Marie Thompson is co-owner of a practice with her husband, Sam Thompson, OD, in Albemarle, North Carolina. A few years ago, she took on the task of building a website.
“I found Eyehub, which offered a great team and some easy-to-manage tools for creating a website, but it was pretty do-it-yourself,” she says. “I still didn’t really know how to build a website, so it was home-grown-looking.”
Her experience changed completely when Eyehub was purchased by EyeCarePro.
“It was like the sun came out,” says Thompson. “Previously, improvements to the website were incremental changes, but now all of a sudden here comes the professional look we had been wanting but thought was out of reach for us.” Now the site, DrSamThompson.com, presents patients with a complete listing of services, products, insurances accepted and other information that patients want to find quickly.
Thompson made the decision to forgo any other social media platforms and dedicate all the practice branding and information channels to the website, so EyeCarePro’s help proved to be especially beneficial.
“Part of the appeal is that our EyeCarePro representative, Abe McGowan, calls once a month. We talk about what we need to do and what to be wary of,” she says. “When COVID-19 hit, he jumped in with safety messages and pop-ups. The most important thing about our website was that it stayed current, and people could get the information they needed.”
The site also pulls in the practice’s Google reviews, which uniformly praise the professionalism and friendliness that patients find there.
STREAMLINING THE PROCESS FOR PATIENTS
Not only does EyeCarePro’s support provide language and navigation in busy and difficult times, but the Thompsons are able to use their website as a tool for patients to request an appointment and/or also prepare and submit a live Patient Registration form. “We have our patients fill them out ahead of time, so it’s a quick start as soon as they arrive for their appointment. Now there’s almost no one filling out forms in the reception area,” she says. This form, upon receipt, is uploaded to their chart in their CompuLink EHR software. This really speeds up the screening process since the information is not having to be manually asked and entered by a tech. The techs can begin screening and pretesting protocols sooner and reduce the time spent on this phase by as much as 10 minutes. “It’s created a lot of efficiency by eliminating redundancy, and that helps keep the doctor on schedule and speeds up the patient flow.”
The difference between the prior method for forms and the EyeCarePro/CompuLink version is night and day. “EyeCarePro and Compulink both played critical roles,” says Thompson. “We played around with it as much as allowed, and we made it as functional and user-friendly as we could while still adhering to the strict rules and regulations surrounding online secure healthcare forms,” she says.
A CONCIERGE EXPERIENCE
When the owners find something that needs to be tweaked here and there, EyeCarePro is ready to listen. “Whatever features we need, EyeCarePro will work on them. They take it to the top level,” she says. “If something ever glitches, I can text or call anytime.”
The company’s know-how in navigating the complexities of the online world have also saved her time, she says. For example, Google maps was off in its practice locator, and despite her calls and emails to try to get that corrected, she couldn’t. But EyeCarePro could, and now patients who use the locator on the website can find the location much more quickly. Knowing that can be a point of confusion, there’s also a simple directional statement on each page of the website, telling prospective patients exactly where to find them.
Having an account representative who is so focused on the practice’s wants and needs saves a lot of time. “Abe knows that we don’t want the social media links on the website,” so he will strip those links off if they ever reappear because of a website addition or tweak. “We’ve been working together for about four years; he’s dialed into our frequency, and we feel the connection. Our website is exactly how we want to be presented.”
While EyeCarePro serves clients across the country, the Thompsons can attest that there is an individual, personalized relationship.
“You’d think… you’d feel like part of the crowd, but [Abe] makes you feel like an individual,” says Thompson.
“Our primary goal with the website is to utilize it for the patients’ information and for creating efficiencies in the practice… giving the patient the path of least resistance.” EyeCarePro has become a staple for the Thompsons.
“They feel like a partnership in our business,” she says.
Looking for a transformational website experience like the Thompsons had? Call EyeCarePro at 201-591-4350 or click here to schedule a time that works for you
