Are patients getting dumber?

[HarryChiling]

I had a patient come in today and order a pair of glasses, she has MD and has limited vision in the right eye (peripheral vision). She was complaining that no matter what she did she could not see out of her right eye with the progressives. I asked her to move her head without the glasses untill she could see a picture on the wall and she moved her head almost 15 degrees to the side. I recommended a FT45, and explianed to her that the distant vision will not be distorted in her periphery and that the reading segment is wide enough that she could use the peripheral edges of the seg for reading.

She said I guess you guys can't do a progressive like sears. :hammer:

I was half tempted to put her in a progressive.

[ziggy]

YES! I had a lady came in today said that at LC she would get a 40% discount with her insurance. I told her she would get a 20% discount with us then I calld LC to check the retail price. They were 25% higher than we were on the lens. Now I'm a hillbilly and I aint that good with my sums. but with the help of a calc I showed the nice lady she could save money with us. She thanked me for my time and said"I'll get these at LC because I get a 40% discount there". True story just happened.:hammer:

[Grubendol]

That's cause you were using that fancy, distrustful math of the educated!

[Fezz]

I
She said I guess you guys can't do a progressive like sears. :hammer:

I was half tempted to put her in a progressive.



Thanks alot Harry. You B*sta*d! I think you owe me a computer monitor. I read that and spit out my beer all over the screen! That is a good one!


Tell her that no "we can not do progressives like SEARS, because we don't sell those stinking, no-line, blended seg, invisible bifocal garbage, optical trash heaps, that they pawn off as progressives, I mean "no-line" bifocals!

I am truly amused by wingnuts like that. I hope she has a Buy one, Get one coupon too!



Fezz
:cheers:

[ziggy]

That's cause you were using that fancy, distrustful math of the educated!

YEAH, PA SAID THAT ED-U-MA-CA-SHUN WOULD LEAD TO MY RUINATION

[chip anderson]

Why shouldn't they, we are from the state of our "education classes" and "certification exams." We are appearently becoming salesmen and bookkeepers.

Chip

[chm2023]

YES! I had a lady came in today said that at LC she would get a 40% discount with her insurance. I told her she would get a 20% discount with us then I calld LC to check the retail price. They were 25% higher than we were on the lens. Now I'm a hillbilly and I aint that good with my sums. but with the help of a calc I showed the nice lady she could save money with us. She thanked me for my time and said"I'll get these at LC because I get a 40% discount there". True story just happened.:hammer:


Well....she's right. If your retail is 100 and LC is 25% higher, they are 125. With your 20% discount, she pays 80; with their 40% discount, she pays 75. Perhaps I am not understanding the question???

[CME4SPECS]

As ziggy said... he ain't too goodt wit his sums, nor his multaplakachun or satraktion.

[harry888]

PT Barnum said "theres a sucker born every minute".

I thinks he greatly underestimated the situation.

[rbaker]

Harry – everybody is getting dumber. Used to be the serving size of stupid was small but just like everything else today it’s usually supersized. Perhaps a more appropriate question should have been to asked if patients age getting dumber relative to the rest of humanity.

[k12311997]

Thanks alot Harry. You B*sta*d! I think you owe me a computer monitor. I read that and spit out my beer all over the screen! That is a good one!




Fezz
:cheers:

I'm jealous that your drinking beer at 2:30 in the afternoon on a Friday, but like they say Its 5 'oclock somewhere.

[Fezz]

Yes..'tis true, I was drinking beer @ 2:30 on a Friday! I get done at 1:00 on a Friday and no Saturday hours! How lucky am I right!!


We work like wild banshee cats during the week to enjoy the 2 1/2 day weekend!



Fezz

:cheers:

[fjpod]

How 'bout this one.

I keep a small basket in my waiting room with an 8 x 10 placard that requests donations of old glasses for the needy.

One day I was seeing a seemingly intelligent 60 year old woman for a glaucoma follow up, when I realized we had never really discused her spectacle correction. She brought up the question of whether her old ones were appropriate. They looked really old and beat. I looked at them and said, how long have you had these?" She said, "A little over a year, since I've been coming to you." I looked at my record and there was no indication that the woman had purchased glasses from us ever. I then asked her where she had gotten them and she said, "In the waiting room of your office from that basket of free glasses that you give out"

Now there is some poor old lady in Peru that is not going to get glasses.

[Nettie]

Lady brings 10 yr old son in for eye exam. Refraction shows a very slight astigmatism....nothing more....yet the child keeps saying he can't see anything on the eye chart. He has remarked how badly he wants glasses because his friend has them. Dr. very professionally suggests the boy may be faking. Mom says NO WAY so Dr. recommends dilation, mom says WE DON'T HAVE TIME TODAY CAN YOU EVEN DO EYE EXAMS HERE OR NOT???????? Then mom asks for a refund and says they will go to a better Dr. who can actually DO an eye exam. Good Lord.

[Aarlan]

YES! I had a lady came in today said that at LC she would get a 40% discount with her insurance. ..... She thanked me for my time and said"I'll get these at LC because I get a 40% discount there". True story just happened.:hammer:


You're not the only one! I had a young lady order a pair of drilled rimless, trivex w/ prem A/R, and she was to have the father pay over the phone. When he called he asked if we would honor a mall competitors 30% off discount. WHen we said our discount was already factored into the price to avoid gimmicks, he cancelled the order to purchase at the other place. 3 months later she came in to purchase the glasses again, because she lost the pair she bought at the mall and had ended up paying $100 more than we had quoted her...even after their discount.


AA

[gjhazard]

Don't forget cheaper too!

[RT]

So when opticians change labs because XYZ lab offers a bigger discount, that's what? Shrewd?

[k12311997]

Don't forget cheaper too!

the concept of value is lost on patients all they care about is how little they can spend. not about what they get, for what they pay for.

So when opticians change labs because XYZ lab offers a bigger discount, that's what? Shrewd?

remember to compare apples to apples most independants offer better product than chains at a very comparable price. if lab xyz and lab abc provide the same lenses, the same turnaround and the same service. a buck a job times X can be a lot of lost revenue.

[RT]

Sorry k12311997, you seemed to have missed my point. If you've ever been on the wholesale lab end of things, you see opticians and OD's every day that switch labs based solely on the discount level. That's the exact same scenario that has patients labeled as dumb in this thread. Discount and net price aren't the same. The fact is, some lab people are probably reading this thread, thinking that you could substitute "optician" for "patient". The irony is amazing.

But even more alarming is the disappointingly self-serving nature of your response. Labs are commodities but opticians aren't? Patients are dumb? Wow.

I'm not sure that anybody in the delivery chain for ophthalmic lenses is well served by believing that their segment represents the only true value and skill. From lens designers to distributors to labs to equipment designers to consumables suppliers to opticians to OD's and MD's and all the others I forgot, everyone adds something. And everyone in that chain depends upon relationships with the other parts of the chain to deliver a quality product to the patient. Trivializing the other parts of the chain is counterproductive.

[fjpod]

Well said, RT.

[HarryChiling]

That's the exact same scenario that has patients labeled as dumb in this thread. Discount and net price aren't the same.

Actually, no the reason I have this patient labeled as dumb in this thread is the fact that I was providing her with a better solution for her visual needs, but she was intent on a product that everyone thinks is the holy grail of vision. I am sorry if this rubs some the wrong way, but sometimes a progressive is the wrong lens choice.

As for labs, I have a problem with labs thinking they are something special because they are independents. We recently this year saw on of the big labs sell out (think of the father on simpsons), this seems to be an alarming trend. I better not catch any flack because I use an independent lab, not for the price or the service, but because I want to suppport the independents. We build the cost into the price of our product that we sell, but they do give us better service so thats a plus as well.

[k12311997]

Sorry k12311997, you seemed to have missed my point. If you've ever been on the wholesale lab end of things, you see opticians and OD's every day that switch labs based solely on the discount level. That's the exact same scenario that has patients labeled as dumb in this thread. Discount and net price aren't the same. The fact is, some lab people are probably reading this thread, thinking that you could substitute "optician" for "patient". The irony is amazing.

But even more alarming is the disappointingly self-serving nature of your response. Labs are commodities but opticians aren't? Patients are dumb? Wow.

I'm not sure that anybody in the delivery chain for ophthalmic lenses is well served by believing that their segment represents the only true value and skill. From lens designers to distributors to labs to equipment designers to consumables suppliers to opticians to OD's and MD's and all the others I forgot, everyone adds something. And everyone in that chain depends upon relationships with the other parts of the chain to deliver a quality product to the patient. Trivializing the other parts of the chain is counterproductive.


RT you are wrong. once again apples to apples. I am not trivializing your part of the chain, I would never give up the service of my local lab just simply for the bottom line and I stated as much. pt's believe what they get online or at the chain equals what they get at the independant that is often not true. All things being equal, a sola one from lab abc is the same lens as lab xyz. a ? day turnaround is the same. And if quality, customer service, and policies are the same. Why wouldn't I choose less expensive.

P.S. Harry I'm sorry I realize this was not the original direction of your thread and appologize for the further straying.

[igirl]

The fact is, some lab people are probably reading this thread, thinking that you could substitute "optician" for "patient". The irony is amazing.



Amen.

[EyeFitWell]

That reminds me of an adjustment I performed while working at LC. This woman came in and her glasses had a LOT of retroscopic tilt. So, as part of the adjustment, I corrected it. When I handed them back to her, she stood up and yelled that I did not know what I was doing because they now touched her cheeks, and she was going to go to the other LC becuase they knew what they were doing! :angry:
I almost chased her down to explain that I was the one that gave her a proper adjustment, but I'm sure I couldn't have convinced her anyway. Sigh...
People just don't listen to professionals anymore.

[Ory]

When I handed them back to her, she stood up and yelled that I did not know what I was doing because they now touched her cheeks, and she was going to go to the other LC becuase they knew what they were doing! :angry:


Should a good adjustment leave the glasses resting on the patient's cheeks? :finger:

[EyeFitWell]

No, of course not, but my point is that she didn't let me finish. You know how you have to correct one problem (perhaps creating another problem) and then you fix that? I was certainly going to get them off her cheeks, but in the middle of the adjustment she stood up and stormed off.

[Grubendol]

maybe her cheeks just needed adjusting. After all, she does sound like someone who smiles too much ;)

[chip anderson]

Had one today that came in last time with broken frames, had to cut lenses down to another frame. Today she said she didn't like the other frame and "Mr. Anderson had to bend it to make it fit, she wants one this time that he doesn't have to bend." ?

[LENNY]

Mr.A
Stop BENDING frames!

[Ory]

Mr.A
Stop BENDING frames!

Then what's Framebender going to do?!!?!?

[Doug in Hutch]

Had one today that came in last time with broken frames, had to cut lenses down to another frame. Today she said she didn't like the other frame and "Mr. Anderson had to bend it to make it fit, she wants one this time that he doesn't have to bend." ?

I had a similar experience about 10 years ago. A very well dressed man tried on several frames and complained that none of them fit well on his nose or ears. When the optician helping him explained they would need to be adjusted, he responded "These are poor quality frames. A good quality frame will fit with no alterations." My boss was happy to send him to our competitors.

[fjpod]

A long time ago, an old optometrist told me, "Never adjust a frame in view of the patient. They will think you let them pick a frame that doesn't fit right."

Ever since then, I turn around, or go behind a divider in the dispensary.

[EyeFitWell]

fjpod-
I was told the same thing, but because if you 'break' them, the patient will always have an opinion as to what you did wrong.