Benefits That Outweigh Overwhelm

In the industry’s era of understaffing and retention difficulty, implementing an in-house lab can be a time and money investment that benefits practices + patients when it comes to turn-around time and creative freedom. Plus, staff are more tuned into the Rx eyewear process, enabling them to provide a deeper understanding of what goes into a patient’s perfect pair.

Here, EB connects with two eyecare professionals—Jordan Foster, ABO, NCLE, lab processing manager for Deerwood Family Eyecare in Jacksonville, FL, and Zach McLean, co-owner of Dietz-McLean Optical with six locations in Texas—to unpack the real challenges and benefits of an in-house lab.

Bringing It Home. Running a full-service lab was not on Dietz-McLean Optical’s radar—until Covid-19 revealed a set of obstacles, McLean shares. Relying on an outside lab that processed thousands of jobs a day couldn’t offer a reasonable turnaround time for patients needing eyewear at the time, and customer service was lacking amid the overwhelm. Plus, supply chain issues within the industry and beyond became the new normal for the foreseeable future.

Since deciding to invest in implementing its own in-house lab, Dietz-McLean Optical has been able to dramatically reduce its turnaround time on most jobs, with one lab servicing all six locations.

“This speed from order to delivery is a great competitive advantage when it’s common for glasses to take weeks to come in,” McLean explains. “And we can quickly pivot if we encounter supply issues.”

➤ Closing the Loop. At Deerwood Family Eyecare, Foster points to the benefits of more creative freedom and control from processing in-house rather than through an outside lab, in addition to a competitive advantage in the face of big-box retailers.

“We can help patients who require glasses immediately or who cannot wait the standard two-week time frame specified by the larger ophthalmic/insurance labs,” says Foster. It also looped her closer to the process, enabling her to provide deeper understanding to patients about their glasses and how they were made, including why the lenses and materials used would best suit their individual needs.

➤ Maintenance Required. However, just as the labs of bigger processors become overwhelmed, so do private practices. While McLean acknowledged that Dietz-McLean Optical is fortunate not to have dealt with the staffing issues affecting so much of the industry, lacking additional/backup equipment can be an issue. Their solution? Upkeep maintenance to prevent downtime and foster a network with other independent labs, maintaining the ability to temporarily outsource work if needed.

➤ Organize for Efficiency. Responsible for running Deerwood Family Optical’s in-house lab, Foster has implemented protocols to ensure organization, efficiency, and 100% accuracy to combat the tendency to rush due to overwhelm. “I feel compelled to please all of our patients by providing fast turnaround times, only to find myself overwhelmed with a backlog of jobs to be completed,” she shares.

Her solution includes prioritizing orders based on complexity and the preferred pickup date specified by the patient. Then, the classic option: a checklist to ensure thorough inspection.

“By adding these tools into our workflow, we have achieved remarkable outcomes, alleviating my feelings of being overwhelmed and ensuring that our patients receive nothing but the highest-quality work.”