Professional fees journey planner
Following high interest in professional fee based pricing from UK practitioners, CIBA VISION has developed a “Professional Fees Journey Planner” to help those who want to change their fee and pricing system.
In 2006 CIBA VISION ran a series of roadshows describing the different business models used by new entrants to the optical industry. This has created some visible differences in retail prices of contact lenses, and also glasses, in the eyes of patients. What many patients don’t realise of course is that the cost of professional care is often included in the cost of their lenses.
By shifting the emphasis from products to professional care a valid comparison can be made. Charging an appropriate fee for chair time gives practitioners the option to offer their lenses at more competitive prices should they wish.
The Professional Fees Journey Planner can be found here and has been designed to break down what may seem like a daunting task into smaller steps that can be more easily approached. In each step is advice as well as tips from practitioners who have already made the change. Many tools have been developed to help practitioners including spreadsheets, template brochures and videos and these can be downloaded for free at certain steps from the website.
Areas covered by the journey planner include
- having the confidence to implement such a change
- deciding the scope of a professional fees plan – should it include glasses or just contact lenses
- how to involve your staff in the decision and gain their support
- addressing any VAT issues – normally there are VAT benefits
- how to determine what to charge for your time
- the pros and cons of direct debits, standing orders and credit card mandates
- dealing with banks for monthly collection of payment
- how to effectively communicate the benefits to your patients
One of the keys to success is to learn from others who have already made the change. The Professional Fees Journey Plan has been based on the experiences of UK practitioners and includes specific quotes on certain aspects of the process. It even includes an “ask the expert facility”. This allows practitioners who, even after reading the planner and watching the downloads, have further questions to email their query to a consultant who will respond within 48 hours.
Click here to go to the
Professional Fees Journey Planner
MBA Website
