Member Spotlight: 3D Vision Eye Care
Dr. Jenni Drake & Dr. Cameran Drake
3D Vision recently won the 2019 Practice of the Year Award at the PECAA Annual Meeting in May
because of their ability to demonstrate profitable and meaningful change within their practice. Their ability to run a successful business, with two practice locations, has been aided by the PECAA MBA program which they have used to optimize many parts of their business.
Dr. Cameran Drake will be the first to tell you that good, objective business advice is hard to find. That’s what she appreciates most about the MBA program that PECAA provides its members.
“I’m glad we have someone we can call for advice and be led in the right direction, and we don’t have to second guess what their motives are,” Dr. Drake explains. “With everything else out there, you wonder why someone is so willing to help you.”
Dr. Drake co-runs 3D Vision Eye Care, which has two offices: one in Broomfield, CO and another in Colorado City, CO. It’s not always easy running a practice with offices two hours away from each other, but fortunately, there are two Dr. Drakes — Cameran and her sister Jenni — both optometrists, who run the business together.
The sister’s styles are complementary, Dr. Cameran Drake explains. “We have two different brains — she’s much more business oriented, whereas I’m much more patient oriented, but it works out great.”
What PECAA Services Has 3D Vision Taken Advantage Of?
“We have used a couple of different programs that PECAA offers,” says Dr. Jenni Drake, who has taken advantage of the inventory analysis “quite a bit.”
“We used to just let the opticians order what they thought we needed, with no strategy on number of frames or if a frame line was moving,” Dr. Jenni Drake explains. “Now we have it set that each brand gets a certain number of frames and we do not order more than that.” She adds that they also send “stale” frames back with the rep, rather than just sending back discontinued frames.
As for Dr. Cameran Drake, she found the program especially useful when the practice was considering buying a new location. “We ran the financial analysis and actually we thought it was a slam dunk of a decision, but we found it could have been the worst thing to get ourselves into,” she explains.
“We have done the financial analysis, practice valuations, used PECAA’s templates for budgeting and financial evaluations and have called in several times with questions on billing and coding,” Dr. Cameran Drake says. “PECAA offers so many useful tools that they are usually our first phone call when we have questions.”
Any Advice for PECAA Members Hoping to Get Started With PECAA’s MBA Advisors?
The doctors have their own advice for PECAA Members who want to use the MBA program but don’t know where to start.
Slow but steady. “What we have found to work is to pick one aspect, such as the financial analysis, and start with that,” Dr. Cameran Drake says. “Then, once you have a good grasp on that, try another resource.”
With their two locations and need to manage staff—an office manager, part-time doctor, and two
opticians—the doctors are grateful for the extra help and support they get from PECAA.
“I think it can be overwhelming to be a practice owner trying to see patients and run a business,” Dr. Cameran Drake explains. “The MBA program is an amazing opportunity that PECAA gives us at no cost, just the time it takes you to start the process. Then they take over from there.”
She adds that the Annual Meeting and local regional meetings are another opportunity PECAA provides that allows them to bring home valuable business information.
“The Annual Meeting rejuvenates us by being able to talk to other Members that are going through the same struggles that we are and being able to share ideas with them,” she explains. “Now PECAA hosts the local events as well. We will move our schedules around to make sure we are able to go to those,” Dr. Cameran Drake adds with a laugh.
