what does "going commercial" mean?

[batista_123]

Hi
I keep reading on this forum that there is no money in optometry, unless you "go commercial"
what does that mean?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[optsuker]

Hi
I keep reading on this forum that there is no money in optometry, unless you "go commercial" what does that mean?

Choosing to work for a corporate entity like WalMart, EyeMart, etc.. either as an employee or an "independent" lease holder.

A partially justified belief is that initial income out of school will be higher than working for or opening a private practice. Long considered the easy road, but it has a lot less potential for growth.

Nearly every income survey shows that the wealthiest OD's are in private (usually group) practice.

Going commerical is the only option for many new grads since good opportunities are rare. My advice for success in optometry is still to buy an established practice from a retiring OD (getting harder to find).

 

[batista_123]

Choosing to work for a corporate entity like WalMart, EyeMart, etc.. either as an employee or an "independent" lease holder.

A partially justified belief is that initial income out of school will be higher than working for or opening a private practice. Long considered the easy road, but it has a lot less potential for growth.

Nearly every income survey shows that the wealthiest OD's are in private (usually group) practice.

Going commerical is the only option for many new grads since good opportunities are rare. My advice for success in optometry is still to buy an established practice from a retiring OD (getting harder to find).

why is this frowned upon? why dont people like this? I wouldnt mind working at walmart, as long as i get paid well.

 

[Jason K]

why is this frowned upon? why dont people like this? I wouldnt mind working at walmart, as long as i get paid well.

I think this sums it up....

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/photos/page/12/

 

[optoapp2012]

why is this frowned upon? why dont people like this? I wouldnt mind working at walmart, as long as i get paid well.

I shadowed an OD that worked in a commercial setting before opening his private practice. He said that basically what you earn is what you earn - you can't grow your income the way you can in private practice by taking on more patients or pushing sales. You get a set salary from the company. Also, the company is concerned with profit more than patient satisfaction. So there will be pressure to see more patients in the day (like scheduling them in 15 minute refraction slots - that's extremely fast and not really in the patient's best interest), have fewer follow-ups (convincing them to stick with contacts that maybe weren't right for them in the interest of saving follow-up appointment slots for new patients), doing fewer remakes of lenses if there's a screw-up or patients report that their vision isn't what they expected, etc. In private practice, it's under your control. You might lose some profit by attending to patients' needs better, but they will have better vision, like you, and become loyal patients. The doc I shadowed basically said that he felt pressured to meet quotas that weren't in the patients' best interest.

I think there are people who like it just fine too. It's a higher income right out of school (versus taking out loans to start up a practice or purchase an established practice). You get a lot of experience because you are seeing so many patients. You don't have to purchase equipment or deal with the business management side. You know your income, rather than hoping enough patients come in and buy things. But private practice optometrists don't really like you, because Walmart can offer cheaper contacts and glasses since they buy in much larger bulk. It's tough for private practices to compete with and makes them drive down their prices and end up with a low profit margin just to keep contact orders and such.

 

[janedoe88]

why is this frowned upon? why dont people like this? I wouldnt mind working at walmart, as long as i get paid well.

I worked at Lenscrafters and it was pretty awful. I scheduled patients in 10 minute intervals (sometimes 2 at once) and the patients were usually waiting for about half an hour for one of the associates to take their pre-exam before seeing the OD. I had tons of patients calling in to complain about their glasses getting lost or the doctor prescribing the wrong prescription. My guess is that because the OD saw about 15 patients a day, he barely had time to make sure he was giving them a correct prescription. Also Lenscrafters has no organization and the glasses and contacts constantly got lost in the mess.