Since establishing Eye Centers of Florida in 1980, I’ve learned a great deal about building professional networks, developing working relationships and managing business operations. Trial and error, instinct and setting goals have helped me learn what’s successful and what I can apply in my practice.

I opened my ophthalmology practice in 1971, founded Eye Centers of Florida in 1980 and opened the first outpatient SurgiCare Center in 1982. It wasn’t until 1986 that we started our first satellite office, and that move was a response to an urgent community need in a remote location rather than an attempt to create a referral stream. Managed care was far away on the horizon, but we began to see the benefits of creating a regional system that would provide excellent, basic community vision care, and also direct patients to a central facility for surgery and specialized procedures.

The first satellite office strategically placed to accomplish these goals opened in 1987. Today, Eye Centers has 17 such satellite offices in seven counties. Patients are referred to our clinic facilities for specialized care ranging from consultations to various surgical and laser procedures.

The success we enjoy at Eye Centers of Florida has been built upon three factors: The right people, the right locations and the right incentives. Here, I’ll explain how using these factors can help you succeed at building a surgical co-management business.

Forming relationships with other healthcare providers is a challenge in itself. By consistently providing the best possible patient care and expecting that from others, you’ll be able to attract doctors who share your determination for excellence. My relationships with the optometrists with whom I work are based on respect, both for each of them as a person and for what they do professionally.

We also look for:

• Business sense.
As I begin to consider a professional association with an optometrist – and after his credentials, clinical skills and expertise have been established – I look for good business sense and the ability to build a solid patient base. (A practice within the practice.) He must balance personal skills such as excellent patient rapport with business competence, such as good scheduling practices and a desire to improve and grow professionally.
• An interest in pathology.
I find that a genuine interest in eye pathology is a critical component of practice development and the referral process. Those who are motivated by the "detective" aspect of determining what causes vision problems and by helping administer the cures fit well into our system of patient care.
We also work to attract optometrists who share our vision by offering a commitment to them.
• Skill-building.
Once we bring an optometrist on board, we strongly support his desire to advance his skills and knowledge. We offer in-service training on diagnostic and patient management skills, host dinner meetings featuring prestigious experts speaking on contemporary vision care topics and innovations, and invite optometrists to observe procedures for which they have referred patients.
Our O.D. newsletter, "At a Glance," provides information on meetings and other continuing education opportunities, new services and treatments, marketing tips, and profiles of local optometrists. We include our optometrists in FDA clinical trials involving advanced practices and devices. By inviting their help in the co-management of patients who participate in the trials, we’re able to expose the optometrists to new technology and state-of-the art vision care.

• Referrals.
Eye Centers is committed to honoring the traditional referral relationship and promptly returns patients to referring physicians for co-managed postoperative care, eyewear selection and other services. We use a special identification in the charts of referred patients so we can quickly identify and direct them to return to their O.D. for continued care.
We genuinely appreciate the support of all physicians who refer their patients to us, for a number of reasons. A mutually respectful relationship enhances the professional aspirations of each of us and teaches us daily about improving vision care.
O.D.s who are up to date on clinical care are more likely to recognize severe vision problems in their early stages. This directly benefits the patients, who enjoy a knowledgeable, team-oriented approach to their diagnosis and treatment.