The eyecare industry is rapidly changing. New advancements in technology are transforming exam rooms, patient communication methods, and vision correction options. As the eyecare industry continues to be disrupted by innovations, your practice needs to prepare for changes and continue to provide quality care to your patients.

This post offers four tips for future-proofing your optometric practice.

How To Prepare Your Optometric Practice’s Future

Think Ahead

The first step in future-proofing your optometric practice is to think of where you want your practice to be in the next five, ten, even twenty years. Coming up with time-based goals will help you understand the actions you need to take today to prepare you for the future. Once you’ve come up with your goals for your optometric practice, you can begin to plan for your practice growth by making decisions that align with your goals

Move To The Cloud

Paper charts and server-based EHR software is holding your practice back. Moving to a cloud-based practice management and EHR solution will enable you to access patient records securely from anywhere with internet access. Additionally, with a cloud-based system, you don’t have to worry about maintaining server equipment.

As the industry changes, your cloud-based practice management and EHR provider can deliver new features and updates that are automatically implemented with minimal disruption to you or your workflow.

Use Scalable Services

Managing insurance claims is a time-consuming, error-prone task. Unfortunately, billing managers don’t often have the resources available to effectively manage the claims, denials, and rejections on time.

Whether you’re starting your own practice cold, looking to expand your practice, or you just want to change up your processes to ensure your staff is focused on the patients in your practice, leveraging the expertise of a revenue cycle management service can help maximize the money you make on your insurance reimbursements while scaling to your practice needs.

One OD saw the benefit of using a revenue cycle management service early in here practice careers, and it has helped her grow her practice without the troubles of hiring and managing an in-house biller.

Maximize Space

The location of your practice can make a significant impact on your ability to succeed in the future. When selecting where you’re going to practice, think about your communities demographics, how easily accessible the location is for potential patients, and if the space will allow you to grow. Think back to your goals for the next five to ten years, do you see your practice operating out of a shared rental property, or you envision a stand-alone practice? One post suggests you plan on picking a location with 10-15% more space than you think you’ll need, that way you can expand when you need to.

Download The 12 Insider Secrets from America's Top ODs for advice on everything from being a new optometry graduate to stay current with industry changes.