I'm starting this thread to avoid hijacking another thread. Original thread about "upgrade" fees for poly is here http://www.optiboard.com/forums/show...upgrade-charge.
Here's a recap of a couple posts from that thread that steered to this new topic, how to implement simple single pricing for lenses, in general, and especially with complicated VCP fee schedules.
Quote:
Originally Posted by drk
I think simplified pricing is awesome. In fact, I'd even like to go as far as package price lenses. Problem is, I don't do enough private pay to make a go of it. VCPs are very line-item-y, and you practically have to have a scorecard to know what feature costs what.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanLiv
Hopefully this doesn't hijack the thread, but package pricing with VCPs is completely possible, and just about as easy as private pay. We do 90% VCP.
"For your Rx and frame selection, the best lens for you is XX, which has features A, B, C, and D. Regular fee is $YYY, but with your plan those lenses are only $ZZZ." Sometimes you'll get VCP patients who want a breakdown and want to mix and match every feature, but you have that with private pay packages too. I just pre-calculate the fees for our packaged lenses with each of the most popular VCPs and print them out on a sheet. When patients have the plan we just pull out the pre-calculated VCP fee card instead of the private pay. Works beautifully, my opticians don't have to do any VCP calculations, patients get a very real look at the exact value of the plan ("Your lenses are valued at $700, but you only pay $300, a $400 savings with your vision plan").
You don't have to change the way you do business to accept VCPs. Just because they break everything down doesn't mean you have to, and just because the have a fee schedule for a feature or lens doesn't mean you have to sell it. If you wouldn't sell a lens or offer a feature combination to a private pay, you can refuse to sell it to a VCP patient too even if the fees are scheduled.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mscoco
i like this idea, but if i may...how many different pre calculated vcp fee cards do you have for vsp? and what now with eyemed? plus i still have one sucker, er, i mean doctor still wanting to take davis.
2 sheets for VSP (Signature and Choice, that's all we see here, and Access is just 20% discount), one for Eyemed, one for Spectera, one for Superior Vision (their calculation is just a flat coverage plus discount and easy to do on the fly, but I premade it anyway just to help my opticians). VSP is the most time-consuming since EVERY fee is scheduled, but once it's together it's easy to maintain and tweak as you change your lenses, fees, and VCP schedules change.
The best part about this system is it frees me, my opticians, and our patients from that VCP mentality. We discuss first the doctor's lens Rx, why a lens is the best solution for them, and give them the best possible, the only difference is they pay less for it in the end because their VCP picks up a portion of it. There's a portion of patients that resist and want something cheaper or only what's covered, and we simply explain what they lose: less clarity due to reflection, easier to scratch and will need replacement sooner, no warranty, thicker & heavier & easier to chip and crack, less comfortable vision due to low quality progressive design, loss of peripheral sharpness without FF optimization, etc. If they are fine with that, so am I, but most people don't want that. Once the differences are explained and they understand the best solution for there vision needs is NOTHING like the insurance covered lens, most opt for our lens. If money really is the issue, then there is nothing to be done about that and we just have to go with what a patient can afford. But if it's just the insurance mentality that it's free that is the source of the resistance, it's our job to explain the difference and illustrate the value of a $600 lens. Once they see that, then getting that $600 lens for $300 is great!