In terms of revenue, the optometrist industry was valued at a cool $23.4 billion in 2023. It’s a huge amount and one which highlights the potential contained within. However, it also underlines the fact that competition is fierce, and success is far from easy. Not surprisingly, burnout is common in the modern optometrist landscape. Any help, therefore, is valued highly by optometrists. This is where an optometrist scribe can make the difference.
Why is an Optometrist Scribe Needed?
Optometrists are very busy, and their workload is only increasing in the modern age where electronic medical data is getting bigger and bigger. The main impact of this is that optometrists struggle to spend as much time with their patients as they would like to. And this can lead to a poor experience for the patients. Help, therefore, is crucial.
An optometrist scribe is the perfect solution when it comes to maximizing an optometrist’s time with patients. Rather than taking on the weighty task of documenting every optometry examination, an optometrist can rely on an optometrist scribe to complete this. This documentation can include taking patient data, logging the optometrist’s evaluations, and detailing the specifics of any necessary care plans. Alone, this allows an optometrist to dedicate their full attention to their patients, but an optometrist scribe can also make sure all this information is logged on the patient record.
The Answer Lies Within Virtual Assistants
When it comes to the modern world of optometry, you don’t have to bow down to tradition and plump for a simple optometrist scribe. Instead, you can supercharge your organization’s potential by working with a virtual equivalent. These virtual assistants represent a significant step up from their traditional counterparts, but you need to understand how and why.
Firstly, what is a virtual assistant? Thanks to internet technology advancing rapidly throughout the 2000s, the dawn of the 2010s saw the emergence of virtual assistants. These employees were like the assistants already available, but they worked remotely. This was possible due to the high-speed internet connections available, which were also consistently reliable with little dropout. Accordingly, as long as they had a PC and an internet connection, they could connect to your organization’s network.
The rise of virtual assistants was swift, with many organizations bringing them on board by the late-10s. However, their popularity would hit new heights during the Covid-19 pandemic. With remote working the go-to choice for most employers, working with virtual assistants has become more common. And this is why a virtual optometrist scribe is now such an important tool for optometrists. But what are the main benefits they can bring to your business?
What are the Benefits of Virtual Assistants?
Working with a virtual optometrist scribe opens you up to a world of benefits that only virtual assistants can offer. The main benefits that can make a difference to optometrists are:
Cost Savings:
If you were told you could save 78% in operating costs when hiring a specific employee, you’d jump at the chance, right? Well, this is what you can save when you work with a virtual assistant. And it’s all thanks to the cumulative savings they bring to your business. For example, there’s no requirement for your optometry business to pay out sick pay, holiday pay, or pension contributions, as the virtual assistant is employed through a third party. Additionally, as virtual assistants supply their equipment, there are no associated hardware costs.
Enhanced Productivity:
One of the most important benefits of a virtual assistant for a business is the boost in productivity it provides. By offering real-time support, a virtual assistant can help you streamline tasks, delegate administrative duties, and manage your schedules more effectively. Most importantly, this allows your core staff to maximize their time and focus on their main duties.
Space Saving:
A virtual assistant takes up absolutely zero space in your business. Therefore, if you have a virtual optometrist scribe, there’s no need to worry about finding a workstation for them. Not only does this save you money on equipment costs, but it also allows you to utilize the space you have for your core operations e.g. patient waiting areas and treatment rooms. This benefits both your business and your patients.
Access to Global Talent:
The global positioning of virtual assistants means that businesses are no longer restricted to local talent. Instead, you can throw your net wider and capture the optometrist scribe who’s a perfect fit for your business. This gives you the chance to push your optometry business to new heights and significantly improve the level of service your patients receive.
24/7 Availability:
Patients want uninterrupted access to healthcare, but this service is often difficult to provide due to the anti-social hours involved. Luckily, with many virtual assistants being based in different time zones, this problem can be avoided. Accordingly, with your night hours being staffed by virtual assistants, your clients can rest assured that they’ll be able to speak to someone.
What Can an Optometrist Scribe Do for You?
A virtual optometrist scribe is a highly capable individual. As well as completing scribe duties, they can also take on numerous administrative duties to help your practice. The main duties they can handle are:
Documentation and Record Keeping:
Optometrists see, on average, around 60 patients per week. And all these patients need their consultations documented and recorded on the Electronic Health Record (EHR). Naturally, this is a highly time-consuming task, and an optometrist is going to struggle. However, with a virtual optometrist scribe in position, they can attend consultations discreetly and document your notes, while also adding them into the EHR in real-time.
Pre-Testing Assistance:
A virtual optometrist scribe can help patients by taking them through pre-testing procedures. This ensures your patients are at ease and prepared for their appointments. Most importantly, this saves your optometrists from having to take on this duty and keeps them focused on their main responsibilities. And, to make things easy and simple, all this assistance can be provided either through audio or video communication channels.
Appointment Scheduling:
Optometrists are busy, almost to the point of burnout, and their schedules reflect this. This is why it’s important for their schedules to run smoothly and reduce the risk of operational complications for your business. The perfect candidate for managing an optometrist’s schedule is a virtual optometrist scribe. Fully versed in the best practices for scheduling appointments, virtual assistants are also efficient in issuing appointment reminders and ensuring that canceled appointment slots are quickly filled.
Educational Resources:
One of the best ways to keep your patients informed is by issuing them with educational resources. This literature will typically feature information on eye health, treatments, and eye care concepts. But optometrists are too busy to take this duty on. Luckily, a virtual optometrist scribe can make this one of their daily duties. Therefore, your patients will benefit from a more professional experience, and your optometrists will maximize their time.
Follow-Ups:
Your patients need to know that you care about their health, so you always need to follow up. And this is another area where a virtual optometrist scribe can save your optometrists some valuable time. So, instead of your optometrist following up directly with their patients, tasks such as completing customer satisfaction surveys, checking compliance with treatment, and answering care questions can be delegated to your virtual optometrist scribe.
Where Do You Find an Optometrist Scribe?
An optometrist needs an optometrist scribe to save themselves valuable time which can then be spent with their patients. So, an optometrist scribe is essential. But how do you go about bringing a virtual optometrist scribe into your business? Virtual assistants represent a new realm of employment solutions, and many practice owners are unsure of who to turn to. Thankfully, you don’t have to look far as Hello Rache are the experts.
Having spent several years establishing ourselves as the authority on virtual assistants, we can offer you what other VA agencies can’t: the very best virtual assistants. Yes, due to our exclusive contacts, we’ve built up an amazing pool of talent who are not only competitively priced, but also ready to start work at a moment’s notice. For an optometrist who wants to win back some time, a virtual optometrist scribe is the natural solution. So, click here to start chatting with Hello Rache and find out how we can transform your business.
