HEALTH CARE AND SERVICE

Part of the DNA of FYi

BY RENNAY CRAATS

As a young optometrist in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Dr. Alan Ulsifer loved providing quality eyecare to patients, but he loved the business side of optometry even more. Throughout his early career, Dr. Ulsifer took interest in optometry advancements and lens manufacturing driven by software and diamond cutting that allowed for better, more personalized lenses. As his career progressed, he quickly discovered a new game-changing technology that was cost prohibitive for a single practice. Dr. Ulsifer started thinking about how he could turn “me” into “we” to open the possibilities for himself and his colleagues.

“Back then, I started talking to people about merging our practices together so instead of having a bunch of small entities, we’d create one big one. Consolidation is usually private equity driven, which is not necessarily good for the industry or the patient,” says Dr. Alan Ulsifer, CEO of FYidoctors. “It came down to if consolidation is going to happen, why can’t a bunch of doctors do it to control our own destiny and drive what the industry looks like?”

It turned out a group of doctors could in fact do just that. And they did. Dr. Ulsifer initially approached 10 optometry clinics about the possibility of consolidating, and he wasn’t sure how his plan would be received. Word spread and he found that many others saw the benefits of a large network of doctors and when it came time to merge and form FYidoctors in 2008, 23 entities from across the country signed on.

Growing Fyidoctors

During the early years, the newly-consolidated group focused on building systems that provided great value as they integrated the two dozen businesses that were to operate as one. Once they had established the framework of the FYidoctors group of optometrists, they again looked to expand the brand. By 2014, there were 100 FYidoctors locations from British Columbia to the Maritimes, and the following year the group moved its state-of-the-art ophthalmic laboratory and distribution centre to Delta, British Columbia, which houses the technology that piqued Dr. Ulsifer’s interest to start with. Even as FYidoctors grew, the fundamental focus for the brand remained first and foremost to provide advanced eyecare to patients. It is critical for people to get their eyes checked regularly and studies show that almost half of people couldn’t tell you their eye doctor’s name and haven’t seen their optometrist in the past three years. In a world of screens, it is more important than ever for people to monitor and maintain eye health, and FYidoctors wanted to make that process as easy and efficient as possible.

“Small issues that really wouldn’t bother you in the past become bigger issues when you’re staring at a screen all day. We have huge amounts of evidence that looking at a screen is causing progression of myopia, and when you’re more nearsighted there’s much more risk of eye disease and things like retinal detachment,” shared Dr. Ulsifer.

The doctors can treat this issue with special spectacle or contact lenses to prevent its progression, but the key is early diagnosis. That makes it even more important for people, especially children, to have regular eye exams. As with myopia, most eye disease is treatable, but because it is often painless, people don’t know there’s something wrong with their eyes until late into the disease’s progression.