EyeBiz Success Strategies

This is Part 3 of a 3-part series on Smart Checkups in healthcare operations. Catch up on Part 1 and 2 via links below.

You’ve got a strong, experienced manager stepping into your practice—but they’ve never worked in ophthalmology. Now what?

Even the most seasoned leaders can feel a step behind when entering a highly specialized environment like ophthalmology. That’s where Smart Checkups shine.

By pairing experienced managers with an operations expert who understands the ophthalmic landscape, Smart Checkups serve as a bridge between general leadership experience and industry-specific knowledge.

Structured as monthly or bi-weekly collaborative sessions, these checkups can:

• Clarify the “why” behind clinical workflows
• Break down technical terms, tests, and equipment into manager-friendly insights
• Help leaders prioritize their focus in unfamiliar territory
• Share industry benchmarks and best practices

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Understanding the Complexity of Ophthalmic Operations

Ophthalmic operations involve many distinct but interconnected parts, such as:

• Scheduling and patient mix
• Technician roles – diagnostic tech vs. work up tech vs. scribe
• Exam room vs workup room functionality
• Work Up & Diagnostic protocols
• Surgery Scheduling vs Surgery Counseling (elective procedures)
• Patient education and communication

While these may appear to be standalone tasks, they’re deeply intertwined. A delay in just one area can create a ripple effect across the entire patient journey. That’s why access to someone with ophthalmic operations expertise is so valuable. Smart Checkups help leaders understand these dependencies and so their design improvements work in a real clinical setting.

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🛠️ Real-World Example #1: Daily Scheduling Templates

A common challenge for new-to-ophthalmology managers is building or adjusting the daily scheduling template. Unlike many other specialties, ophthalmology relies heavily on technicians and work-up rooms — these are often the true rate-limiting factors, not the physician.

Without that insight, a new manager may unknowingly set up a schedule that looks good on paper but collapses in real time.

In a Smart Checkup, we explore:

• How tech availability and skill level, combined with work up room availability impact schedule success
• The importance of standardized work-up protocols as one of the building blocks
• Creative ways to design schedules that balance efficiency with patient care

This is where clarity, creativity, and accountability intersect—and where a collaborative approach makes a real difference.

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📊 Real-World Example #2: Interpreting the Right KPIs

Another high-value area is understanding and applying ophthalmology-specific KPIs. Many experienced managers are familiar with business metrics, but they may not know which ones carry the most weight in your specialty—or what benchmarks to aim for.

Smart Checkups help translate your data into meaningful, actionable insights. A few basic yet useful metrics are found below. Most of these come in to play when building schedules, and tie back to the budget.

• New patient ratio
• New surgical evaluation ratio
• Surgery conversion rate (exam or eval to surgery)
• Surgery upgrade conversion rate (surgery to upgrade)
• Referral next appointment availability

We use both industry benchmarks and your practice’s unique data to guide decisions, identify trends, and keep growth efforts aligned with clinical realities.

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Support for the Manager—and the Owner

Smart Checkups don’t just benefit the manager. They also support the practice owner by:

• Helping set and clarify expectations (sometimes it’s as simple as translating)
• Creating a safe space for feedback
• Ensuring goals are heard, understood, and acted on (understanding ophthalmology helps to better under the stated goals)
• Providing a second set of ears for strategic conversations

This protects the investment you’ve made in your leadership team and ensures a smoother, more aligned onboarding process.

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In Summary

This is an opportunity to equip your new manager with the ophthalmic context they need to lead effectively. With that added clarity, managers can better align with their teams, make informed decisions, and quickly gain the respect that comes from truly understanding the environment they’re operating in.

In short: Smart Checkups offer a fast track to confidence, credibility, and effectiveness.

Part 1 can be found here: https://eyebizexpertise.com/2025/04/16/smart-checkups-moving-the-trees-to-see-the-forest/

Part 2 can be found here: https://eyebizexpertise.com/2025/04/18/smart-checkups-and-the-new-manager-journey/