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Building Connections
If you're even remotely thinking about bringing remote site processing technology to your office, this ECP-guided primer will help you understand the process and get what you're looking for
By Karlen McLean, ABOC, NCLC

Trace and transmit helps speed up the fabrication process while increasing the accuracy of orders by cutting out voice and fax order inaccuracies. Shown: Santinelli's LT-100

Faster delivery, better customer service, cost savings. Who wouldn't want those top dispensary desires to be fulfilled? Especially when that means improved efficiency and increased profitability.

Remote tracing and remote order entry may be the genie in the bottle. Tracing and placing orders via the computer and Internet can be easy to implement, easy to update, and easy to operate.

Remote tracing and remote order entry are two different things, and both fall under the remote site processing banner. Remote tracing uses a tracing system to outline and record frame shapes, which are then electronically transmitted to a laboratory for fabrication. Also known as trace and transmit, this procedure improves Rx accuracy and helps control lens thickness through finely tuned measurements. Remote order entry places lab orders electronically via a Website portal by utilizing specially designed software, cutting out telephone and fax orders—and the errors inherent with those formats.

SERVICE AND SAVINGS

Speedy turnaround time makes remote site processing appealing. After some basic order entry, push a button and the order is instantly queued into the lab system. This cuts down on delivery time by around one day.  

Accuracy is also a positive factor. "It's an odd occasion that I even need to touch off a job on the hand stone. Turnaround time is quick and results are highly accurate," reports Judy Canty, optician at Village Eye Center in Potomac, Md.

Electronic ordering systems typically have stopgaps that won't let jobs proceed with inaccurate, undoable, or missing information.

"If you accidentally leave something off—like a seg height—the system pulls up the missing information for fill in," says Tammy Kelly, optical manager at Premier Eyecare Associates in Chillicothe, Mo. "It even asks, 'are you sure?' when ordering incompatible product mixes."

This helps eliminate processing errors, which shaves time on the front side of an order by ensuring labs don't have a backlog of callbacks, and cuts time on the back side by making sure the job is done correctly, controlling remakes and redos.

Electronic ordering has quality controls in place. Above: ODI/Topcon's Top-Scan. Shown below: AIT's Delta-Scan Tracer

Using today's remote technology, it's rarely a requirement to send frames to the lab. If using a patient's frame, it's not necessary for the patient to leave their frame in order for the job to be accurately fabricated. This is especially important when only one new lens is needed.

"This office is an ophthalmology practice and that means a lot of one-lens replacements. With trace and transmit, we've made more patients happy since they don't have to give up their frames," says Susie Langford, optical manager at Amarillo Optical in Amarillo, Texas.

Adds Village Eye Center's Canty: "I like being able to trace the frame and then complete our transaction by telling the customer that their order is already at the lab being processed. That's a real wow factor."

Real-time order tracking and verification helps ECPs deliver stellar customer service by being able to set accurate delivery times up front and update patients on an ongoing basis during processing. "I can check on the status of jobs from my home computer or anywhere else that I may be," says Langford.

On the inventory side, frames can stay in the store for future sales, and time and money are saved in shipping and handling. The ability of labs and ECPs to archive tracings boosts organization and efficiency.

KEEPING IT SIMPLE

Remote site processing is easy to learn and easy to use, which can be an appealing option for practices that tend to utilize several employees in a variety of job functions on a regular basis. "Even the most inexperienced person in the office can take tracing and input information with all the confidence in the world that lenses will return with the correct shape and size to fit the frame. This is a lifesaver and a money maker," Langford says.

The simplicity of the equipment keeps workflow steady as well. "If I'm out due to illness or vacation, my co-workers can use our system to keep up the volume of work," relates Antonio Williams, lab technician at Northern Virginia Doctors of Optometry in Falls Church, Va. The practice uses a remote tracing system for around 40 to 50 percent of its work, mostly polarized and AR jobs. The rest of the work is done in an in-house lab.

Ease of use depends on the type of equipment you buy and own, he notes. "Ours features an intuitive push-button function that makes using it foolproof. Staff members are trained so they can all run the system properly. Basically, you put in the frame and push start, and the system makes sure the information is transmitted correctly."

Current machines are simple to operate. Shown above: Gerber Coburn Envoy ll

How Do You Keep Errors to the Very Minimum?

ECPs divulge how they keep their remote tracing systems up and running for the best results.

CALIBRATION: Tracing technology and lab technology must work together accurately for end-result success. If tracers and edgers aren't calibrated and updated, the output may not be as timely or the eyewear as visually accurate or cosmetically appealing as should be.

"I've always felt the single best key to success with remote tracing was keeping the tracer calibrated," says Judy Canty, optician, Village Eye Center, Potomac, Md. "The first remote tracing system I used wouldn't let you do anything unless it was calibrated once a day."

Adds Antonio Williams lab technician at Northern Virginia Doctors of Optometry in Falls Church, Va., "We calibrate at least once a month, and a representative from the lab we got our equipment from comes to the office once or twice a month to do calibration and maintenance. This keeps us running smoothly and accurately."

SOFTWARE UPDATES: It's crucial that software is constantly improved to meet user requirements and keep current with marketplace technology and trends. Software and equipment companies, along with frame companies, update information and protocol on a regular basis. Remote software captures and collects data in a format that's easy to retrieve, and products are typically Optical Manufacturer Association (OMA) and/or Vision Council of America (VCA) compliant and ready for utilization by all links in the ordering and processing chain. Tracers, software, and linked processing equipment must be compliant for the system to work properly. To help ease ECP entry into remote site processing, several manufacturers and labs feature rebate and/or co-op programs that include software, equipment, training, and program membership.

EXPLORE OPTIONS: Lorie Lippiat, OD, of The Salem Eyecare Center, Inc., in Salem, Ohio, uses an alternative to trace-and-transmit technology. "We don't use the remote trace-and-transmit feature with our server and lab. We exclusively push data from our
Electronic Health Record to the server. Our lab has all the patterns, eliminating our need to trace and transmit. If we're using a patient's current frame, we simply measure the C-size, transmit the refractive data electronically, and the lab creates the lenses," she says.