Opticians are Healthcare Providers,
Not Merchants
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"Opticians are healthcare providers. An Optician's
first function is as a highly skilled health and wellness
professional, not as a mercantile vendor or clerk."
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The opinions and conclusions that follow are based first,
on my direct observation and experience, and second, on the
first hand testimonials of patients with whom I have had the
opportunity of serving. And they are presented
optimistically with the hope that owners and managers,
whether they are private practitioners or corporate
retailers, are inspired and motivated to make appropriate
changes to their business model in order to advance the
status of Opticianry as a profession while enhancing their
own objectives. |
"Opticianry is ultimately defined by how well the
eyewear makes contact with the patient. Therefore, a
conscious, precise, and personalized process of frame
selection, lens design, and in-place, hands-on fitting is
required."
Main Issues
1) Many optical retailers are well positioned in the
marketplace, but few can be called true vision care
providers. Most of them employ a business model that works
well for marketing general merchandise. But an Optical
Dispensary is different. Like a Pharmacy or Health Clinic,
an Optical Dispensary is a healthcare facility where
prescription eyewear is designed and dispensed. It is not a
mercantile sales facility. The comparison can be likened to
the difference between a retail outlet where stuff is sold
to customers, versus a Health and Wellness Center where
prescription eyewear is designed and then fitted on
patients.
"Once today’s retail optical paradigm is upgraded
to that of serving vision care patients, as opposed to
serving retail customers, an Optician becomes a Healthcare
Provider, as opposed to a merchant."
A true vision care provider must focus on a) ongoing
practical training of staff, b) highest standards of care
for patients, c) inclusion of qualified Opticians in upper
management positions, d) sensitivity to patients' eye care
needs, and e) realistic sales goals.
"When's the last time you saw or heard a retail
optical Ad promote the custom fitting of eyewear? Could this
be because they don't know how to custom-fit eyewear?"
2) There is an acute need for the staff of many
dispensaries to acquire expanded and ongoing training that
includes practical, i.e., hands-on-the-patient training,
which includes a) the full discovery lifestyle interview; b)
customized frame fitting and adjustment techniques; c)
familiarity with both the lensometer and a wide range of
dispensing hand tools; d) a working knowledge of optical
laboratory operations, e.g., layout, surfacing, finishing
and final inspection practices; and e) a working knowledge
of the Ophthalmic Refraction.
"Many retail optical executives and managers have no
experience in Opticianry or Ophthalmic Dispensing. In one
organization, only 1 of 43 regional managers is an Optician.
In contrast, the CEO of Walgreen Drugs is a
Pharmacist."
3) Some corporate executives and managers within the
retail optical industry, some with MBA's as their only prior
experience, tend to make decisions that adversely impact an
acceptable standard of vision care. Some are focused only on
their career advancement as managers, while obsessively
promoting unrealistic sales goals and requiring interminable
amounts of paperwork and reports from subordinates. This in
turn interferes with the practice of Opticianry, and the
delivery of quality healthcare.
"The conflicted relationship between professional
Opticians and retail management can be likened to the
current relationship between Medical Practitioners and
Insurance Industry HMO's."
Retail managers who are absent Opticianry skills need
sufficient training, possibly even in-house certification,
in subjects such as the lifestyle interview, optics and lens
design, and custom fitting and delivery of prescription
eyewear before they assume any policy-making or supervisory
roles. Currently, most get on-the-job training only, and
their actions and decisions reflect their inexperience to
the detriment of acceptable service. Again, providing
professional vision care, i.e., designing, measuring, and
custom-fitting prescription eyewear on patients requires
much more technical expertise and people skills than what is
required to service mercantile customers.
"The most perfect prescription can be compromised if
the eyewear does not provide comfort and long-term
wear-ability."
Example: Newly purchased eyewear is routinely and
casually handed over to patients without any custom fitting
of the frame directly on the patient. (The number one
patient complaint: "Nobody adjusted my glasses. They
just handed them to me.")
"For many consumers, the personalized fitting of
eyewear by a skilled, hands-on Optician is an unfamiliar
experience."
Example: Experienced Opticians are required by
inexperienced managers to reduce or even bypass the time
necessary to conduct life-style interviews, design
appropriate lenses, and custom-fit prescription eyewear
directly on the patient.
"Just as a Dentist cannot practice Dentistry without
touching a patient, an Optician cannot practice Opticianry
without direct contact with a patient. Some of today's
Dispensers just hand over patients’ prescription
glasses."
Again, fitting a vision appliance on a patient involves a
different level of technical knowledge and people skills.
Dispensing prescription eyewear includes many elements of
craftsmanship, artistry, and patient-dispenser interaction
along with significant technical skill and finesse in their
application. All of these are key to the success (satisfied,
happy patients who refer others) and profitability (much
reduced returns, remakes and refunds) of any Vision
Healthcare Facility.
Here is an actual Optical Retailer's list of
"essential" expectations as presented to
prospective staff members.
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Drive profitable store sales by fostering a retail
selling culture by practicing and role-playing effective retail sales
skills.
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Develop professional business relationship with other
staff.
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Fill ophthalmic eyeglass prescriptions and fit and
adapt lenses and frames, utilizing optical
prescription.
Notice that retail sales and retail skills rank #1 ahead
of professional skills at #3 in the above retail model. In
contrast, the 'Premier' model ranks Professional Skills as
#1. And as a result, higher profits occur due to fewer
returns, remakes and refunds, and more patient referrals are
realized because of greater patient satisfaction.
Some Optical retailers need to make significant changes
if they hope to acquire the Vision Healthcare Provider
title. Their business models fall short due to current
deficiencies in practical training and depth of dispensing
experience. An investment of resources needs to be made
where it really matters ... people!
For example, in-house training manuals are inadequate
since they lack the practical aspects of
hands-on-the-patient skills. The reliance on manual-only
training is like trying to teach an aspiring surgeon with
only a manual as a reference in the absence of a patient.
"Due to their market share, the largest optical
retailers are in a unique position to lead the industry in
the direction of re-humanizing the delivery of eyewear to
the public."
I urge optical retailers to invest more in the effective
training of their Opticians and to support the certification
and licensing of Opticians by providing or funding
Opticianry training schools, and by expanding their wage
scale in order to retain well-trained Opticians as
professional Healthcare Providers.
"Of the over 67,000 Opticians designing,
manufacturing and dispensing eyewear - less than half have
any formal certification or licensure." U.S. Department
of Labor
Some retailers have a long history of financially
supporting all kinds of community events and philanthropic
gifts. Investment of capital in the training and advancement
of their Opticians is a gift that keeps on giving.
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