Tech Connection

Craft Custom Readers in Minutes

The 2-Clear Readers system allows you to make custom reading eyeglasses for patients while they wait.

By Susan Resnick, O.D., F.A.A.O.
New York, N.Y.

We're all looking for ways to streamline our daily lives, and our patients are no exception. That's why the Custom Rx Readers System we introduced in our practice 3 years ago was an instant hit. The 2-Clear Readers System (Peachtree Optical Products, Kennesaw, Ga.) allows us to assemble optical quality eyeglasses for patients while they wait. They're virtually the same price as readers that are available in higher-end drugstores, and they can be customized to meet the unique needs of each patient.

Precise Prescriptions

Patients who wear drugstore readers may be compromising their vision, because readers don't match their exact prescription. The 2-Clear Readers can be tailored for the right and left eyes according to each patient's individual needs. Also, patients with power demands higher or lower than store-bought frames can receive the most appropriate prescription. Power availability ranges from +0.25D to +4.00D in 0.25D increments.

How It Works

Implementing the 2-Clear system requires no sophisticated computer software, expensive instrumentation or even a power cord. You simply purchase a starter kit — which includes 108 precut, edged frames in three stainless steel styles and colors — for an initial investment of about $600. You'll find yourself in the black after dispensing a couple of dozen eyeglasses.

What's more, you can train your staff to assemble and dispense the frames. As soon as you determine your patient's reading prescription, a staff member can put the lenses into a frame, and within minutes you have a custom-made, full-size, quality pair of reading eyeglasses.

The eyeglasses are also a plus for O.D.s who treat patients after cataract surgery. Just one day post-op, you can prescribe lenses in what you anticipate to be the patient's new prescription. If vision changes occur later, the lenses can be easily removed and replaced with the updated prescription.

Best Candidates

I see dozens of patients who need reading eyeglasses, but expensive, laboratory-fabricated prescription readers aren't for everyone. The perfect candidates for 2-Clear Readers are patients who wear monovision or multifocal contact lenses, those who've had monovision laser surgery or lens implant surgery. Patients who wear plus-lenses to relieve blurry vision and headaches from computer eyestrain also can benefit from them. But these readers may not be suitable for patients requiring a multifocal correction or for patients with significant amounts of astigmatism, because they're only available as monofocal spherical lenses.

Great Investment

These custom spectacles are by far one of the best investments we've ever made. They promote the professional image of my practice and boost patient loyalty, proving that if you give your patients what they want and need — conveniently — they'll keep coming back. nOD