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Ophthalmology 'concierge' strives for competitive edge
Ophthalmology Network Advantage offers a cost-effective approach to accessing patients through advertising, referrals and scheduling support.
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1-800-DOCTORS has expanded its referral services to include consumer education and scheduling support and extended the full branding and advertising power of the vanity number to ophthalmologists in the form of the Ophthalmology Network Advantage, a service exclusive to ophthalmologists, including those with fully integrated optometrists.
Mission
“Our positioning for 1-800-DOCTORS is to create America’s health care concierge,” Jerry Brager, chairman and CEO of 1-800-DOCTORS Inc., said in an interview with Ocular Surgery News.
“Typically, if you’re in the health care industry or you’re wealthy, you probably don’t need 1-800-DOCTORS. We think that’s the 1% club. The 99% club are those folks on Main Street that — when they have a serious need, when they’re just trying to find a primary care physician or when they’re looking for a second opinion — they have very few resources to use. Our job is to match the consumer with the right physician at the right time that accepts their insurance, that meets their criteria or, as we call, ‘their compatibilities,’ and then schedule the appointments,” he said.
For physicians, Mr. Brager said that the service streamlines their practice, becoming a part of the practice’s operating and marketing plan.
Vertical marketing
There are a number of specialties that operate outside of the hospital environment, such as in separate offices or surgery centers. 1-800-DOCTORS predominantly partners with health systems and by extension physicians associated with those hospitals, but the company is now building “physician verticals,” which are branches of the company devoted to including physicians, including ophthalmologists, who typically do most of their work outside the hospital.
The Ophthalmology Network is the first physician vertical the company has launched, Mr. Brager said. It offers advertising and promotional support through a targeted, multichannel national media campaign distributed through print, local radio, online, television and mobile phones. Concierge-level service and appointment scheduling support are also offered, according to the company website.
Consumer education is an important aspect and opportunity of the Ophthalmology Network, according to Mr. Brager, particularly because consumers often delay bringing eye care issues to the attention of an ophthalmologist until there is already a problem.
“Probably 50% of people who have eye and vision issues are not even aware that they have eye or vision issues,” Mr. Brager said.
“If they’re having problems driving at night, that means something,” he said. “Most consumers are just oblivious. … We’d like to educate consumers that they need to do something sooner vs. later for the long-term health of their eyes.”
Company growth
“We expect that, as we build, we’ll be able to create a national network of between 350,000 and 450,000 physicians, many of which will have been certified, credentialed, accredited by our health system partners or by the various physician specialty or medical associations,” Mr. Brager said.
Currently, 1-800-DOCTORS is operational in 10 states, with plans to expand to 10 more states. It serves more than 40 million people. By the end of 2012, the company expects that number to increase to more than 100 million people, and by the end of 2013, 1-800-DOCTORS could be serving more than 250 million people, according to Mr. Brager.
Membership fees associated with the Ophthalmology Network depend on individual marketing and promotional programs, which are devised based on local market needs. They typically range from $400 to $600 per month, he said.
“We are currently enrolling physicians into our ophthalmology vertical and expect to begin national promotion in the fourth quarter of 2012,” he said. – by Daniel R. Morgan