TIMELESS TIPS… for growing your low vision business

BY STEPHANIE K. DE LONG

This is the ninth annual Focus on Low Vision special section. While low vision has exploded since the late 1990s in terms of patient need, most of the advice offered through the years is as sound today as it was when the ECPs we've interviewed first spoke with us.

In light of that, here is a look at some of the expert advice that has been offered in those nine years.

1999
TRAINING. "As challenging as training is, it's the ingredient that often converts simple optical success in the exam room into functional success in the real world."

—Thomas L. Porter, OD, FAAO, St. Louis, Mo.

PATIENT HISTORY. "The ultimate goal of recoding the history is to find a couple of realistic tasks that the patient is very interested in being able to do."

—William H. Croft, Jr., Los Angeles

2000
OPTICS. "The first step is to talk about how low vision optics differ from conventional optics in their ability to magnify and enhance contrast."

—Melissa Chun, OD, Los Angeles

MULTIPLE DISABILITIES. "If a young patient suffers from multiple disabilities, have the child's physical and speech therapists witness the examination."

—Kathy Freeman, OD Sewickley, Pa.

2001
PRESCRIBING DEVICES. "It is expected that each patient will be assessed for, and possibly prescribed, a distant device (telescope), a near reading device (microscope), a near spotting device (like an illuminated hand magnifier for dimly lit areas and short visual tasks), a lamp, and perhaps a reading stand."

—Randy Jose, OD, Houston

ARMD. "As the population ages, more elderly individuals will become legally blind as a result of macular degeneration than from diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma combined."

—The National Advisory Eye Council, Washington, D.C.

2002
OPTOMETRY. "Optometry understands visual processing and low vision technology. With the aging of the population, low vision will increase, but ODs can provide rehabilitation for these patients."

—Paul Sieving, MD, PhD, NEI, Washington, D.C.

LEARNING. "Talk to low vision doctors. Find out what's involved before you decide to commit."

—Ashley Risner, OD, Nacogdoches, Texas

2003
LOCATION. "You have to have the bus route. You have to be easy to get to."

—Tara Barnes, OD, Laguna Woods, Calif.

REFERRALS. "I send referring doctors follow-up letters and share the result of the exam. It lets them know I'm taking good care of their patients and that I want to keep them involved."

—Jeff Gerson, OD, Overland Park, Kan.

2004
GETTING STARTED. "I looked for a place that had a retinal specialist, and I went to them and told them I wanted to start low vision."

—Susan Fried, OD, Flemington, N.J.

DEPRESSION. "There is some evidence that optical device use helps stave off depression in low vision patients."

—Lighthouse International, New York

2005
YOUNG ODs. "A survey of 50 ODs showed that, though some of them had exposure to low vision training in school, all but 16 percent sought additional training prior to entering the low vision category."

—Eyecare Business survey

REFERRALS. "Don't just court the retinal specialist, but also the staff. Bring in lunch for the staff and spend 30 minutes describing the type of patient who will most benefit from low vision services."

—Optometrist in Eyecare Business survey

2006
OPPORTUNITY. "Low vision is completely under-served. Optometry admits that, ophthalmology admits that. Low vision patients are a 'hidden city' at your doorstep just waiting for someone to offer them services."

—John Metzer, OD, Lenexa, Kan.

MOTIVATION. "Don't go into low vision as a social cause without making sure it makes economic sense as well. If you're not making money, you're not going to stick with it."

—Thomas L. Porter, OD, FAAO, St. Louis, Mo.

REWARDS. "You can make money in a low vision practice and also bring more collateral primary care patients into your practice. There's also another reward—that smile you get when a grandmother is able to really see her grandchild's face for the first time."

—Randy Jose, OD, Houston

FUTURE. "It is estimated that there will be 5.5 million people who are visually impaired by 2020."

—Lynne Noon, OD, Arizona