Taking a Closer Look Reduces Eyeglass Redo Rates
- Logging each redo in a tracking book
- Creating a unit “redo monitor” and a lead optician position, to troubleshoot service gaps and help team members close those gaps
- Coaching employees on new protocols in HealthConnect to identify possible factors contributing to lens problems, on collaborating with optometry and ophthalmology in problem solving, and on counseling patients about eye health as well as manufacturing warranty limits
What can your team do to identify potential problems in your workflow? What else could your team do to provide coaching for your team members?
Admit it—when someone asks you to redo something, you cannot help but feel a sense of defeat. At the Vision Essentials Optical Center in Redlands (Southern California), there was a growing number of corrections and replacements needing to be made to members’ prescription glasses. So the team set out to cut the redo rate in half. First, they assessed and found that common reasons for redos were errors linked to providers, opticians and off-site labs, and product warranties touted by manufacturers. They then found new ways to address those issues.
Having to redo a pair of glasses wastes patients’ time and Kaiser Permanente’s money. Members of this Vision Essentials team researched the reasons for redos, then took action to make improvements.
Members of the unit-based team at the Vision Essentials Optical Center, Redlands Medical Offices
redo rate, down from 8.1 percent a year earlier