Post #37: Highlights from Helena – The 2023 SUMMIT SUMMIT!

What a time Dane and I had with the Partners who made the trip to Helena for the SUMMIT SUMMIT last weekend. In the event you didn’t make it for the gathering, you were missed to be sure! The weather was literally perfect, the topics were HOT, the conversation was engaging, and the company and colleagueship were as good as it gets! 

We thought it might be productive for both the Summit Partners who did and didn’t make the gathering to have a bit of an idea what the partner-chosen topics were, and do a little highlighting of some main points for purposes of bringing us all up to speed AND review and documentation (which tend to drive IMPACT!). As we discussed at the SUMMIT, there’s an old adage that information is power, which actually just misses it – it’s actually IMPLEMENTATION that is power, so let’s go! 

Our overall SUMMIT SUMMIT theme was “WILDLY SUCCESSFUL,” and in the Doctors Program (which Dane and I hosted day-one, then the doctors and staff together day-two), we covered four main topics we’ll briefly recap here. 

SUMMIT SUMMIT Doctors Conversation #1: “Yes or No on Vision Plans?” 

To say the least, this was a lively, helpful…and for us very enjoyable…conversation. Given the importance of this topic private practice today, and the willingness of partners to explore pros and cons openly and objectively and to openly share helpful opinions, information and experiences with one another (I LOVE THAT about Summit Optical), this conversation was particularly engaging. At times in this discussion you couldn’t shut us up, and other times you could hear a pin drop! Here are a few highlights of this conversation. 

  • We all agreed there is no right or wrong answer. Saying yes or no to vision plans depends not only on the individual practice, but on an individual practice’s point in its Practice Life Cycle. And we discussed the need for all practices, whichever decision they’ve made, to “keep their heads on a swivel,” as things can change and so can a given practice’s perspective and position on vision plans. 

  • We talked about a colleague that dropped all vision plans twenty years ago and has thrived with that decision, but now is starting not one but TWO new doctors and is consequently cherry-picking a better vision plan or two and getting back on those panels. More often than not, a patient in the chair for a given slot is better than no patient in the chair, so for the time being, they’re taking and scheduling those patients to help the new docs to help fill their books. So after twenty years of “no,” it’s at least the next year of “yes.” 

  • An attending partner practice experienced their first ever week where Revenue-per-Patient went over $700 (actually $725), and this practice DOES take a vision plan with 40% of their patients on that plan. So there’s our proof – a vision plan can be a VOUCHER toward anything patients want (in fact, ALL the things they want), rather than a definer of what they can have. Consumers can kudos to this colleague for demonstrating this! 

  • Another attending partner shared that her practice dropped ALL vision plans this year and her small-town practice’s Revenue-per-Patient jumped by $200 to an all time record. They have also stayed fully booked without an empty slot, and the team feels much better about being in control of their time and practice profit margins. This colleague was willing to share that they worked really hard at positioning this to patients and handling inquiries as to why we dropped their plan, and how the team deliberately scripted their responses (including our desire to continue serving every patient to the fullness of the practice mission and aiding patients who are submitting out of network). The team put its very best foot forward, and with few exceptions, patients have accepted this and stayed with the practice. 

  • We spent some quality time on main pro’s of vision plans, and main cons. Pros included staying fully booked, being competitive and having a gateway to many patient services/products beyond the plan; while low reimbursements, diminished profit margins and third-party interference with practice and patients were among the main cons. 

  • We discussed a number of strategies for both the “Yes” and “No” positions on vision plans, and several colleagues shared the high level of patient base penetration and resulting patient loyalty they’ve achieved with “First-Party Plans” (internal vision plans practices offer to both employers and individuals that are really trending for practices choosing to emphasize and promote these plans to patients, employers and communities). 

SUMMIT SUMMIT Doctors Conversation #2: “Marketing in the Modern Era” 

An emphasis on marketing initiatives to fuel vision plan decisions led nicely into a great discussion about marketing strategies inside and outside the walls of the practice for sustaining and growing patronage in the modern era of quality private practice. We started with a helpful definition of marketing as anything you do to cause and sustain value, and the word of the hour for this conversation was RELATIONSHIP! The “Unique Value Proposition” of private optometric practice in the modern era is definitely RELATIONSHIP, and consumers are flocking back to relationship as a driving force in making provider choices. Here are a few highlights of this conversation. 

Marketing is about teaching people who don’t know what we know to know (and VALUE) what we know, and it’s important we do so both inside and outside the practice. 

We reviewed THRIVE’S Six Fundamental Rules of Marketing: 

  • Know yourself to market yourself. 

  • If you want patients/consumers to know something, tell them! 

  • If you want patients/consumers to do something, ask them! 

  • The less they have to lose, the more likely they are to do it! 

  • Name it (practice/practices within the practice/services/products/programs) to market it! 

  • If it’s good for the patient, it’s good for the practice! 3 

    We discussed the power of branding and rebranding for growing the practice, our specialties and our services/products/programs. 

  • We talked about leveraging better questions for taking selling out of patient care, and remembered that brain surgeons DON’T do Lifestyle Selling – they do patient care! And just because we’re often in the wellness business and not the sickness business doesn’t make our patient care selling! 

  • We covered the importance of teaching patients to value FUTURE OF VISION as the reason for retention and compliance so they stop self-diagnosing and deciding to respond to recall or no show. 

  • We talked about the power of “Doctor’s Orders” in making powerful RECOMENDATIONS (i.e. “I STRONGLY recommend”…) rather than merely covering options. 

  • We talked about epic patient retention via epic (and DOCTOR INVOLVED) prescheduling strategies. 

  • Then we talked about going outside the walls with a combination of digital AND traditional media external marketing strategies for both patients and potential patients. 

SUMMIT SUMMIT Doctors Conversation #3: “Keys to Practice Transition” 

This is a particularly hot topic among the Summit Partner Practices, as many partners are or will soon be transitioning their practices. We had people in the room who have been through and are right now going through practice transition as both sellers and buyers, and having “willing sounding boards” in the room as well as partners with this coming up made for a very engaging conversation! Here are a few highlights of this conversation. 

Again, consumers are flocking back to relationship-based eyecare, and private practice colleagues are in the perfect position to capitalize on that. Mission-Based, quality eyecare is what most consumers want, and we’re right there to provide that for them. As a result, both demand for and value of our practices are strong in the big cities AND the small towns. (and we asked the question… with so many markets out there, why do you think the private equity groups have flocked to private practice optometry?!

WHAT – This is where we emphasized the importance of transition by DESIGN, not by HOPE, and outlining what our transition needs to and therefore WILL look like. We also discussed that the WHAT of practice transition is all about CLEAR OBJECTS, which we discussed in detail. 

WHERE – Here we discussed the critical question of where do I want to live and spend time when I’m no longer required to work, and how this influences so many aspects of transition and retirement. 

WHEN – Here we discussed the critical component of timing your practice transition and the several questions of WHEN: When do I retire from ownership? When do I retire from patient care? When do I start the process of finding a buyer? And when do I put together the brass tacks? 

 WHO – We discussed the four buyer segments that comprise the WHO out there (as in who’s buyin’?) of practice transition: 

  • Colleagues who want to purchase your practice, make it their own, and care for the patients and community 

  • Medical Groups who want that primary care gate 

  • Consolidators from withing the profession expanding vertically 

  • Private Equity Groups who want to purchase your practice for its profit benefits to investors 

HOW MUCH – Here we covered who’s paying what among the buyer groups, and some specific methods of practice valuation. 

THEN WHAT – Here we covered the importance of planning life after ownership and the influence of that on how we choose to transition. 

SUMMIT SUMMIT Doctors AND Staff Conversation #4: “Owning the Team Culture” 

For this discussion, we combined the doctors and staff in one very energetic and fun-filled room, and the key word here is “Owning!” Far too often, teams and team members are spectators of culture, or commentators on it, rather than owning the culture. And if we’re going to own our culture, why not make it the way we like it?! Here are a few highlights of this conversation. 

  • We defined success in general, and as it relates to culture. 

  • We discussed paradigms, and realized as teams we fence ourselves in with boundaries that aren’t real. 

  • We discussed the THRIVE “Core 4” of Vision, Mission, Culture and Object. 

  • We actually defined Culture and learned about the power of a Culture Statement. 

  • And finally, we had a very lively small group break-out to answer the question, “In a perfect world, what would we want our culture to be?”and shared with the class! 

Well Summit Partner friends, there’s a summary for you, about which I’ll say this... It was an energetic couple of days in Helena! If you were among us, thanks for coming and for the fantastic and helpful conversation. And if not, LET’S GET YOU THERE NEXT TIME!! 

Like all THRIVE content, the purpose of BOWEN’S BLOG and SUMMIT TALK Podlecture conversations is to keep us driving together toward IMPACT. If something here has struck a chord, shoot us an email or give us a call and let’s talk it out! Tbowen@mythrivecoaches.com or 402-794-4064.