:00:36):
Oh, wow.
I think what excites me the mostis The degree to which, so we
know, and again, y'all, look,Evon, I know you mentioned you
were going to drop the link tothat essay, and so it's
presented as a two part articleseries in Review of Optometric
Business, but what excites methe most is exactly what I

(01:00:59):
identify in that essay.
Looking at the facts, becausethe facts are this.
Right now, in our healthcaresystem here in the U.
S., provider burnout rates aregoing through the roof.
The cost of care continues toclimb.
The overall quality of care andpatient experience here in the

(01:01:20):
U.
S.
healthcare system isquestionable.
It's on the skids.
It's on the decline.
But Evon, when you look atprivate practice healthcare as a
segment of the healthcaresystem, we actually see that in
private practice, our providersare experiencing less burnout

(01:01:41):
than national averages.
The cost of care to patients outof pocket and to the system is
below benchmark of nationalaverage and the quality of care,
patient experience, and patientpreference is radically higher
than national benchmarks.
That's also, Evon, look, that'swhy we do what we do at Akrinos,

(01:02:02):
our mission to make the businessof eye care approachable,
accessible, and profitable toECPs that are starting, scaling,
and selling their business.
And I believe, I believe we areyet to see the best of what our,
our, our industry and theprofession of optometry has.

(01:02:22):
It's right there in the future.
And I can't wait.
I can't wait to greet it.

Evon (01:02:26):
Well, I can feel your, your.
I can feel the opportunity andjust your passion for it coming
through the screen here.
And I, I love the answer.
So Erich, I, again, I appreciateyour time.
This was great.
I will throw all of the links toeverything we've talked about in
the show notes, includingErich's contact information and
Akrinos information.
For the listener, please reachout.
If you have questions, reach outto Erich and I.

(01:02:48):
If you have experiences,listener, that you'd like to
share of how you entered thatprocess, Please do, we'd love to
see those and, and learn fromthose as well.
If you have disagreements, sendthem to Erich.
He'll, he'll be glad to seethose disagreements.
No, um, but we appreciate yourtime and your attention and we
will catch you on the nextepisode.
In the meantime, take care.