Contact lens service offers an all-in-one management and marketing platform
The “Focus” column presents an O.D.’s firsthand experience with a new product or service, via answers to questions posed by OM.
What is Dr. Contact Lens?
Dr. Contact Lens is a contact lens management platform that enables private practices to compete with and capture contact lens sales from online competition, while simultaneously reducing employee workload.
Using a HIPAA-compliant website (drcontactlens.com ) designed to integrate with your EHR and contact lens distributor, Dr. Contact Lens reminds patients when they are due to reorder lenses and prompts them to do so automatically. The contact lenses are shipped directly to the patient.
Cost for the service is $249 per month for unlimited ordering with a one-time onboarding fee of $549. The service also offers specials for startup practices. To request a demo or to get info on up-to-date pricing, visit drcontactlens.com/doctors .
Dr. Contact Lens currently integrates with Crystal PM, RevolutionEHR and Officemate/Examwriter and contact lens distributor ABB Optical with WVA coming soon.
What are the practice benefits?
Dr. Contact Lens is an all-in-one soft contact lens management and marketing platform that enables our office to send digital prescriptions. With the new Contact Lens Rule in place, I am relieved to have already had an FTC-compliant solution in place.
What results can O.D.s expect?
As a brand-new practice, I opened cold with Dr. Contact Lens for its all-in-one concierge, time-saving attributes. While I do not have numbers to share, my colleagues report a bump of 15% to 30% in contact lens sales. O.D.s may also find time and payroll savings from the reduced workload on their team.
What percentage of your patients utilize Dr. Contact Lens?
More than 80% of my contact lens patients are actively enrolled on the Dr. Contact Lens website. Also, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly boosted our patients’ Dr. Contact Lens usage during our related closure.
How do you discuss Dr. Contact Lens with the patient?
At the end of each contact lens evaluation, I hand my patients a Dr. Contact Lens info card and say: “Watch for an email from Dr. Contact Lens, and follow the simple instructions to activate. From there, you will be able to access your contact lens prescription and manage your contact lens-ordering needs 24/7. It will also remind you of when to order more lenses before you run out and/or when it’s time to schedule your next eye exam.”
In what ways do staff members interact with Dr. Contact Lens?
Employees are responsible for confirming the correct transfer of information from our EHR to Dr. Contact Lens, followed by sending the patient a one-click invitation. Employees also have the ability to track (and nudge) patients who are past due reordering their lenses.
What training is needed?
Dr. Contact lens has created short online videos for quick and easy team trainings (at blog.drcontactlens.com/training ), with additional trainings as Dr. Contact Lens expands their services.
My opticians and front desk employees are trained with Dr. Contact Lens, so they understand the platform’s basic function and are able to answer patient questions. Of those employees, I assigned one of them the responsibility of coordinating patient invitations. As the doctor, the trainings taught me how to check overall performance and profitability. They also provided an understanding of how to introduce Dr. Contact Lens to patients in the chair. OM
