CLToday Fitting Tip of the Month

April 2004

Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum.

Maximizing Compliance with Frequent Replacement
When addressing a current or prospective soft lens wearer, consider beginning with the following:
In designing a contact lens system for you, I have five concerns. (Hold your hand up with fingers extended.)
First, and most importantly, (touching your thumb) your health and safety. I WILL NOT compromise on that. It includes the lenses I provide, the care system and replacement schedule I recommend, the instructions we give you and the recommended follow-up schedule.
After safety comes (touching fingers as you say them) clarity, comfort, convenience and cost.
Use your pinky finger for the cost to suggest that cost is the least important factor or that you'll shoot for the lowest cost system that meets their needs. Patients seem to comprehend that sometimes the best overall results don't come from the cheapest or first attempted lenses.
It's great to refer back to these points if a patient becomes noncompliant with replacement or with follow-up schedules. Simply review which concerns are at risk because of the patient's behavior.
--Mark Pifer, OD
Bellevue, Ohio

Manage Patient Expectations and Vision at First Fit
Ensure successful fits by counseling your presbyopic patients that fitting bifocal lenses is a process. You may want to remind your patients that it is important to try the lenses in their own environment before making modifications. Let them know that multifocal vision will always require a balance between near and far.
ACUVUE Brand BIFOCAL Contact Lenses -- Fit successfully into your practice
Visit http://www.ecp.acuvue.com to learn more about all ACUVUE Brand products.
--ADVERTISING

>Send your favorite tips to tips@cltoday.com -- if your tip is selected as 'Best of the Month,' you'll receive a free golf shirt (see http://www.CLToday.com for details). Please include your full name, degree or title and city/state/country.

Visit Contact Lens Spectrum ( http://www.clspectrum.com ) for interactive clinical posters, issue archives and discussion forums. Visit Contact Lenses Today for our Best Fitting Tips and Photo Clinic, sponsored by Ocular Sciences.

CLToday Services: Subscribe; Change your e-mail address; submit news to news@cltoday.com; or, fax 1-215-643-3902.