I recently attended a practice management conference at Disney World in Orlando, Florida and one of the special events was the “Business Behind the Magic” tour. This was the third time I’ve taken this tour which is produced by the Disney Institute and I was still inspired with new ideas that I could apply to my practice. One of the tour guides told our group that Disney leaders do not micromanage, but they do overmanage. I thought about that concept quite a lot and it correlates extremely well to achieving a great patient experience in an optometric practice.

What is Disney Overmanagement?
The tour guide told us that overmanaging is different from micromanaging because: a) it is intentional and b) the intent is extremely positive.

Here is what Disney means by the overmanage concept:

• Think about your challenge or goal differently and to a greater degree.
• Pay extraordinary attention to the details.
• View what is “typical” or “corporate best practices” as a baseline as opposed to an acceptable standard.

Apply the concept to your practice
When you overmanage your practice, you can create consistently pleasant experiences for your patients, which results in greater patient loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals. And as anyone who has visited Disney theme parks knows, you can charge high fees and still have your guests (patients) feel they received a good value.

Begin by listing each interaction that occurs between your office and the patient during a typical visit and then discuss each of those points with your staff. Disney calls those interactions “moments of truth”. Brainstorm ways to make each event more pleasant and memorable for the patient.

Here is a quick list of moments of truth to consider and improve upon:

• The phone call to ask about services and fees.
• Scheduling an appointment.
• Planning for insurance benefits to be used.
• Confirming the appointment.
• Greeting the patient upon arrival.
• The waiting experience.
• Asking for information and approval for screening tests.
• Calling the patient in for pretesting.
• The case history.
• Introduction to the doctor.
• Recording data in the EHR system.
• The examination including dilation.
• Contact lens trial and fitting.
• Patient education and treatment plan.
• Eyewear selection and the ordering process.
• Additional medical testing.
• Notification and delivery of eyewear.
• Ongoing communication and satisfaction survey.
• Recall system.

If you refine these points and invest in them with money and through staff training, you will build a more successful practice. Exceed the Patient’s expectations the way Disney does with their Guests.

Have a magical day!