PD's and medical professionals

[manoj_verma]

Medical Record or Optical Record.........I Simply mention ''I do Charge for the Info I Pass ! ''
Also, I always mention that ''PD is not the Only thing which makes you see Fine with Eyeglasses ,There are plenty of other measurements to is required for the Fine Result AND those MeasurmentsCan not be Decided untill One Sees the Frame you Choose to Buy............And Finally I get the Order ( Most of the Time ) or Simply Handout the PD ( Handingout Record PD ,Charge is Lower then Measuring the Current PD ).

[chip anderson]

Anybody check how much "work" and liability is involved with a PD? Geeze it's not like you were having to do a free brake job.

Chip

[snotbagel]

You seem to forget the cost of just "being there". Your overhead is exactly what consumers avoid paying for when they buy online. An accountant would say that your cost is the materials PLUS your overhead. When I make glasses at "cost" for friends, it's approximately a third off retail. My rent and staff still have to be paid.

My policy is to release info to a licensed person only. If I get a call from Warby Parker, well, too bad, I will send the patient a copy of their rx and PD, and they can do what they want with it. If they use it "illegally" it's out of my control, but at least I've informed the patient that a non-professional is handling their order.

When a regular patient returns with their w-p's, and need service, I point to my Concierge price list. Then I say, well, since you're a good customer here, I won't charge you. If it's someone who never purchases from me, well, that price list stands. I haven't lost anything by it since they are NOT MY CUSTOMERS! (and never will be, as long as price is the only issue).

[finefocus]

53 more posts on the subject of PD's.
I suggest that Steve create a new forum just for this, and we could transfer in the previous several million posts on this subject.
What more can be said?

[Barry Santini]

What's being said is an important dialogue on rhis topic, which appears to have little consensus toward an agreeable position.

I for one would like OBs to Not conclude that every request for a pd or pair of tendered online -sourced eyewear represent a "lost" customer, at least in unwillingness to pay "normal" retail prices.

Heck - I dont know of a single ecp willing to pay for lenses or frames even at normal wholesale prices!

B

[Johns]

What's being said is an important dialogue on rhis topic, which appears to have little consensus toward an agreeable position.

I for one would like OBs to Not conclude that every request for a pd or pair of tendered online -sourced eyewear reprent a "lost" customer, at least in unwillingness to pay "normal retail prices.

Maybe true, but how many folks asked you for a PD back in 1995?

[fjpod]

Maybe true, but how many folks asked you for a PD back in 1995?

How many people asked for a spectacle Rx back in 1980? Now it's the law...whether they want it or not...hmmm.

[Johns]

How many people asked for a spectacle Rx back in 1980? Now it's the law...whether they want it or not...hmmm.

We used to have quite a few in this area asking for their Rx, as back then, there were a lot more factory workers, and they would order the safety glasses at work.

[fjpod]

Special limited case.

We used to participate in a few industrial eye programs. We used to do the exam, fitting, or ding and dispense, but then companies started taking delivery of the eyewear direct from the lab and just giving them out to save money. Then they just told their employees to get a copy of their Rx on their own and pick a frame from a box at the shop...all the time cutting their costs. Can't remember the last time we did one.

[uncut]

Special limited case.

We used to participate in a few industrial eye programs. We used to do the exam, fitting, or ding and dispense, but then companies started taking delivery of the eyewear direct from the lab and just giving them out to save money. Then they just told their employees to get a copy of their Rx on their own and pick a frame from a box at the shop...all the time cutting their costs. Can't remember the last time we did one.

Wow! They allow that? In Canuck land...............safety eyewear must be fitted by a professional. I guess that's why we lost a lot of factory jobs long before the USA did.

[uncut]

@OP:

This mythology about "needing my PD" is propagated by online eyewear schmucks who can't make any eyewear without it.............so the attempt is, to involve professional legitimate practitioners to participate in online ordering, for free. It only gives the source of the eyewear C R E D I B I L I T Y, which they so desperately hunger, and you willingly may provide by participation. Association by participation. Enablers.

I, personally do not use a supplied measurement, by any outside source for making any eyewear, nor do I supply a measurement for anyone else, whether they are across the street, or on line. Period.

[chip anderson]

Uncut, do you write your on Rx's?

[uncut]

An Rx supplied by me, will be a photocopy of a signed document, originally supplied by the patient, copied, and then duly returned, at dispense or order.

Any record of info about the eyewear supplied is deemed to be laboratory notes, and are not, therefore part of the "patient medical record", as is the calibration specifications of the keratometer, the computer program that stores the accounting records, etc.

[Mizikal]

Okay so we are discussing giving out a patients PD AGAIN. Charge $25.00 if you want. I find that to be a bit high.I think that is exactly the type of fee they are trying to avoid and the reason some opticians are viewed as a used car sale man.You can charge whatever you want I guess. The patient you are trying to sell it to is the one who decides if it is of value.I think charging fees like this is the reason we have laws that tell us we have to give a patient the RX even if they don't want to. Why we cannot charge them extra for a copy of the RX. You can charge what you want like I said and what will happen?I think in the end you will have to give it to them on the RX. Why? Because it is their PD.

[Uilleann]

Are you actually charging for the measurement itself then? The pupilometer? The Expo wet erase marker you used?

Or is it your time and expertise?

Why not make the measurement itself free (if you're the one taking it) and simply state a time rate for your services. If the original record isn't yours, a reasonable fee for your time and expense to create a copy isn't beyond comprehension.

Your lawyer does it.

[4554lake]

You seem to forget the cost of just "being there". Your overhead is exactly what consumers avoid paying for when they buy online. An accountant would say that your cost is the materials PLUS your overhead. When I make glasses at "cost" for friends, it's approximately a third off retail. My rent and staff still have to be paid.

My policy is to release info to a licensed person only. If I get a call from Warby Parker, well, too bad, I will send the patient a copy of their rx and PD, and they can do what they want with it. If they use it "illegally" it's out of my control, but at least I've informed the patient that a non-professional is handling their order.

When a regular patient returns with their w-p's, and need service, I point to my Concierge price list. Then I say, well, since you're a good customer here, I won't charge you. If it's someone who never purchases from me, well, that price list stands. I haven't lost anything by it since they are NOT MY CUSTOMERS! (and never will be, as long as price is the only issue).

Good for you!

[4554lake]

And then what? We reassure our patients that it's perfectly legal for us to charge them money for their PD? Or refuse to release it?

Reassuring a patient that this is legal is not going to get their business. It's going to tick them off and confirm the line of thinking that probably drove them to online retail in the first place: That opticians are greedy SOBs trying to bilk them out of their hard-earned money with exorbitant markups on significantly less expensive services and upgrades.

We may win a battle, but it will almost certainly open up a new front that will help to cost us the war.

Omg, who cares what people buying online think about paying for a pd?....You have already lost the business and it isnt going to come back because you give the pd away or do after sales service for free,on these internet glasses.

It's sad that you dont have the self confidence to charge for your expertise...

[4554lake]

I for one would like OBs to Not conclude that every request for a pd or pair of tendered online -sourced eyewear represent a "lost" customer, at least in unwillingness to pay "normal" retail prices.


B

Why not?...This is exactly what this represents.

[Johns]

Well...look what happened to the legal profession! Legal Zoom came on the scene, and now there are noattorneys left any where... (Ok, maybe a bad example)

[Browman]

Omg, who cares what people buying online think about paying for a pd?....You have already lost the business and it isnt going to come back because you give the pd away or do after sales service for free,on these internet glasses.

It's sad that you dont have the self confidence to charge for your expertise...

I care that it reflects poorly on the profession of opticianry as a whole-- a profession that already has a reputation for rudeness, brusqueness, arrogance, and, perhaps most (and worst) of all, avarice.

[chip anderson]

Do you think the mail order people can include the cost of "being there?"
Once again if the mechanic does a free service like a test drive or cleaning the windshield should he be compensated for "being there?"

Chip

[drk]

No Mike, no! I did not mean "you"! Again, I meant an offender, not you. Please don't take that the wrong way, bro.

[Chris Ryser]

Copied from :

http://www.eyebuydirect.com/

How to measure your P.D (Pupillary Distance)

On your prescription PD value ranges between 57 mm to 65 mm with most common being 63 mm.
You may find your PD presented as 63/61. This means the Distance PD is 63 and the near PD is 61. When ordering single vision lenses, only the distance PD is required. For bifocals and progressives, please also provide the near PD. Do it yourself!

Step – 1Place a simple mm ruler on your nose so that the starting point of the ruler is exactly at your left or right eye pupil. Keep the scale straight.Step – 2Stand in front of a mirror or ask a friend to measure the distance between the pupils while you look straight ahead.Step – 3Repeat this three times for accuracy.
Use an average Your final option is simply to use an average PD measurement which is the least accurate method. Most adults have a PD distance ranging between 57-65mm. For single vision lenses, adults have an average pupillary distance of 62mm. In the event that you cannot obtain your own pupillary distance from your optician or measure it yourself, it's satisfactory to use this average PD measurement but please remember that this is the least accurate option.

For those requiring bifocal or progressive lenses, we strongly recommend you get this information directly from your optician. After you receive your PD from the optician, you may notice there are two different values. If you have the numbers '65/60' for example, the first PD is usually for distance vision and the second number is for near vision or reading.

[uncut]

Yeah, and....................................?

Sears-Roebuck showed people how to measure their own hat size, anatomy measure for pants, shirts, skirts..............and shoes.

What's your point?

BTW, this method of arriving at a "PD" is the adolescent, unco-operative child method of measure,

but for internet crap.................it'll do!

[uncut]

Here's a better statistic for you, gathered by uncut:

Donation box contents weekly tally: XX complete eyeglasses donated.................of which 10% are new "could not wear" internut purchases, all others...... ECP dispensed products, worn from the Zeros, 90's, and 80's........