Running an optometric practice is like raising kids: it takes a village! And finding the right practice partners can be a challenge in itself. S. Barry Eiden, OD, FAAO, FSLS, shares how he determined what organization to partner with and the benefits that have come because of it in an article for Review of Optometric Business.

Know Your Goals

Your practice partner should share, support, or aid in reaching your overall practice goals, so identifying your key objectives is one of the first steps in the search for the right practice partner. These could be things like practice growth, patient flow, specialized care, career advancement opportunities, or a phase-out. For example, Dr. Eiden was “looking for a partnership that would ensure the future security of my family.”

Know What You Want to Stay the Same

After you’ve established where you’d like to go, you’ll need to understand what you’d like to maintain. Dr. Eiden, for example, was looking to maintain “the culture of our practice and dedication to advance medical eyecare.” Additionally, when it was time to transition, he didn’t want his patients to experience any difference in care or decline in customer service. Knowing these two things, Dr. Eiden was able to look for a practice partner that would complement and even enhance his practice’s current mission.

Know Where You See Your (and Your Staff’s) Career

Along with practice growth, you’ll want to partner with an organization that will help you grow as an eye care professional, too. Dr. Eiden shared that he “wanted to partner with an organization that would allow me personally to transition into other areas of our profession that I have great interest in.”

Additionally, he wanted more opportunities for his team to expand their skillsets. Whether this is through provided courses, additional learning opportunities, or in-practice trainings, your practice partner can help you and your team develop new skills and a deeper knowledge of the specifics of eye care.

A Mutually Beneficial Partnership

After all these considerations, Dr. Eiden decided to partner with AEG Vision. When it came down to making a decision, AEG filled all his requirements.

• Goals: “AEG worked with us to ensure that our mutual goals would be met…Partnering with AEG has only increased our ability to achieve our goals and has expanded the opportunities for both myself and my associates and staff.”
• Sustain Level of Patient Care: “Our associates and professional staff are able to practice at the highest level of medical eyecare without any compromise…beyond what our practice could have provided.”
• Career Growth: “The career opportunities, benefits and job security for the most part exceeded what we could provide to our employees as an independent practice.”

EyePromise® and AEG Vision

EyePromise is the exclusive nutraceutical partner of AEG Vision and offers the most comprehensive nutritional partnership on the market. With products that cover macular health for all ages, occasional dry eye, screen time support, vision support for patients with blood sugar control issues, and even athletic performance, EyePromise has a nutraceutical solution for almost any patient.

Beyond its comprehensive product offering, EyePromise is also the most clinically supported line of ocular nutraceuticals and continues to be on the forefront of innovation for ocular nutritional support. Additionally, EyePromise uses only the highest-quality, natural ingredients, and the entire product line is NSF Contents Tested and Certified. These validations are why EyePromise is backed by not one, not two, but THREE money-back guarantees.

Learn more about becoming an EyePromise partner.

Finding a practice partner doesn’t need to be an overwhelming process. Start determining what you’re looking to get from the partnership and find an organization that works with you and for you. With an EyePromise partnership, you can start offering ocular nutrition support to your patients with a $0 investment. Learn more now.