Dr. Steven Schoemer
(Springfield, TN)
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A: I had been in practice for 10 years and I tried managing everything myself. The practice was growing every year, sometimes 10, 15 or 20 percent. Even though this was happening, I didn't feel I was making the money I could be making given the size of my practice. We weren't organized and efficient which, despite the growth, created a cash flow problem. I was staff heavy and was having problems with staff management. I had a commercial lot that I was dying to build an office on so I could stop wasting money on rent. I couldn't even think about it until I had this cash flow problem handled. I hired a consultant because I didn't know how to solve this problem of increasing gross and decreasing cash flow.
Q: Why did you chose Silkin over other consultants?
A: I was in contact with several firms and was ready to hire a consultant. In fact, I had some money in the bank that I earmarked for consulting. What impressed me about Silkin was that prior to trying to sell their services, they send someone out to the practice to evaluate it. I wasn't impressed with the other companies that don't come to your office. How do they know what's really going on if they don't look? So the main reason I selected Silkin is that they came to my office and did an analysis. The gentleman that came out was professional and to the point. My first contact with him was over the phone and I could feel that he understood the problems I was having and that he had some answers for them. He was confident and that made me feel confident. When he came to the office it took him about 30 minutes to correctly evaluate everyone and all our problems. I was beginning to think he was psychic. I could see that he was so thoroughly familiar and knowledgeable in the area of practice management that problems I might never be able to solve, he and his company could figure out in no time at all. There was no question in my mind whether or not Silkin Consultants could provide the help I needed and wanted. I knew they could.
Q: What do you consider has been your greatest success on the Silkin program?
A: That's tough because there's been so many. They helped with my cash flow problem as soon as my consulting started. I began showing a profit every month and have shown a profit ever since I started, except for the first 3 months after I moved into my new office. This month I am showing a large profit and next month we are just going to practically blow the doors off. I'm excited. I may never have been able to build my own office without Silkin's help.
Q: How did your staff react to you hiring a consulting firm?
A: That was another unexpected surprise. When the Silkin representative came to do the initial evaluation that I spoke of earlier, he interviewed the staff, interviewed me, went over all the internal problems and talked to us as a group. When I arrived at the office the following day my staff was all over me, saying, "I hope you're going to hire Silkin!" They wanted the practice to do better and they wanted to participate in improving it. They wanted to be successful and work as a team. They also had been frustrated that we weren't doing as well as we could. At that time I had 4 full time and 1 part time employees. I now have 7 full time and 1 part time.
Q: What results have you gotten that you attribute to your association with Silkin?
A: The gross has more than doubled. The year before I signed up, my gross was $370,000. The year after was $480,000. Last year I did $620,000 and this year we are going to hit over $750,000. Several other important things have happened as well. I have a management system in place that I am so excited about. We know how to hire the right people, which is a big relief. Before I was afraid to lose any staff member and therefore felt like I was being held hostage by them. We have more new patients than we've ever had and our internal marketing is phenomenal. We're very efficient, we know how to manage, we're organized and we're having a great time. A lot of the old stresses are gone.
Q: How long did it take to see these results?
A: They were immediate. Right after signing up with them and before I even officially started the program, my consultant was on the phone with me telling me how to get more patients in. Since I wanted to solve my cash flow problem, getting more new patients right away was very encouraging. It kept snowballing as we began our official program and it just kept building. We now get 25-35 new patients a week.
Q: Have your results been stable?
A: Our results are very consistent and reproducible. Our old patients return and we continue getting new ones in. We're booked over a week ahead and have significantly improved our "no show" problem. We've been on the program long enough now to truly see how becoming trained creates stability. Silkin excels in providing doctors and staff members with tools they can use to successfully manage a business. They do not disappear after a couple of seminars or a few consulting sessions. Their follow-up is just great. We continue to participate in their training courses and workshops and work with our consultant. And as a result, we continue expanding.
Q: What actions did you take that produced these results?
A: First of all, getting myself and my staff trained helped tremendously. We got the management system in place. My consultant stressed that if we wanted to dramatically increase the number of new patients, we had to be organized enough to take care of them adequately. We do that consistently and as a result, we get lots of referrals. Our recall program works very well and our patients love it.
Q: Can you tell us more about the training?
A: I no longer run the every day business of the office. My manager does that so I can concentrate on delivering care to our patients. Silkin has provided us with job descriptions for each position and office policy that guides us toward expansion. They have educated us on how to develop further office policy as different needs arise. The training is offered in several different formats: individual courses, seminars and workshops. Topics include everything from leadership to management systems to efficiency techniques and on and on. It's all very nuts and bolts. You learn about one of these various topics and then you have a consultant working with you one on one to ensure the information is implemented and working properly. You do that a few times and then you really start understanding how it all works, how it all comes together to create a very well-run organization. Then it's merely a matter of maintaining it. It's there, everyone knows why you're doing what you're doing, everyone is working with the same game plan, the same rules and speaking the same language, so-to-speak. This is what Silkin means when they say they can teach you things you never learned in school. They've got a very broad curriculum that is not available anywhere else that I know of. It really does make all the difference in the world.
Q: Has your quality of life changed?
A: I have less stress. A lot of that is due to the money problems being solved. Having the staff problems solved also helps. When you're not under a lot of stress, life becomes more enjoyable. I really love my job now. Other facets of life have also been affected in a positive way. That's true for myself and my staff.
Q: Has Silkin helped overcome the obstacles of managed care?
A: I've been able to stop taking certain plans that were poor reimbursers. I've even had some plans come back and offer me more money because they get such a good response from our office. Our patients go out of this office with the best in service and products. This provides me with a great peace of mind. We're the number one office in Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky for selling the AR coating and the scratch coating. This is a direct result of having a well trained staff. We use a nationwide lab and we're doing an incredible number. We get people to buy the top quality lenses and frames whether they have insurance or not. I no longer feel like I'm a hostage to insurance companies.
Q: Do you feel the Silkin program can work for everybody?
A: I don't see why not. From my viewpoint, it all starts with having a management system. If you don't have a good system, I don't see how you could succeed, or go very far without having some serious problems. I've been to Silkin seminars and have talked to some of their other clients. I've been impressed to hear about the different problems doctors came to Silkin with and how they're being solved. Silkin has so much experience with so many doctors, they have answers for everything. No problem is exactly the same, which is why I don't believe that a "cookie cutter" program can work for every doctor. As I mentioned earlier, what sold me on Silkin in the first place is their approach of finding out about the doctor, the staff, the specific set of circumstances the individual practitioner is dealing with, demographics, economics and so on. Their program is highly individualized and extremely comprehensive. The program will work for anyone who wants it to work.
Q: Any advice you'd like to give other optometrists?
A: Well, I know I should have signed on with this program much sooner. I waited to hire a consultant until I had the money in the bank. It sounds rather silly now because I was borrowing thousands every year to put into my practice or for myself. I would have done this program much sooner if I knew then what I know now. It only took a few months for me to make the cost of the program back. My advice would be to take a serious look at doing something now as opposed to later, or never.
I don't want to end this interview without saying that I have found all the staff at Silkin to be 100% dedicated to their clients and the success of each and every one of them. Each Silkin staff member that I've had the pleasure to work with has demonstrated a willingness to go the extra mile to help us achieve our goals. They've set a good example for us and we're happy to be associated with this group.