LENS EDUCATION

APPlying Lens Education

Digital apps designed to demonstrate lens options give patients a new way to understand complex technology while giving ECPs a new way to increase sales…and some intangible benefits, too

BY SUSAN TARRANT

optical dispensing apps are designed to bring myriad demonstration tools to an ECP’s fingertips. Literally. Tablet-based, kiosk-based, or even Internet-based, the hands-on (via touch screen, at least) digital material provides patients with easy-to-understand visuals, demonstrations, and even virtual reality experiences that show, rather than tell, what lens options can mean for their vision.

We spoke with opticians and O.D.s who have been using these apps for about a year, and though the tangible benefits of the apps are obvious—they’re useful and they help sell product—it is the intangible benefits that have the stronger impact on the dispensing conversation and patient perception.

THE TANGIBLE…

By far, the most powerful aspects of the dispensing apps are their ability to explain an abstract and technical concept (such as free-form versus conventional PALs) in a manner that hits home with patients. No more fumbling for the right words; no more charts and posters; no more countertop demonstrators.

DEMO POWER

Patients can watch short videos that show the lens treatments in action, or use the touch screen to compare visual “withs” and “withouts,” or “premium” versus “conventional.”

• FREE-FORM. In addition to offering side-by-side visuals, some apps use the iPad’s camera as the patient’s eye, so they can literally look through their future lens first as a conventional PAL and then as a free-form lens.

“When you say the corridor is wider, patients don’t usually understand what that means,” says Alex Thayer, LDO, COT, ABOC, NCLEC, owner of Look Optical in Maynard, MA. “But now they can take the iPad and actually walk around looking at things, and they can see the difference.”

• ASPHERIC, HIGH-INDEX. Educational videos and digital examples can explain these designs and materials without getting too technical, and let patients see the differences for themselves.

• LENS TREATMENTS. Yes, we have had countertop demonstrators for AR, polarization, scratch-coating, and photochromics for years. But it’s nice to have everything together, at the swipe of your finger. And, depending on the app, opticians may be able to “layer” options and build a lens right in front of the patient.

Amy Catalano. O.D., of Look Optical in Maynard, MA, views the office through a virtual reality option (Imagine-I from Nikon) that compares conventional and free-form PAL designs

SALES

Anything that makes it easier to explain the benefits of a product is going to be good for sales, and dispensing apps are no different. Though ECPs may not be able to directly point to the apps as the source of additional revenue, they all agree that the apps help with sales of premium product and add-on treatments the most.

“The AR education video that’s on this app is terrific,” says Kim Williamson, optician at Vidalia Eyecare Center and Baxley Eyecare Center in Vidalia and Baxley, GA. “It sells it every time. We have increased our AR sales by probably 95 percent. It has really done the trick.”

Matt Alpert, O.D., of Alpert Vision Care in Woodland Hills, CA, agrees: “[It] has impacted sales. For instance, second-pair sales are better now. Also, I’ve noticed that with the social media function, people who share [their frame and lens choices] with their friends are more inclined to buy now rather than come back later with someone.”

THE INTANGIBLE….

The ECPs agreed that the optical dispensing apps/kiosks/websites are a huge help in demonstrating just what premium product can do for patients’ vision; but they each also noted that the apps bring other things to the dispensary that are just as important.

WOW FACTOR

Breaking out a tablet and using it not only for measurement but to show all available lens options is a much different, “cooler” experience than many patients are used to. And that’s a good thing.

Using digital dispensing apps with patients “screams technology, and patients love how we’ve integrated that technology into their care. It seems to come across as a premium experience,” Dr. Alpert notes.

EFFICIENCY

According to Amber Bingham, office manager at Roseville Vision Center in Roseville, CA, having iPad-based apps allows staff to sit down with patients and give them their full attention. “We can service them completely without the disruption of moving across the room to take measurements or leaving to look up information on a computer or in a catalog,” she says.

A PICTURE IS WORTH….

Showing a patient how a lens treatment affects vision, or how a free-form progressive design can reduce distortion, is easier and much more effective than trying to explain it to them. Here is where optical dispensing apps can really shine.

POLARIZED
Do we even realize how much glare there is until we see it taken away in real time?

PHOTOCHROMIC
You can say it gets dark fast. Now patients can see how dark, how fast, and where.

FREE-FORM
Lose the lingo. Let patients actually “see” through it.

COATINGS
AR and hydrophobic coatings are best seen rather than explained.

SCRATCH-RESISTANT
Which one would your patients rather see through?

HIGH-INDEX
This premium product sells itself if you show patients what it can do for their appearance.

Top to bottom: One Touch to Optical (otto) by VSP Optics Group; Transitions Viewer by Transitions Optical, Inc.; HOYA Vision Consultant (HVC) by HOYA Vision Care; i-Demo by ZEISS; Visioffice2 by Essilor of America; Optikam by Optikam Tech, Inc.

From Signet Armorlite, the Intelligent Dispensing Software (IDS) includes an augmented reality option so that patients can “see” through lens options

PATIENT INTERACTION

One of the biggest impacts, and most beneficial from a vision care standpoint, is that these apps bring the patient and the optician or O.D. together in ways they haven’t been before.

“It has really been beneficial to our interaction with our patients,” says Williamson. “[Using the apps] makes you get comfortable with the patient, and makes him get comfortable with you.”

Indeed, the demonstrations and visuals, even the virtual reality offerings, are designed to initiate questions and conversation about all sorts of lens topics.

“It is our job to spend that time with the patient,” says Johnna Dukes, ABOC, owner of Optique in Spirit Lake, IA. “We are all busy, but the truth of the matter is that this is where things become a commodity. If we have not fully demonstrated to patients why they need it or the benefits of a certain item, why wouldn’t they try to get a better price somewhere else—like online? We need to explain why this product is important, what it can do for them, and why they need it. That’s what I think our mission should be.”

The iFIT Dispensing System from Luzerne Optical Laboratories lets patients and dispensers try out a variety of len designs and options

BUSINESS BUILDING

Look Optical’s Thayer says that the digital dispensing tools—whether they be used for patient measurement, frame selection, or lens education—are another weapon in the battle against big-box retailers and online sellers; that they are true business builders.

The Optical Dispensing Assistant from Optical Directions allows patients to view a variety of demos and videos illustrating complex lens options in ways that are easy to understand

“With every measurement I mark and with every educational screen I show them, I am reinforcing the idea of ‘this is what you can’t do online,’” he notes. “It makes my personal consultation with patients much more efficient, but also much more beneficial to my business. And it really impresses on the patient that there is a benefit to what we (brick-and-mortar opticals) do. There’s a reason to come in.”