DANIEL G. MCBRIDE, serves as president of CooperVision and executive vice president and COO of The Cooper Companies, the global medical device holding company that operates CooperVision and CooperSurgical. Mr. McBride joined The Cooper Companies in 2005. Prior to joining The Cooper Companies in 2005, Mr. McBride was with the law firm of Latham & Watkins, where he concentrated on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance.

A high myope and lifelong contact lens wearer, Mr. McBride recently sat down with OM to discuss issues including acquisitions, trends in myopia management and how independent optometry can compete in today’s marketplace.

OPTOMETRIC MANAGEMENT (OM): Recently, CooperVision acquired two contact lens companies. How do they fit in with the company’s direction?

Daniel G. McBride (DM): We acquired Procornea, a Netherlands-based ortho-K and specialty lens maker, in August, and late last year we acquired Paragon, the maker of CRT lenses.

Our focus on the specialty business recognizes long-term trends in both how practices perform and how the environment is impacting people’s eyes through the epidemic of myopia. As the Internet and other forces challenge the revenue models of optometry, specialty lenses appeal to the optometrist who wants to do more technical fittings and more complicated cases.

The industry has a real opportunity to move beyond just correcting vision, but to actually improve people’s vision for life. That’s exciting. As a high-myope, I’ve grown up with all of the dangers and lifestyle disadvantages of this condition. Globally, we’re moving from 20% of the population having myopia to estimates as high as 50% by the year 2050. High myopia, which has a host of health complications, is estimated to grow seven times faster than even the incidence of myopia.

OM: What other trends do you see in products?

DM: The model of manufacturing lenses just in terms of sphere, toric and multifocal seems to be outdated. There’s a lot of room to develop products matched more to how people use their eyes today. For example, people now use digital devices for many hours a day. There is less blinking, so you’re seeing people with higher digital eye fatigue and ocular dryness. So, CooperVision designed a contact lens from scratch that is focused on helping people look at digital devices for longer periods of time, which is not something that the human eye was ever designed to do.

Also, there’s a lot more that needs to be done with the health and comfort of the eye, including contact lens-related dry eye, which is important both for continued wear and expanding the category. So, we see product innovation continuing in that space.

OM: What factors do you feel have contributed to CooperVision’s current success?

DM: One of the reasons CooperVision has done well is the ongoing move to silicone hydrogel lenses. And the move to one-day lenses is a huge trend. Because torics have become easier to fit, there are more toric lens wearers. With market-leading products in each of these categories, we see CooperVision at the center of these trends.

Also, I think that our singular focus on contact lenses, on eye health and on contact lens fitters and ECPs has a lot to do with our success. We are only as successful as the contact lens fitters that we serve.

OM: With so many new products entering the marketplace, how can ECPs communicate the value of contact lens innovation to their patients?

DM: Consumers like to hear about “the new thing.” When we polled consumers, they actually wanted to be engaged in a dialogue. They want the ECPs to share their expertise. Even if this adds an extra five or 10 minutes to the appointment, I think consumers will react very favorably. This deeper dialogue creates the opportunity to get patients into better products that provide better outcomes.

As a lifelong user of contact lenses, the standard dialogue was: “Do your lenses feel good?” “Yeah.” “OK.” And that was it. I was in a 20-year-old product when I joined CooperVision and suddenly realized, “Wow! There are all sorts of lenses that I didn’t know about.”

OM: ECPs are facing unprecedented levels of competition from Internet-based vendors and others. How can they succeed in this environment?

DM: Whether new Internet-based vendors succeed or fail is debatable. But to compete, ECPs must serve a consumer who has come to expect Amazon-like service. This trend is impacting both retail and our independent customers.

The reality is the industry has to meet consumers where they want to be met. Now, there are two ways that can happen: Outside forces can disrupt the market and capture revenues that get lost by ECPs, or, ECPs can continue to capture those revenues by developing businesses that not only provide the best possible in-office experience, but also digitally interact with consumers on their smartphones, in their homes, on their desktops, or however and wherever they might want to interact. For example, an e-commerce solution that mines practice data can identify patients who purchased a quarterly supply of contact lenses. It can automatically send them the message, “I see it has been three months since your last purchase. Do you need to buy more lenses?” Without that message, the consumer could have very well gone off to a competitor’s website.

Getting people into subscriptions is a great patient retention tool. Consumers sign up at home and pay month-to-month for an annual supply of contact lenses that is delivered directly to their home. LensFerry S (a CooperVision service) provides the practice with a continuing revenue stream and monthly interactions with the consumer. In terms of how consumers get their lenses, it also takes a lot of the burden off the staff and the office.

It’s not just about revenue; the relationship needs to stay with the ECP. When consumers are not interacting with their ECP, they’re not getting the same quality of product or care. The industry has a huge problem with contact lens dropout. The solution is a relationship in which the ECP makes sure the consumer gets the product that matches their needs.

OM: As an attorney and as president of CooperVision, you have a wealth of experience in managing mergers and acquisitions. With private equity expressing an interest in independent practices, what advice would you give an owner who might consider selling a practice?

DM: First, I think independent optometry is always going to be a big part of the U.S. market. My advice is almost the same for people who want to stay in independent optometry or those who might consider selling or joining a larger practice: First, take advantage of the opportunity to increase the number of contact lens wearers, and improve the quality of their experiences with contact lenses. Remember, contact lens wearers are high-value patients who also buy glasses and sunglasses.

Second, consider getting patients into subscriptions. Think of the value of a practice where the seller says, “This is my patient base that I see once a year,” vs. “These are my patients, and by the way, half of them are on subscriptions, so we have monthly interactions where I communicate with them digitally, and they’re sending me payments and buying their products online.”

Plus, the practice is better protected against forces, like Internet competitors, because your customers have established a relationship in which they have a prescription and are buying from you on a regular basis.

OM: When you are not in the office, what are your interests?

DM: I have a love of the mountains and spend a lot of time hiking and skiing. I do some biking. My wife, Maya, and I have three children, two dogs, two cats and a constant request for more pets. But all of us are outdoorsy types. We like to be outside. We also like to travel. My job requires me to travel a lot, and I try to take the family when I can. OM