EDITOR'S LETTER

I've been in the industry for almost two decades, but sometimes I still don't understand. Case in point: Why do doctors discuss contact lenses in the chair, but
consider addressing spectacle lenses as inappropriate? That's not just a subjective observation. It's borne out in research recently conducted by Eyecare Business in which 45 percent of ODs surveyed report they actually discuss contact lens brands during the exam, but less than 15 percent address spectacle lenses at all.

OK, I get that contacts are more of a "medical" device, but both serve the same end purpose—providing vision correction. So if eye health and better vision are what eyecare is all about, why is one option addressed in the chair and the other left to the dispensary?

One obvious result is that doctors who don't talk solutions to their patients' vision problems are more likely than those who do to see Rxs walk out the door. Several ODs I spoke with at the AAO said their spectacle dispensing dollars are decreasing because more patients are taking their script elsewhere.

My suggestion? Recommend in the chair and you'll retain more Rxs. First, don't just discuss contact lenses, but when appropriate, spectacle lens designs like progressives or materials like high index, too. Second, transfer both your recommendations and your authority to the dispensary. And, third, make sure you carry frame styles that make your patients want to fill the frame side of those Rxs with you as well.

Steph De Long

Editor-in-Chief

P.S. Happy birthday to us! Eyecare Business published its first issue exactly 20 years ago this month. In addition to looks back throughout the year, be sure not to miss our special anniversary issue in March.