We have a local lab that can so some jobs for us with a one day turn around time,, but they do not do anything with AR or Progressive lenses..
The doctors here are wanting me to get them some info on possibly getting a remote lens tracer here. I want to know is these are accurate for the most part and if it is worth the investment.. Thanks..
A tracer can radically improve turn time, but not necessarily profit in and of itself. The return on investment is in service to the patient. However, the slippery road is that you are now making it easier for patients to reuse their old and tired frame, so when they get their new lenses and the frame fails, they feel ripped off because you didn't tell them their frame is tired (even though you did).
You will need to have a handstone to occasionally manually grind down oversize lenses. No matter how precise the machines are, differences in calibration between tracer and edger, and of course good old human error, will make some lenses off size. If you don't have any way to handle that in your office, those off-size lenses will really ruin your day. Other than that, definitely handy.
Why would you want to offer that service? Will it make you a better office or will you be setting yourself up for more problems?
I believe that should only be done for sizing purposes and/or for zyl but in a metal you are looking for problems that do not occur if the patient does not keep the frame.
We now charge an extra $35 for one pair and $50 for 2 or more if the client needs to keep their frame and we then set up an appointment to cut the lenses while they wait. We where making it too easy to not get a new frame and it is always more difficult to do the work with clients standing there. That is why we try to discourage having one pair of glasses.
Thanks for the opinions.. I agree that an edger will make a lot of our patients keep there current frame.. We have a lot of Amish patients that do this already. I too think it will be more trouble then it is worth. We do not have an edger in the office..
Whether or not they keep their frame, if you have Amish patients, you should have an edger in your office. When you consider the cost of a taxi and/or the infrequency that some of them go "to town", you would be adding a considerable amount of value to them. One of my offices is approximately 70% Amish, and although we offered free pick up, free delivery, and even a 15 passenger van shuttle service, our business more than tripled when we put our first edger in. So what if they keep their frame? When you are dealing with 10-15 family members in a single household, the name of the game is market share. While you are edging SV into their child's frames, they will be browsing your frames in the front office. Look at the big picture...Originally Posted by brendajm
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
The last line of Post # 51 of this thread sums it all up:
http://www.optiboard.com/forums/show...urselves/page3
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
Glass and remote tracing is probably a no no.....
I wonder if Amish use the latest and greatest in term of their lens choices?
Most certainly! Because many of them work outside and in harsh environments (dirt, sawdust, etc..) most of the men have two or more pair. They are also big sportsmen, especially hunting and fishing, so that also lends itself to needing/wanting a variety of lens/frame products.
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
You must be happy with the reintroduction of Glass FF lenses from FEA!?!?!
It doesn't affect my practice. I'm not about to put a guy working in the sawmill into glass. The question we ask is, "What is your main concern; scratches on your lenses, or protecting your eyes?" There are a lot of work related injuries in our area, so it doesn't take a lot of fancy POP to let people know what could happen. Most know someone who it has already happened to. Glass? No thanks.
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
Thats good!
Most of our Amish pts that are male and working in fields are construction insist on glass lenses.. They do not want top of the line here.. most of them go with comfort lenses or Image lens,, and a lot stay in FT 28.. We are slowly getting more and more into progressives.
Forget a remote tracer if you do glass. As stated earlier, you more than likely will have to hand edge some down in size. Sizing glass down negates the tempering of glass, rendering it less impact resistant (opening you up to a potential law suit if you patient is injured from a lens failure.)
I'll second the trace will be too big every time you use glass and as stated you should not touch it up at all.
The tip on a tracer arm is also not needle sharp so some times the sizing is off because the bezel on the frame is not shallow enough for it to make full contact. That said my experience is that it works well. I calibrate once in a blue moon. I also use a larger lab that has it in their best interest to make the tracings come out right the first time so maybe the local guy will not be the best lab to work with.
Common sense also suggests some tricky jobs only be done by a (and I use the term affectionately) lab rat who does them all the time.
Can your shop absorb the $10 to $20 "edging fee" that most of us add on somewhere to mitigate the increased lab costs? If they go this route you should strongly recommend it to your Doc's. I believe most labs will give you a tracer if you commit to them a couple years of lab work.
Haven't seen your other posts so--- Welcome to Otiboard!!!
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