Hello everyone,
Do any of you see OD's prescribing 0.13/0.12 D steps when normal conventions are 0.25 D?
I work for a large chain where our ordering software does not allow this? Just curious what you do or would do in this situation.
Several OD's I have spoken to looked at me like I had two heads when I asked them their thoughts of prescribing to such a small degree.
Thanks!!
Back in the day, it was a common practice. Finished stock SV lenses (AO Tillyer and B&L Orthogon) came in 0.12 increments and we all stocked laps in 0.12 increments. I can't address the efficacy of refracting to this tolerance but I do think that some refractionists thought it so, for whatever reason (ego). With the advent of the plastic ophthalmic lens we saw the elimination of these lenses primarily due to manufacturing concerns. Their elimination cut in half the number of molds and laps a manufacturer had to carry. An additional factor was the difficulty of producing polymer lenses to these exacting tolerances.
In todays marketplace it really doesn't matter. It is questionable if anyone is going to refract to this degree of supposed accuracy and it is highly improbable if one could economically fabricate lenses to this tolerance and how could the poor dispenser insure that the lenses met these exacting tolerances.
Not to mention, tolerances on power are +/- 0.12D, so it's redundant.Originally Posted by rbaker
What about now with digital surfacing being more precise? Will a Dr. prescribe a 0.12D because he couldn't decide either way with a 0.25D step? We are not the only dispensary in the area that has has issues with this Dr and patients are being given mixed information as well.
An OD can prescribe down to a 0.12 or even perhaps a 0.06 of a dioptre, but would be simply splitting hairs. Even then the tolerance allowed from the lab on power would be 0.12D, so it would be like going in circles.
On a simliar note, OD's all the time prescribe a -0.25 Cyl, however some of the OD's I know start prescribing Cyl at -0.50D, otherwise, it's a sphere.
This OD just sounds like he wants to run the show his/her way, just go along with it and do your best to please.
the optometrists I work for sometimes prescribe an add power of 0.88 for emerging presbyopia. They do this to show opticals that the patient would benefit from a relax lens, ex the nikon relaxse or the hoya active 8. That is because these patients would benefit from those lenses more than a progressive or a sv reader. But as with every rx it is up to the patient what they would like to go with and the optical to fulfill their needs
Of course you can use any metric that you wish when writing a prescription. You could write a spectacle RX in Fathoms instead of Diopters and give out PD's in Furlongs instead of MM's.
Hey, we might be on to something here.
Technically, the OD doesn't even have to prescribe a add power for the patient if they chose to purchase an anti-fatigue lens such as an Active 8.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks