Page 8 - 2015 Best Practices of Spectacle Lens Management

Best Practices 8. Use co-op advertising funds provided by lens 9. Track the eyewear capture rate. When patients needing Product
labs and frame vendors to do targeted mailings new glasses request an Rx to take to another provider, make a note
continued Mix
announcing new products. Maintaining communication with of it on a small piece of paper and collect these in a central location.
eyeglasses patients between their infrequent visits to the office is At the end of each month, count the number of walk-outs and divide
an effective way to demonstrate the practice’s interest in dispensing by the number of eyeglasses Rxes dispensed during the month. This
eyewear and capturing a larger share of patients’ eyewear purchases. provides a good approximation of the walk-out ratio. Dr. Gailmard
suggests that a well-managed dispensary can maintain a walk-out
ratio of 10 percent or less. Practices should also track eyewear Rxes
dispensed per 100 complete exams. A realistic goal for any practice is
75 Rxes per 100 exams. Finally, practices should track the proportion
of patients receiving contact lens exams who purchase eyewear on
exam day. A goal of 40 to 50 percent is realistic.

Product Every retail store owner knows that the array of products presented to customers, or product mix, has a huge impact on the sales and
Mix profits of the organization. The product mix offered by a retailer determines the average transaction size of the business. When the mix is
skewed toward higher-value products, average transactions and profits are higher. Beyond the dollars and cents, the product mix creates
the image of the retailer, defining the types of customers who are most likely to be satisfied by shopping there.

An optometric office that encourages patients to use spectacle lens products with advanced technology features is likely to optimize
financial return and to be perceived as at the leading edge of eye care providers. An office that adopts a passive approach to selling high-
performance lens types is likely to be perceived as just another of the 45,000 locations in the U.S. selling eyeglasses.

Spectacle lens materials and design technology have advanced rapidly over the past 10 years, and the array of choices now available is
very broad. Every year exciting new technologies appear, so ongoing management of the spectacle lens mix is necessary. Consider these
significant, recent innovations:

Personalized progressives: The latest generation of progressive-addition lenses offers patients better performance because of the
combination of improved design and digital manufacturing technology. Lenses now can be fit to position optical zones with higher levels
of precision based upon a variety of patient parameters. Using personalized patient measurements such as vertex distance, pantoscopic
tilt, or wrap angle, the lens design can be optimized to account for the way in which the patient wears their lenses.

Certain progressive designs allow for even higher levels of individualization by optimizing the lens design to account for individual patient
parameters, such as the patient’s real eye rotation center measurement, natural head posture, and other behavioral measurements. This
optimization increases precision and even further reduces distortion and astigmatism.

No-Glare (anti-reflective) lenses: Anti-reflective performance has been enhanced through the addition of oleophobic and
hydrophobic treatments, which minimize smudging and make lens cleaning easier. New No-Glare lenses enhance visual acuity by
minimizing reflections and glare.

Photochromic lenses: Performance has been improved through faster transition from light to dark and back; the transmission
spectrum has been enlarged to include sunglasses.

Lens materials: Many new high-index material options are available, ranging as high as 1.74. They offer the advantages of light weight
and thinness. Polycarbonate and Trivex provide superior impact resistance. Both are thin and light. Trivex is ideal for rimless eyewear.

Rx sunwear: Many new options/styles exist, including 8-base lenses for wrap frames and polarized lenses with improved glare reduction.

ECPs can anticipate a steady stream of spectacle lens innovation in the years ahead, providing a continuing opportunity to upgrade patients to lenses
offering superior performance and higher revenue per Rx. To maximize the return, it’s critical that practices keep up-to-date on lens technology.

8 Best Practices of Spectacle Lens Management 2015