Ask the Labs, Eyecare Business

If a patient has a high-plus or high-minus Rx, which frame characteristics should be taken into consideration to ensure it will work best with the lenses?

When working with a patient with a high-plus or high-minus lens Rx, say over four or five diopters in total power, the following tips can help:

In general, rounder and smaller shapes are best for reducing edge thickness. One key factor in reducing edge thickness is picking a frame that requires the least amount of decentration. Decentration is the natural enemy of high-power lenses, as decentration increases, so does edge thickness. Another way to look at it: The closer the geometric center of each eye is to the pupil, the less edge thickness there will be.

Of course, other aspects of frame choice also have a role to play. A frame that hides more of the lens edge will help improve aesthetics— with plus lenses the thickness will tend to be in the nasal, with minus lenses it will be the temple edge. Be careful with drills and rimless groove frames; instead consider zyl or metal frames with thicker eyewires.

As for wraps, they are designed for lower powers, typically from -3.00D to +3.00D, and can become risky above this range. For wraps in general, we strongly recommend consulting the frame manufacturer to determine the lens range the frames were designed to accommodate.

— Swen Carlson, vice president, operations, VSP Optics Group

A Look at Lens Materials by Jenean Carlton, ABOC, Eyecare Business

Given all the considerations of lens materials, how do you make a decision about the best lens material for your patients?  First, learn about the patient’s prescription and lifestyle needs and then research data about materials.

Index of Refraction: Index of refraction indicates how readily a lens material will refract a bean of light. The higher the index of refraction, the more the material will bend light rays. The higher the index of refraction, the thinner the lenses can be processed. Plus power lenses are thinner in the center when fabricated and minus lenses are thinner on the edges.

Abbe Value: White light is made up of the visible spectrum of wavelengths from 380nm to 760nm, with each wavelength corresponding to different colors of light. The higher the Abbe value of a material, the less likely it is to have problems with dispersion or chromatic aberration, which is perceived as color fringing or off axis blurring in the lens periphery.

Specific Gravity: Specific gravity is a measurement that determines a lens material’s weight. The lower the density or specific gravity of a material the lighter it will be when fabricated into a lens.

Reflectance: All lenses reflect at least a small percentage of light; some reflect a significant amount depending on the refractive index of the material. The higher the materials refractive index, the greater the percentage of light reflected from the lens surfaces. (END ARTICLE)

At Optical Dynamics, our clearLIGHT advantage lens combines the best of all attributes:

• Thin – Premium Index
• Light Weight – 1.20 g/cm3
• High ABBE Value = 40
• UVA & UVB Protection
• Exceeds FDA Standards
• Drillable
• Excellent Tint Absorption

Eyecare Business by Stephanie K. De Long

Tip #1 Be Visual & Verbal – Marketing and message have to take into consideration not just the age of kids but also whether your communication is meeting their learning styles. That’s often overlooked.

Tip #2 Understand the Essence – Whether you’re talking about a product, program, or promotion, this is an exercise that has proved very useful at Youth Market Systems in the development and marketing stages.

Tip #3 Consider Identification Patterns – Whether it’s a real person or – in terms of character identification – an animal or cartoonlike personality, you can understand identification patterns: how a child relates to and interacts with things and people.

Tip #4 One Size Won’t Fit All – Whether attempting to market through advertising, print, promotions, or the Internet, certain generalizations are often applied. Some work, Some definitely don’t.

According to an AOA Third-Party/Managed Care Survey, “the typical OD patient profile includes 50.5% of patients covered by private insurance plans.” Although managed care acceptance does help increase patient traffic, it may not always help increase practice profits. As this trend continues to expand, creating your own discount plan for local employers can help you compete and profit in the growing managed care market.

As a Q-2100 system owner you have a unique advantage in creating your own discount vision plan. By promoting the clearLIGHT, sunSMART, ultraSUN and nanoCLEAR AR products you produce in office, you have a very controlled cost of goods. For Rx orders that are outside of your production range, you can supplement at Q-owner prices through Vision Dynamics Lab. By utilizing your proprietary products, you don’t have to guess or spend countless hours trying to figure out how a discount plan will affect your profits. You can be confident that the program will help grow your business.

Set up a program that gives a certain percentage or dollar amount off the services and eyewear you provide. Offer the program to small and medium sized local employers who do not currently offer a vision care plan to their employees.  Offer the program at no cost to the employers and your program becomes a value added benefit they can offer their staff and families.

Create the collateral material that explains your program with what is included and what is not. Assign an identification code to each business you are going to solicit. Create a membership card with the identification code that explains the discount program that can be handed out to their employees. Track the visits via the identification code to track your success.

Did you know Optical Dynamics’ partner lab Vision Dynamics Laboratory is the largest independent glass lens processor in the U.S.?

Read a Q&A on dispensing glass as shared in Eyecare Business

Question: Are there restrictions on using glass lenses?

Answer: In general, most people benefit from the superior visual clarity provided by glass lenses. In higher prescriptions, the dispense and customer must manage the frame dimensions. Glass lenses are usually contra-indicated for children, those patients participating in high-impact activities or anyone who has limited vision in one eye. Mike Yager, Vision Dynamics Lab.

Question: Does dispensing glass lenses present any particular challenges in fitting or processing?

Answer: Processing glass lenses presents some interesting challenges for labs. As a glass lens processor yo must have specific equipment dedicated to only processing glass. The lab mus also have people experienced in processing glass which is quite different than plastic. Each index has its own characteristics and nuances including how lenses are chem-hardened at the end of the process. Because of this only a handful of labs are comfortable or skilled in processing glass. Mike Yager, Vision Dynamics Lab

In an article published in Optometric Management, author and Q-2100 system owner Dr. Davis shares five steps to help optical professionals reap the benefits of providing an optimum pair of glasses. No one wants upset patients claiming they can’t see out of their new eyeglasses in a waiting room full of patients!

Step One: Double check the refraction. According to Dr. Davis, “I rarely change a prescription more that +/-0.75D so when a patient’s prescription has changed more than that amount I have found the number of remakes increase, so I always examine the patients previous refractions to ensure I haven’t made an error prior to recording the new Rx.”

Step Two: Manage the patient’s expectations. “If the patient’s prescription has changed significantly, educate them on what specifically they can expect with the new prescription,” says Dr. Davis. “And always take the time to educate first time progressive wearers,” added Davis.

Step Three: Have a well educated optical staff. “Always make sure your staff understands appropriate frame selection, pupillary distance and seg height along with proper patient positioning,” advises Davis.

Step Four: Always check lens powers. “Another way to prevent spectacle remakes is to always check the lenses your lab produces as soon as they arrive,” recommends Davis. By checking the lenses before they are dispensed you can catch any lab production errors.

Step Five: Provide a written policy. Dr. Davis recaps his recommendations with the suggestion for a written policy. “Give your patients a written policy on re-makes before they leave the office with their new spectacles. Although completely avoiding spectacle remakes is impossible, the five aforementioned tips can reduce them and result in more happy patients,” Davis adds.

Now that you are processing clearLIGHT advantage, sunSMART II, blueVIEW, and nanoCLEAR  digital lenses in-house, its time to promote the products you produce!

• Review your product literature…are you talking about the clearLIGHT, sunSMART, blueVIEW and nanoCLEAR AR products?
• Review your on hold message…are you telling your patients about the new digital lenses you produce direct to their prescription while they wait?
• Review your employee compensation program…does your internal program encourage your staff to sell the products you produce?
• Review your staff training program…do all team members know how to present the  new product offering to your patients?
• Review your target production…have you implemented a target production rate for your in-house lab?

Eyecare Business January/February 2020 by Denise Power

Your prescription just walked out and over to a web retailer, you say?
Enough. Try these 3 smart ideas + tactics to reclaim your turf from e-commerce competitors.

1. BE LIKE BEZOS: Leverage accounting tools to track sources of revenue and costs—on a daily basis, Walton says. Many businesses overlook this opportunity to understand their unique business drivers. “Know why you exist,” Walton says.

2. CLEAN UP ONLINE.Google your business. Does the search return correct business hours, phone, and address? Does your website have old images, dead-end links, latest review dated 2017?

3. CONNECT THE DOTS.Warby Parker links online clicks and page views to sales closed in stores to understand conversion. “Start to adopt that mindset and give yourself more information about what people are actually doing in your store,” Walton says.

For the complete article visit:

https://www.eyecarebusiness.com/issues/2020/january-february-2020/the-wild,-wild-web

VCPN February 2017 (re-post)

1. User proper grammar and punctuation: Punctuation and good grammar convey professionalism
2. Never use caps: Its like walking up to someone and yelling at them
3. Re-read what you wrote before you post or send it: Read what you have typed to make sure it’s clear, polite and helpful
4. Don’t comments when you are angry: It’s too easy to answer inappropriately in the heat of the moment
5. Question your perception of the intent of the person posting: Ask yourself if it’s possible that the other party meant something different.
6. Remember that the words you’re seeing were written by people: If you wouldn’t say to someone’s face what you’re about to write digitally, don’t, its that simple

For the full article visit visioncareproducts.com