Success in the City The first of a two-part series

In a new two-part series, we explore the lives of two successful ODs – one in Chicago, the other in a small Tennessee town. The good news – wherever you choose to practice, optometry can be a lucrative and exciting career.

From Suburb to Big City

Dr. Robert J. Steinmetz kicks off our first practice profile. A 2003 Illinois College of Optometry (ICO) graduate, Dr. Steinmetz started practice eight years ago, transcending from the Chicago suburbs to the “Magnificent Mile” on Michigan Avenue. Robert J. Steinmetz, O.D. Born and raised in Oak Lawn, Ill., Dr. Steinmetz has gone far beyond his Chicago south side high school days and undergraduate coursework at Notre Dame. He’s now the owner of SoLo Eye Care & Eyewear Gallery, LLC. Gregarious, outgoing and a true entrepreneur, he was named Illinois Young Optometrist of the Year in 2006. A past Illinois Optometric Association (IOA) trustee, he’s also a member of the American Optometric Association (AOA).

Dr. Steinmetz makes work fun. He employs a staff of four full-time and nine part-time employees and his optical is more than just eyewear – it’s an eyewear gallery. Nearly 60,000 potential patients live and work within a mile of his practice, which continues to grow through pediatrician and patient referrals, and online reviews that generate at least three patients a day. “The Internet has changed the way people shop for eye care,” he says.

A Day in the Life

Starting work at 10 a.m. and ending in the early evening, Dr. Steinmetz sees a range of patients in the community in which he lives. “Our area is flourishing,” he relates. “It’s one of the fastest growing areas in the country, and we’re the first optometric practice in the neighborhood. I’m fortunate to live just three blocks from my practice.” At SoLo Eye Care & Eyewear Gallery, every day is different – from fitting specialty contact lenses to treating children to removing a foreign body from the eye of a construction worker. “I recently had a patient who’d seen several ophthalmologists for a chronic eye allergy condition,” says Dr. Steinmetz. “The child actually had conjunctivitis and we treated him with oral antibiotics to clear up the infection.”

Learning the Business The lack of business and financial training challenged Dr. Steinmetz when he opened his first practice partnership in 2003. “We conquered our lack of training through independent research and studying the practice management successes of well known optometrists,” he notes. He also learned business basics from Dr. Pamela Boyce, who taught a private practice course through ICO. “Dr. Boyce taught how to think critically about the business side of optometry and she was a very positive influence,” he says.

Today, Dr. Steinmetz taps the experience of other successful ODs and connects regularly with mentors, including his uncle, Dr. Stephen Steinmetz and ICO Senior Director for Governmental Relations and Charitable Services, Dr. Vince Brandys. “They continually teach me the importance of political involvement in our profession and how to successfully run a private practice,” he explains.

Eye Care vs. Eye Wear

For Dr. Steinmetz, patient care always comes first, but there’s also a business side to optometry. The business of optometry ranges from common business practices and financial management to frame and lens purchasing, employee management, advertising, Internet marketing, and specialty practice. “We can’t allow optometry to be thought of as a profession that provides free eye exams with the purchase of glasses. We need to focus more on the eye care we provide and less on the goods we sell,” he says.

Community Outreach Dr. Steinmetz promotes his practice while sharing his knowledge and experience with students through speaking events and as an adjunct clinical professor at ICO. He has welcomed a contact lens and cornea resident and has ICO students rotating through his practice annually. Just as Dr. Steinmetz calls on his mentors for advice, he also mentors others.

He also participates in many scholastic vision exam programs and provides free glasses for students in need, and is working to improve his Spanish to better reach his patients. He explains, “My Spanish-speaking patients are hard-working union laborers, and represent less than five percent of my practice, but because I am willing to learn their language and do eye exams in Spanish, many follow me from the suburbs to the city.”

He is also an avid sports fan and part owner of the now infamous Bearsmobile, the revamped classic 1966 Cadillac hearse devoted to supporting the Chicago Bears. “I take the train to the White Sox or Blackhawks game and walk to Chicago’s lakefront,” he says. An AOA and IOA proponent, Dr. Steinmetz recognizes the importance of getting involved and attending local and state meetings while advancing skill sets through continuing education (CE). He continues, “Companies can always undercut your [eyewear] prices, but they can never take away the service you provide. We have a stronger voice when we all stand together.”

In the future, Dr. Steinmetz would like to expand his practice to include multiple associates and ophthalmological surgical services to his patients.

Watch for part two of this series featuring a successful OD practicing in the small town of Sparta, Tenn. in the next issue of Eyes on the Future.