Balancing administrative tasks with patient care often presents a challenge for optometrists, opticians, and ophthalmologists. Fortunately, specialized optometry practice software is enabling clinicians to automate everyday tasks and dedicate more time to what truly matters: their patients.
Automation features like Visual Connect and Visual Book can revolutionize your practice, boosting efficiency and enhancing patient experiences at every stage of their journey.
Some of the areas automated processes can boost efficiency and save time include:
- Appointment check-ins
- Automatic appointment reminders
- Contact lens refills
- Software and hardware integrations for:
- Diagnostic and measuring equipment
- Direct ordering
- Payment terminals
- Phones and fax machines
- Follow-up communication
- Appointment booking
From the moment patients schedule their first appointment, through their comprehensive eye exam, and until the exciting moment when they collect their new glasses or contact lenses, each interaction is an opportunity to create a memorable experience with help from features that facilitate everything from automatic patient communication to contact lens dispensing.
What Can You Automate for Your Practice?
Automation should not depersonalize the patient experience. Instead, it can free up time for optometrists, opticians and their teams to focus on their patients. Automating routine tasks helps staff devote more time to patient care, fostering stronger relationships and a high level of service.
With the help of specialized software, automation can be integrated into many areas of an eye care practice to increase efficiency and streamline workflows. From appointment scheduling to patient check-ins and prescription management to billing, almost every process can be optimized.
Appointment Check-Ins
Online, automated check-in systems are a prime example of automation features that can provide benefits for practices. With Visual Forms, patients can check in for their appointments before they arrive. The seamless integration with Visual-Eyes helps eliminate repetitive data entry by both your patients and staff offer the capability to send out custom forms and questionnaires to patients, allowing clinics to collect required information in advance to help ensure appointments go smoothly.
Visual-Eyes Software can also automatically adjust appointment status within your schedule, providing you with real-time updates to support thorough planning and management.
Appointment Reminders
Automated appointment reminders can help patients remember their appointments, which in turn helps to reduce no-shows and last-minute cancellations.
Automatically sending reminders via text or email with the use of features like Visual Connect helps practices communicate with their patients in the way they prefer, which can make it more likely that reminders are seen and acted upon.
Automated reminders can also free up valuable staff time. Instead of spending hours each day making reminder calls, your team can focus on more important tasks, such as patient care and office management. This not only helps improve efficiency but can also contribute to a more positive work environment.
When paired with online scheduling systems like Visual Book, automated reminders can give patients the freedom to reschedule their appointments at their convenience. This can make it easy for them to manage their eye care and increase their overall satisfaction.
Contact Lens Refills
The contact lens module in Visual-Eyes Software allows for automatic tracking of contact lens transactions. With this feature, practices can generate reports that indicate which contacts need to be ordered, which have already been sold, and which are still awaiting patient pickup.
This automation not only helps enhance efficiency but also helps ensure accuracy, eliminating potential human errors associated with manual tracking.
Furthermore, the integration of Visual Connect offers a targeted reminder system for contact lens patients that automates reminders for when patients may be running low on their contact lenses. These reminders can also include a customized prompt for scheduling an appointment if needed to help promote continuity of care.
Software and Hardware Integrations
Many of the automated features of Visual-Eyes Software can also extend to other hardware and software in your practice, including:
- Diagnostic and measuring equipment
- Direct ordering systems
- Payment terminals
- Fax machines
Diagnostic and optometry equipment integrations help save time and reduce errors by eliminating the need for double entry and manual data entry. Direct lens ordering integration can also help speed up production time at the lab.
Direct faxing can save time and provide auditable records, while integration with payment terminals can drastically reduce errors and save time at cash out when staff are ending their day. Automated payment integrations can also include email payment to provide your patients with multiple convenient, secure payment options.
Follow-Up Communication
Comprehensive software solutions like Visual-Eyes help ensure patients are informed and satisfied with their care through a suite of follow-up communication features.
With Visual Connect, practices can automate follow-up communications after a patient’s visit. This allows for prompt feedback, helping you understand and improve upon patient experiences.
Automated post-visit communication can extend beyond just feedback, too. It can be used to provide updates on contact lens dispensing or pick-up status. Additionally, it provides an opportunity to check in with patients after they have started using their new eyewear to confirm it meets their needs, so you can address potential issues swiftly.
Visual Connect can also send automated recall reminders. Gone are the days of manually sending out postcards or emails, a task that can be time-consuming and prone to errors. With automatic reminders, patients receive timely notifications about their upcoming recalls—which they can conveniently book directly through their text or email reminder.
Appointment Booking
One of the key features of Visual-Eyes Software is automated booking, a tool that offers numerous advantages for both practices and patients.
Automated booking platforms like Visual Book are designed to streamline the appointment scheduling process. By enabling patients to book their own appointments online, these platforms help free up valuable staff time, so your team can focus on critical tasks beyond booking, such as patient care and office management.
With 24/7 support for online appointment booking, patients can schedule their visits when it is most convenient for them, whether that is in the middle of the night or during their lunch break.
Visual Book is a sophisticated system that helps prevent issues like double bookings by limiting access to open time slots in a doctor’s schedule. This can create a smoother, more efficient scheduling process, reducing potential confusion and frustration for both your team and your patients.
Visual Book can also be integrated across social media platforms, emails, and other places online to provide more opportunities for patients to connect with your clinic and book appointments at their convenience.
Discover the Benefits of Automated Practice Management Software
With customizable features and a variety of automated systems created just for optometrists, ophthalmologists, opticians, and their patients, Visual-Eyes can increase efficiency and create great patient experiences—from a patient’s first appointment to all their follow-up visits.
Book a demo today to discover the different ways you can take advantage of automation to unlock your practice’s full potential with Visual-Eyes Software.
