spotlight on technology & tecnhique
Patient Education Concepts, Inc.
This company works to help doctors educate patients.
By Leslie Goldberg, Assistant Editor

Robert Watson's idea for forming Patient Education Concepts, Inc. (PEC) stemmed from a difficult personal experience he had in 1982 with radial keratotomy (RK) surgery. Based on that experience, Watson, the president of PEC, who has a degree in television production, thought it would be helpful for patients to have a video-based educational tool to explain procedures, along with their potential risks and complications, before committing to surgery.  

RK surgery was not widely performed at the time, so Watson spoke with his ophthalmologist to learn which procedures were more common. With this information, Watson produced an RK, cataract and glaucoma video and took all three videos to the 1983 AAO. The rest has been a successful history that has evolved from informed consent videos to include brochures, countertop displays, posters, Web sites, print and radio ads and TV commercials. "We produce the whole gamut of communication tools that doctors need to inform their patients, grow their practice and help protect them legally," says Watson.

A PEC patient education DVD and test that accompanies the consent DVD.

The Need for PEC

PEC's core business is producing patient education products for ophthalmologists and collateral marketing materials for device manufactures. PEC now disseminates over 4 million brochures a year and has provided their products to over 12,000 practices. What has helped them to become so strong is that many device manufacturers do not want to be in the patient education business.

"Doctors were getting non-custom, generic marketing materials from the device manufacturers and the manufacturers didn't want the expense and hassle of providing unlimited supplies of their materials to their clients," says Watson. Now, PEC develops the materials for them and the manufacturers provide the doctors with a starter set of materials along with a voucher for customization of the materials through PEC. All reorders are then placed by the doctors directly with PEC.

Increasing Awareness of New Procedures

PEC is now helping doctors to create awareness of presbyopia-correcting IOLs through their marketing materials. "Doctors realize that LASIK may not be the ideal procedure for baby boomers," says Watson. "If LASIK is dropping off due to its commoditization, it really behooves our clients to offer these new IOLs so that they are not totally dependent on LASIK volume for their livelihood. Using these new videos and programs about presbyopic IOLs are a great way to increase awareness and help offset any loss of market share they might be experiencing with LASIK."

Growth of the IOL Market

"The presbyopia-correcting IOLs have been a real boon for us because we have done a great deal of work for Alcon (AcrySof ReSTOR), AMO (ReZoom Multifocal) and eyeonics (crystalens), and have an ongoing relationship with their doctors. When a device manufacturer is about to launch a new product, I work very closely with their product managers and the manufacturing team in developing concepts and refining the language so that the materials can get through their legal and regulatory groups and conform with the labeling requirements the FDA gave for approval," says Watson.

Apart from the branded materials produced for device manufacturers, PEC independently produces materials that encompass all the presbyopia- correcting IOLs. "If a practice offers multiple IOLs, our brochures and videos work well for all of the presbyopic lens products. In addition, we have an overview-marketing video that covers all the lenses. Our videos allow the doctor to keep his options open until he determines which IOL is most appropriate for an individual patient," says Watson.

Jack Moore, vice president of business development for Minnesota Eye Consultants, says his practice uses PEC's brochures and videos to enhance patient education. PEC tailored their generic presbyopic IOL video for the practice and Minnesota Eye uses their own informed consent.

Moore explains that interested candidates may call the practice and be counseled over the phone by a refractive surgery coordinator. They are then sent a packet of information, including the appropriate brochures, practice information and a refractive PEC DVD that explains CustomVue (AMO) LASIK. With cataract patients, a PEC DVD describing presbyopic IOL options is sent. Additionally, Minnesota Eye distributes the custom PEC DVDs to over 200 referring optometrists in their region.

Informed Consent

"Device manufacturers don't usually want to be responsible for providing informed consent videos," says Watson. PEC produces these with a select team of medical advisors and relies heavily on Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Company (OMIC) to provide the actual written consent forms. The informed consent video that is used for the presbyopia-correcting IOLs is generic to all three available IOLs. PEC created a true/false test to insure the patient understands the content of the video and recommends the OMIC written consent form be used with it. "Together they make a strong program," says Watson. "But it's important that doctors realize that informed consent is not just showing a video; it's a process that requires one-on-one discussions with patients to make sure all their questions are answered prior to giving consent for surgery."

"The primary purpose of an informed consent video is to help create realistic expectations for the patient. It is not a screening device by any means," he says. PEC has marketing tools that are created to elicit a patient's excitement about a procedure, but Watson warns that patients can become overly enthusiastic. To temper this, PEC clearly identifies the risks involved.

"The informed consent says 'This is a great procedure, but there are risks, complications and visual side effects that you need to be aware of too,'" says Watson. "We warn of glare and halos and explain that 'you may have some difficulties with these after surgery.' I have been a patient advocate since my RK surgery, and we do not want patients to have surgeries if they have unrealistic expectations."

PEC helps doctors and the industry in general by producing educational materials to facilitate decision making and improve overall patient satisfaction.

Patient Education Concepts can be reached at (800) 436-9126 or on the Web at www.patientedconcepts.com. Robert Watson can be e-mailed at robertw@patientedconcepts.com.