This article was originally published in a sponsored newsletter.

We are all fortunate to practice in an era where there are always new ways to expand your contact lens practice. Most visual diagnoses can be treated with contact lenses, and new contact lens technology is being developed and launched regularly. Take the time to understand this technology so you can be prepared to offer it to your patients. Here are a couple of areas to explore that can help grow your product ranges:

1. Offer daily disposable contact lenses to a new population.  From my perspective, the myopia control population is one of the most exciting new areas for developing technology. Daily disposable options are evolving rapidly and continue to grow. I used orthokeratology to slow my kids’ myopia growth from a young age, and other parents are still deeply interested in ways to slow their children’s myopia growth now. Possibly slowing a child’s myopia from being a –6.00 or greater and keeping them in the –3.00 range with daily disposable lenses is a huge advantage from an ocular health standpoint as well as from visual and surgical perspectives. Early intervention is key, so take the time to understand what their myopia control options are and make the offer at the earliest time possible.
2. Grow new technology in your current contact lens population. Expanding your daily disposable offerings has become easier for a couple of key reasons. First, there is a need for improved products. Our visual world continues to change rapidly with digital technology use, and more and more patients present with visual fatigue or contact lens discomfort. Having something new to offer can help preserve them as successful contact lens-wearing patients. Additionally, many manufacturers offer larger rebates for their newest products. If you factor in the larger rebate, the overall cost of that new product isn’t much different than the options you currently offer. Including the latest products and technologies in your offerings is one of the easiest ways to grow your contact lens business. 

Staying on the cutting edge of technology and continually expanding your contact lens business starts with being focused on differentiation. Don’t just provide patients with what they had in the past; offer something new for a specific reason. Focus on the many ways to grow those newer options not only in your general contact lens business, but also in new populations. Offer new spherical, toric, multifocal, or myopia control lens options to everyone for whom they are visually applicable. Understanding the advantages that new products can provide will enable your practice to expand to new horizons with daily disposable contact lenses.