Every eyecare practice is looking for ways to save time and money. It's a difficult task keeping up with a busy schedule of patients and it requires a seamless workflow to not fall behind on a busy day. But there are plenty of optician software tools and resources out there that can help make little day-to-day tasks more efficient for your staff.

Today, we're going to talk about the benefits of using a barcode scanning system in your dispensary to keep track of your inventory and speed up your workflow. Many eyecare practices only take a physical frame inventory once a year, usually for tax purposes, because it's thought to be time consuming to do during business hours. Closing down the office for a day or working through the weekend becomes costly. But with a few simple barcode scanners and a label printer, you can receive your inventory much more efficiently and more often.

Using Optician Software and a Barcode Scanning System in Your Optical Dispensary

1. Patient checkout becomes more efficient.

Implementing a barcode scanning system into your practice is going to speed up face-to-face time with patients when you're at the dispensing station, allowing you to process more orders in a day. For instance, when a barcode is scanned, the frame information auto populates directly into your practice management solution, saving your dispensers time and eliminating the possibility of data entry errors.

2. Keep track of shipments easily

Your staff can receive inventory by scanning the barcode into your system. This allows you to quickly respond to excess inventory and theft issues. Barcodes reduce human error and speed up the process of receiving inventory.

If you want to get started barcoding your inventory, it is really simple. All that you'll need is a barcode scanner for each computer in your dispensary (scanners can't be shared between computers), a barcode label printer, and labels. When it comes to barcode scanners you can choose between wired and wireless scanners. Wired scanners plug directly into each computer through a USB port. Wireless scanners tend to be a little bit more expensive and require a docking station for charging, taking up a larger footprint in your dispensary. You could keep wired scanners at each computer station, allowing you to purchase just one wireless scanner.

As for label printers, make sure to understand the requirements of your practice management system before making any purchase.

Want more tips for managing your dispensary and practice? This ebook has it all.