Specsavers has implemented a global platform which links its customers’ vision and hearing data with the retail and marketing side of the business, as part of plans to get closer to its customers with an eye on changes in the NHS.
The company, whose in-house advertising department devised the long-running “Should have gone to Specsavers” activity, is already holding talks with a number of UK marketing agencies about moving its CRM communications account to an external business.
The move will be made much easier following the creation of a single database to streamline operations by connecting the electronic patient records with lens and frames data, inventory and marketing activity.
Specsavers will use the eClinicalWorks cloud-based platform to hold customers’ optical records, while also linking into Specsavers’ CRM, finance and store ordering systems.
The new platform provides a private cloud, with multi-language capabilities and will be used globally in all Specsavers stores. The technology is currently being implemented in New Zealand, before being rolled out to European markets, including the UK.
Chief information officer at Specsavers Phil Pavitt said: “At Specsavers, we have over 1,700 stores in 10 countries. Our previous system varied between stores and had multiple versions, so we wanted a single platform to streamline our operations worldwide and support our further growth.”
He added: “We’ve found the eClinicalWorks platform easy to implement. In our first store, we had planned to run eClinicalWorks alongside our old system for four weeks as a back-up, but after only three days, we switched to eClinicalWorks entirely. eClinicalWorks is an excellent match for Specsavers, both in terms of technology and the entrepreneurial ethos of the company.”
In addition to electronic patient records, eClinicalWorks offers practice management solutions in the US, with a customer base of more than 115,000 physicians.
Specsavers also has an eye on the wider healthcare market, both private and state-owned NHS, which aims to become a paperless organisation within five years.
Navani said: “NHS and private healthcare providers will be able to benefit from our next generation electronic health platforms to deliver the best medical care possible, helping to create a paperless NHS by 2020.”
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