Contact Lens Business
Setting Up Your Tech for Success
A skilled, knowledgeable contact lens technician can do a lot for your practice.
BY Jan R. McGlothlen, COT, NCLC

In today's innovative ophthalmology practice, contact lens services have become a key tool for ensuring patient retention and increasing referrals. Fitting specialty lenses for therapeutic purposes, for example, can lead to referrals from other doctors in your area, as well as internal referrals and patient word-of-mouth referrals.

A well-qualified technician can ensure that your practice offers truly comprehensive care -- and that contact lenses are a healthy source of revenue.

It's harder than it looks

Many doctors think that contact lens technicians don't need a lot of skill or experience, but in reality they manage a long list of tasks that can affect the success of your practice. For example:

• Technical services. Your technician should be able to:
  • analyze information from your comprehensive exam
  • perform necessary diagnostic tests
  • elicit needs and expectations
  • discuss all available contact lens modalities and options
  • educate the patient
  • fit both basic and specialty lenses
  • recognize contraindications for contact lens wear, such as keratitis sicca, blepharitis or corneal abnormalities.
• Marketing. A good technician can be instrumental in both internal and external marketing, by:
  • keeping staff members and physicians updated on the latest advancements in contact lens design and materials so they can pass this information along to patients
  • creating material for newspaper ads, radio spots or direct mailings (vendors or manufacturers may help finance this through co-op marketing)
  • creating special marketing events. For example, as director of contact lens services for an ophthalmology practice, I hosted a bifocal contact lens open house that attracted 50 patients and netted the practice more than $15,000. (Co-op marketing will often help cover the costs of this type of event as well.)
• Management. Usually, a contact lens department is responsible for its own revenue, bills and budgets, even though it's integrated into the practice. This means your technician needs to be good at scheduling, staff relations, ordering, dispensing, keeping financial records, billing and coding, taking patient calls, managing vendor relationships and controlling inventory.
  Familiarity with the Internet is also important. Today, many of the tasks listed above can be accomplished more efficiently with the help of Web-based services. Internet sites for ordering contact lenses have proliferated, and many contact lens companies' Web sites, such as www.coopervision.com, offer even more management aids. For example, the CooperVision site provides:
  • a patient records system
  • downloadable software designed to help you work with CooperVision's line of toric products
  • online ordering
  • delivery direct to the patient
  • a program that offers patients cash incentives for generating referrals.

Help from the experts

How can you ensure that your contact lens technician is ready to handle all of these tasks? Associations such as the Contact Lens Society of America (CLSA) are an excellent resource. For example, at CLSA:

• Members can earn continuing education (CE) credits by taking courses in fitting strategies, technology and management at the annual CLSA meeting.
• Seasoned technicians can take an exam for CLSA fellowship -- one of the top credentials a technician can earn.
• CLSA provides excellent educational materials, such as books, audiotapes and a newsletter that includes CE articles for further credits.

Many practices build an educational fund to cover the cost of technicians attending meetings such as these.

Maximizing a valuable resource

If your contact lens technician isn't already participating in an organization such as CLSA, consider making it a job requirement. Remember: Your contact lens technician can be a tremendous resource to your practice -- if you make sure that he or she has the necessary skills and knowledge for the job.

Jan R. McGlothlen is a certified ophthalmic technician, NCLE certified, residing in Tempe, Ariz. She's worked in the ophthalmic industry for more than 16 years, and is a frequent lecturer, author and consultant for ophthalmic practices. You can reach her at (480) 557-6617.