[The INTEGRATED Practice]

Buying Quality Time

Save time every day when you turn your manual refractions into integrated, automated ‘XFRACTIONS.’^SM

If you could save 4 minutes or more per patient encounter all day every day, what would that mean to you? Would you see more patients per day? Would you work fewer hours? Would you spend more time in patient consults? To Racine, Wis., optometrist John Warren, it means he can spend more quality time connecting with his patients on a personal level, which supports his mission to continually improve each patient’s experience in his office. He attributes his improved efficiency to the XFRACTION^SM Process.

Dr. Warren has been performing XFRACTIONS using Marco’s OPD-Scan III wavefront aberrometer and TRS-5100 digital autorefractor for 7 years. Here is how the system helps him save time and enhance his patients’ experiences.

Obtain More Usable Data Faster

The OPD-Scan III combines the functions of an autorefractor, keratometer, pupillometer, corneal topographer and wavefront aberrometer. It produces 2,520 data points across up to a 9.5 mm pupil and automatically selects the best refraction as your starting point to finalize a patient’s prescription. (Corneal topography mapping utilizes an additional 11,000 locations.)

According to Dr. Warren, the wealth of information provided by the OPD-Scan III enables him to anticipate patients’ needs and how to address them. “Before I even see patients face to face for the first time, I have a good idea of what their visual system will be like and how well I can make them see,” he says. “I review their OPD data before even stepping foot into the exam room, allowing me to know everything there is about their optical system and ametropia. For example, the OPD-Scan III gives me information about a patient’s vision when his pupils dilate in low light, helping me to accurately predict potential problems he may have when driving at night.”

In some cases, the corneal topography and wavefront data reveal previously undetected anatomical anomalies, explaining why some patients may not be able to achieve 20/20 visual acuity — also essential to managing their expectations.

Demonstrate Rx Differences

The other key component of the XFRACTION^SM Process is the TRS-5100 digital autorefractor. “With the quantitative and qualitative information provided by the OPD-Scan III, I have a really solid starting point to complete the process with the TRS-5100,” Dr. Warren says. “My typical refraction used to take 4 to 10 minutes, but I can often finalize an XFRACTION in about 45 seconds.”

With the direct comparison feature of the TRS-5100, practitioners can instantly show a patient how he will see with his old and new prescriptions, so he can verify the recognizable change and appreciate any enhancements. “This is a great way for me to demonstrate how much better a patient will see with an updated prescription,” Dr. Warren says. “Even patients with small changes, who, in the past, might not have purchased new eyeglasses, see the difference and often decide the change is enough to warrant new glasses. This one feature has helped to significantly increase sales in my optical department.”

According to Dr. Warren, utilizing the split prism feature to refine the cylinder portion of the prescription greatly speeds up the Xfraction process. Patients can directly see both of the choices for the cylinder power and axis, preventing the “show me that again” that is all too common when I use the Jackson cross cylinder test to refine cylinder. “I didn’t realize how much time I would save and how much easier that would be for me and for the patient,” he says.

Save Your Rotator Cuff

Another benefit of the XFRACTION Process is one that only an eye doctor can appreciate. “The control panel on the TRS-5100 drives the entire refraction process,” Dr. Warren explains. “I don’t have to touch the refractor or change the eye chart through the entire XFRACTION process. All of the controls are right in front of me, so I’m not constantly bending, stooping, twisting and turning. I didn’t realize just how nice that would be until I used it for a while.”

Although Dr. Warren did not develop any physical ailments from the repetitive motions of refractions, he knows some doctors who have experienced some issues. “I know many doctors who perform their own refractions and after 25 years, they have developed rotator cuff problems because they constantly have one or both of their arms out to their side, adjusting the manual refractor,” he says. “Some of these doctors adopted the XFRACTION Process and immediately had relief because they were not performing those repetitive tasks.”

Be the Only XFRACTIONist in Town

Would Dr. Warren advise colleagues to consider purchasing an XFRACTION system? “I tell my competitors not to get one, so I’m the only eye doctor in the area who has one,” he says, tongue in cheek. “Seriously, this system makes examinations more thorough and life easier. It causes patients less angst over the refraction process, and it makes the process much more efficient. By bringing in this technology, you’re buying time and improving the patient-driven portion of the patient’s experience. You can use this time to see more patients per day or hour or week, or you can see the same number of patients in less time and have more time off, or you can see the same number of patients in less time but have more quality time with them. That’s what XFRACTION did for me. I use those extra 3 to 5 minutes to talk to patients not only about their visual needs, but also about their kids’ soccer games, the latest movies, even the weather. When people ask about how XFRACTION has benefited my practice, I tell them that, above all other benefits, I certainly have more quality time with my patients, and that’s exactly what they want.”

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