Sizing Up the Options for Cataract/Glaucoma Surgery

An up-to-the-minute review of programs and services available from the Optical Laboratories Association

By Alex Yoho, ABOM

The Optical Laboratories Association was founded 117 years ago. Its goal was simply to serve the needs of the optical industry, and that's exactly what members have been doing since then.

Knowing that helping the industry as a whole would benefit everyone, the OLA has become an international association of 200 companies representing 481 wholesale and retail laboratories in the U.S., Canada, and seven other countries. Now, almost a year into affiliation with The Vision Council, we thought this OLA-sponsored article was a good place to see what the organization currently has to offer. The answer? A lot.

OLA members are wholesale, retail, and HMO labs, as well as industry suppliers. According to Bob Dziuban, OLA executive director, “Being a member is a commitment by a lab to be the best source of technical and product information for dispensers. OLA devotes a great deal of time, money, and energy to developing publications and programs that member labs can share with their accounts to help them build business. Many members provide training programs to their accounts using these materials.”

ECPs have long relied on OLA member labs as a resource for patient literature. What began as the popular OLA Lens Menu has now evolved to Clear Choices—YOUR Eyes, YOUR Lenses, YOUR Choice. This consumer-language brochure helps guide patients through the myriad lens options available to them. According to Dziuban, “Successful practices use Clear Choices in many ways—including a mailed appointment reminder, a sign-in waiting room information piece, a doctor-to-dispenser hand-off piece, and a dispensing table road map to guide a patient's choices.”

The lifestyle questionnaire in Clear Choices spurs interest and questions for discussion with their ECP and dispenser. This can help patients get the best eyewear available—not to mention making better and multiple sales for the practice.

Top: Attendees of the Association of Independent Optical Wholesalers Clambake, June 26, 1952, in Rehoboth, Mass.; Middle: A. Reed McIntire, AAWO's first president; bottom: the first elected board of directors of OLA

Above: OLA's recently released Progressive Identifier Book 2011; below: The OLA Awards of Excellence celebrates its 25th anniversary this year

IDENTIFYING PALS

Speaking of choices, we have all noticed how many different progressive lenses are available today. Enter the OLA Progressive Identifier. This booklet has fast become one of the most-used tools in our trade. Many offices have issues from years ago and you'll see they are well worn from use.

Today's OLA Progressive Identifier boasts a brand new format that is faster and easier to use with just one graphic for each lens design. Additional information about a design, such as available materials, filters, and recommended fitting height, are now in one place. There is also extensive indexing and cross-referencing for identifying symbols, variable focus designs, suppliers, product names, recommended minimum fitting height, corridor length, and extended add range.

The new format provides better organization of the information and fewer pages of diagrams. The lens diagram has been changed to a very stylized oval, requiring the use of a manufacturer's layout charts for maximum accuracy.

THE ROLE OF EDUCATOR

Education has always been a big part of what OLA is all about. The Indispensable Dispensing Guide is a great tool to help ECPs train staff. The guide has been updated in 2011 to include current eyewear features and options. The spiral-bound workbook format provides a great survey of: eye anatomy; terminology; lens materials, designs, and treatments; prescription; frame selection; fitting; and final adjustments.

In 1994, OLA launched a “Student Internship” program, in which the OLA serves as a conduit for connecting optometry students with optical labs. Intern positions vary from lab to lab, but there are many great opportunities for future doctors to gain insight into the production of eyewear, its potential and limitations.

ANSI STANDARDS

Over the years, OLA members have been actively involved in participating on the committee that creates national standards for eyewear. To make these standards easily understood, the Z80.1-2010 Quick Reference Guide is a one-page summary of the specifications in the ANSI Z80.1-2010 Standard for Dress Eyewear. Made of heavy laminated stock, it stands up well in a lab environment.

ANSI Standards require that ECPs provide safe eyewear, and patients must be informed as to the limitations of the materials they may choose from. ECPs have a “Duty to Warn” and inform their patients of the potential pitfalls of the lens material choices they make. Should we shirk that responsibility, there may be increased legal difficulties if a patient sustains an injury in an accident involving their eyewear. To help, the OLA offers information and materials to aid your office in keeping good records that all options have been discussed. To download these materials free of charge, click on the Eyecare Professional link at ola-labs.org.

ECPs can obtain feedback from their patients using OLA's Your Patient's Voice

Your Patient's Voice™, OLA's newest offering from labs to eyecare practices, is a web-based way for the office to get feedback from patients about their office experience, to learn ways to enhance the experience, and to identify ways to improve their business.

By using Your Patient's Voice, the ECP is able to receive personalized live data and reports available 24/7 to compare patient/customer satisfaction with other areas, districts, and regions on an aggregate basis. They receive email alerts when below-expectation customer service is reported. This gives ECPs the capability to evaluate their services, isolate areas needing improvement, gauge performance of their staff, and address patient comments and complaints in a timely manner.

ACCESSING STRENGTHS

Well into its first year of affiliation with The Vision Council, the OLA continues to provide products and services to ECPs and OLA member laboratories as well as contribute its vast body of experience as the Laboratory Division of The Vision Council.

Asked about blending the two, Dziuban explained the importance is “making sure that both organizations are accessing each other's strengths. But day by day, week by week, both find ourselves pausing and reflecting on the pleasant surprise benefits of our association.”

To find out more on OLA products, contact your OLA member lab. To find an OLA lab, go to ola-labs.org. EB

ANNUAL MEETING
THE OLA 2011 Annual Meeting will be held from September 22 to 24 at the 2011 International Vision Expo West in Las Vegas. It's a great educational opportunity, as this year all VEW attendees, not just lab personnel, can register to attend OLA education seminars. OLA seminars slated for the meeting include: Standards, Regulations, and Technical Issues for Labs; What Do ECPs Want from Labs?; Enhanced Vision vs. Restored Vision; ecommerce—Online Eyewear; The Race to the Future Begins Today; How to Change Your Surfacing (Because You Are Going to Change!); First-Time-Fit Finishing: High Wrap, Bevels, Drill Mounts; and Finishing Robotics—Making the Decision. Several of the courses are panels or hands-on format. The organization will also be celebrating the 25th anniversary of its Awards of Excellence program. Always a popular event with both labs and suppliers, this year's awards will be presented on Friday, Sept. 23, 2011.

Clear CHOICES
YOUR Eyes, YOUR Lenses, Choices
A Menu of Lens Choices What do you want your lenses to do for you?

Above: Clear Choices details available lens material, design, and treatment options; below: The Indispensible Guide, 2nd edition, was released this spring

The Indispensable DISPENSING GUIDE The Eyecare Professional's Basic Dispensing Guide 2nd Edition From Your OLA Member Laboratory