Finding an associate for your optometric practice can be a painful process. In addition to managing your optometric practice and seeing patients, you have to locate a like-minded OD who can synchronize with you, your staff, and your patients to provide exceptional care and a vision for future practice success. Below are tips for successfully bringing an associate OD into your optometric practice.

Tips For Successfully Adding An Associate OD To Your Optometric Practice

When To Bring On An Associate

Running a successful optometric practice and providing quality care for the patients that enter your practice is the goal of every OD. However, even with an optimized workflow, time limits the number of patients you can see during your office hours. Below are a few examples of when it might make sense for you to bring an associate OD into your optometric practice:

• When you’re looking for a practice successor or buyer
• When you’re looking to add another location
• When your patient schedule is commonly booked multiple weeks out

Resources For Finding An Associate

Once you’ve decided that your practice and patients will benefit from you bringing an associate OD into your practice, you have to go out and find one who mirrors your vision for the practice, work ethic, and harmonization with your staff and patients. When looking to hire an associate OD, consider posting your job listing in these locations to maximize visibility and applicants:

• American Optometric Association site
• State-affiliated website
• Optometry school job boards
• Indeed
• CovalentCareers
• LinkedIn
• Facebook groups (use #ODcareers)

Tips For Giving Your Associate A Full Patient Schedule

Getting patients to trust their eye health with the associate you have selected will take some time. But in order for the partnership to develop and work successfully, you have to help build out their schedule. To assist in the transition and to build patient trust and confidence in your associate, try some of the strategies below to grow your associate’s patient schedule:

• Share Exam Responsibilities: Getting your patients to trust the associate you selected can take time, but if you include the associate during parts of the exam, you can begin to build the relationship required for the transition.
• Assign New Patients or Last Minute Appointments: As new patients contact your optometric practice to schedule an exam, assign them to your associate by informing the patient that you’re booked a few weeks out, but your associate can see them sooner.
• Take Time Off: When was the last time you took time off? Scheduling a vacation will force patients to either schedule an appointment with the associate or wait until you return.

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