readers' forum

Presenting Options to Contact Lens Candidates

BY THOMAS G. QUINN, OD, MS, & SUSAN G. QUINN, OD
FEBRUARY 1999

Tom Quinn's barber, also his patient for many years, asked, "Do you know about the great new anti-reflective coating you can get on eyeglasses to reduce glare?"

"Sure," Tom said. Then the bombshell hit.

"Why didn't you tell me I could get that on my eyeglasses?" he asked.

The truth is, I didn't offer this option because I didn't want to seem pushy or to waste time reviewing the endless features available. But if you don't tell patients, their neighbors will.

This experience inspired us to develop an effective and efficient system to identify patients' visual needs and inform them of their corrective options. How do we offer a treatment approach without sounding like we are pushing for a sale? We use the K.I.T.E model (sidebar). Perhaps the best application is for the contact lens candidate.

Getting to Know the Patient

Jennifer is a new patient to our practice. When she arrives, she completes a patient profile form while we prepare her chart. A technician takes a preliminary history and records visual acuity with her current spectacles. All this takes about 15 minutes.

The patient profile form tells us that Jennifer is an elementary school teacher who previously wore gas permeable lenses and who finds her eyeglasses undesirable while playing tennis.

Identifying Needs

From the preliminary history, we learn that Jennifer is concerned about her family history of glaucoma, has a broken frame, had experienced discomfort with RGPs from exposure to chalk dust on the job, was told by her previous eyecare provider that she couldn't wear soft contact lenses due to her astigmatism, and sees 20/20 at distance and near with her current spectacles of -3.25 -1.50 x 005 OD and 3.50 -1.75 x 175 OS. This information allows us to plan appropriate questioning and testing, which maximizes the time we spend with the patient.

Train Your Staff

When it comes to fees, we've found that patients feel less inhibited asking questions of our staff. If we feel that one option is preferred, we will advise the patient of this prior to the technician's review.

Educate, Don't Intimidate

We find no change in refraction, and Jennifer's eyes are healthy. We recommend toric soft lenses. We have a handout that outlines the toric soft contact lens options and pricing. After we have carefully gone through all of the above steps, Jennifer selects the two-week replacement soft lens option, excited about the convenience and crisp clear vision associated with this choice.

Other Helpful Hints

Each day, our front office staff pulls the charts of patients we are scheduled to see the next day. We review these charts and add appropriate brochures if we identify potential needs. Our front office personnel hand the brochures to patients at check-in.

Many of these brochures are supplied by manufacturers at no cost to you. Some even have rebate coupons, which may positively influence a patient's decision to pursue the suggested corrective option.

The K.I.T.E. Model
of Presenting Options

K Know patients and their needs

I Identify what products/procedures will meet your patients' needs

T Train your staff

E Educate patients

Drs. Thomas & Susan Quinn have been in private practice in Athens, Ohio for 15 years. Their practice offers specialized care in contact lenses, low vision and vision training.