Single Vision Skills
With material, design, and treatment choices from basic to advanced, now is the time to hone your single vision skills and polish your practice to handle the new single vision market
By Karlen McLean, ABOC, NCLC
Single vision lenses offer complex choices and can require pinpointed dispensing skills. From identifying sizzling markets to developing specific dispensing techniques and procedures, the right plan can be a true business builder.
Here are today's prime single vision lens markets, complete with dispensing tips.
KIDS & TWEENS
Market approach: Everyday wear with safety and durability in mind. Also consider social engagements, such as school pairs, dress/date pairs, special event pairs (recitals, prom, travel, etc.), computer/visual fatigue eyewear, and sunwear eyewear. The possibilities of branching out into dual eyecare plus eyewear specialties with this group is almost limitless; think sports vision training and sports eyewear, for example.
Dispensing tips: Taking accurate PDs on active youngsters and infants can be challenging. Utilize a CPR (Corneal Reflex Pupilometer) whenever possible, which is more precise. If there are fixation difficulties, use a PD ruler for manual measurement while trying a fixation tool available from some accessory distributors—or create your own.
Another manual method is using a PD ruler to measure the inner canthus (corner of the eye) of one eye to the outer canthus of the other eye.
Single vision lenses seem simple, but still need a smart approach when it comes to proper dispensing. Image courtesy of Polycore.
YOUNG ADULTS
Marketing approach: Present small-environment lenses for electronics and computer use, lenses for driving, sun, and sports. Multiple sales with this demographic unit may be more likely thanks to their disposable income, high technology savvy, and fashion sense.
Dispensing tips: With young adults, PDs should be retaken every time they order eyewear, as PDs can widen as these patients continue to grow. For the best visual and aesthetic lens results, fit frames that center the pupil (minimum decentration). Working distance measurements should be taken when fitting eyewear for any specific task.
SPORTS
Marketing approach: Focus on performance and eye health, both short (injury prevention) and long (UV damage) term, with eyewear as a natural part of sports equipment.
Dispensing tips: Much of today's sports/safety/sunwear is wrap-style. For safety, wraps should fit close to the face, with no gaps, but without resting on the face (except the nose). Sport lenses should meet or exceed ANSI Z87.1-2003 high-impact standards for safety.
Winning the Reader Battle How can ECPs convince consumers that Rx readers are better in many cases than over-the-counter (OTC) readers? The Eye Center in Pembroke Pines, Fla., utilizes this system for success. “We use our doctors to sell out of the chair,” says Richard Rubin, LDO, optical manager. “They start by educating the patient on why they shouldn't get OTC readers, and then they tell patients the benefits of Rx readers.” 1. Better lens quality. Reasonable Rx reader pricing is also part of the sales strategy. “We sell OTC readers for $25 and our Rx readers for $49 to $90 complete,” Rubin says. |
SAFETY (WORKPLACE AND HOME)
Marketing approach: Identify patients who have hobbies requiring tool use, work outdoors, and do household chores, and fill them in on eye health and safety and the importance of safety eyewear. Prevent Blindness America claims that 90 percent of all eye injuries could be prevented with the proper eyewear.
Dispensing tips: Safety lenses must meet or exceed ANSI Z87.1 high-mass and high-velocity impact standards and be marked with “Z87+,” while safety frames are marked “Z87.2.” Side shields designed to fit the frame should be supplied whenever there is a risk of dust or other materials damaging the eye.
TASK-SPECIFIC
Marketing approach: Primarily computer, visual fatigue syndrome, eyestrain, and small-environment lenses, but also hobby-specific lenses.
Dispensing tips: Take measurements (PD, OC, and working distance) consistent with the use the lenses will receive.
The right lens improves performance and comfort. Shown above: Younger Optics; shown below: Carl Zeiss Vision
ASPHERIC/ATORIC
Marketing approach: Many SV lenses are available in aspheric and in some atoric options. Both can make lenses thinner and lighter-weight while featuring edge-to-edge visual clarity. Don't assume you'll automatically receive these features; specifically request aspheric or atoric from the lab when ordering.
Dispensing tips: Aspheric lenses are usually recommended for prescriptions of +1.50D and higher and −2.00D and higher. Atoric designs work well for prescriptions with cylinder, since atorics maximize optics for both sphere and cylinder powers—two major meridians, not just one. Flattening plus-lens centers and thinning minus-lens edges also offer better cosmetics and comfort.
MATERIAL-SPECIFIC
Marketing approach: Some practices limit their lens offering to primarily one material, such as 1.67 index, poly, or Trivex, presenting material benefits first and design benefits second.
Dispensing tips: A crucial step is full staff training on the lens materials, including features, benefits, measurements, dispensing procedures, and material “behavior”— what to expect initially and going forward with the material. EB
| Converting Basic SV to Advanced SV |
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When patients present with a basic prescription around the −2.50D or under power range, what's the best way to upgrade them from standard plastic to a better material? Keep it simple! Retail price for standard plastic lenses: $90 to $95 based on the Rx. Additional fee for polycarbonate or Trivex: $45. Based on lab costs, the practice gains a 45 percent to 70 percent profit on the upgrade depending on which material is ordered. Typically, labs charge more for Trivex than poly. But this practice chooses not to charge patients more for Trivex, as “we feel it's more important for them to be able to afford the safer material.” |
Single vision wrap lenses can be a boom or a bust, depending on your dispensing knowledge and the right system of implementation.
According to Laurie Pierce, LDO, ABOM, instructor at Hillsborough Community College and optician at Designing Eyes in Tampa, Fla., there are several options available for achieving good results with single vision wrap lenses:
- Use an online SV wrap calculator.
- Use a SV free-form design which defaults to a norm.
- Use a SV free-form design that via software gives vertical tilt and wrap.
- Randomly add prism.
“In my experience, the best results come from using a SV free-form design that utilizes software for measurements, and the worst is randomly adding prism,” she says. “What's preferred depends on what lens products you work with; know your products.”
Obtaining precise, specific measurements are pertinent to wrap success, including monocular PDs, vertex distance, tilt (pantoscopic tilt/angle) and wrap (face form). Important: Take vertical OC placement or fitting height as you would a PAL. Some manufacturers provide specialized tools to help take these measurements accurately.
Wrap facts: Rx's of +2.00D to −4.00D out to a −2.00D cylinder are typically the best wrap candidates, although some manufacturer's success range is higher. Pupils should be centered in the frame; PDs that are too narrow or too side may cause unwanted distortion. The most common wrap base-curve is an 8-base. Wrap Rx's are compensated prescriptions, meaning the lab should supply invoices with the as ordered prescription and the compensated prescription for review.
In addition to taking OCs for wraps, OC measurements for single vision lenses are recommended in other cases, such as for patients with different pupil heights and for aspheric/atoric lens designs. Several dispensers recommend getting into the habit of regularly taking single vision OCs.
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