DRILL MOUNTS: Lab puts together or Opticians?

[Joyley]

Yeah, I know, stupid question in general. However, causing problems in my office.

Our opticians, while having the knowledge to put together a drill mount, do not have the skill or practice to do a good job of it.
Our lab tech does a good job but the doctor is saying it's an optician job.
Generally speaking, I would have to say putting together a drill mount falls under the lab domain. My opticians don't have the time and end up scratching the lenses due to not having the experience of doing it often. Again, I know that sounds lame and please don't judge me but I have to figure out how to get doctor out of our dispensary. Putting drill mounts together is a skill, isn't it? You need to have done it a lot to end up without scratches (pressure mounts).
Thoughts please???

[optical24/7]

Optician's job. Practice makes perfect.

[iD]

For the most part the lab usually puts everything together. But having a capable optician to do it is a must in an office. Especially if you sell alot of drill mounts. Your opticians should jump to the chance on learning how to master that.

[AngeHamm]

What your opticians "should" do is kind of irrelevant if it's resulting in high-cost remakes. Yes, it's a skill they should learn, but if none of them have a lab background and you have a lab that will do it for you, why go through the expensive learning curve?

[Plausible]

What your opticians "should" do is kind of irrelevant if it's resulting in high-cost remakes. Yes, it's a skill they should learn, but if none of them have a lab background and you have a lab that will do it for you, why go through the expensive learning curve?

Give an Optician a fish and he eats for a day, teach an Optician to fish and he is fed for a lifetime.

[Dr. Bill Stacy]

It's really very simple, but they need to be shown the tricks of the trade by a drill mount person, PLUS they need the right tools. I can imagine doing a Silhouette without their special tools, but it wouldn't be a pretty thing.

[AngeHamm]

It's really very simple, but they need to be shown the tricks of the trade by a drill mount person, PLUS they need the right tools. I can imagine doing a Silhouette without their special tools, but it wouldn't be a pretty thing.

They also need a mess-ton of practice lenses to work with.

I'm not at all saying they shouldn't learn this skill, but context is important. Is this doctor insisting that they do it out of blind principle, or because it's important to the business for them to know? How many drill mounts does this office do? Are the inevitable remake charges coming out of this doctor's pocket? Does the lab charge the office less to drill but not mount?

[Joyley]

They also need a mess-ton of practice lenses to work with.

I'm not at all saying they shouldn't learn this skill, but context is important. Is this doctor insisting that they do it out of blind principle, or because it's important to the business for them to know? How many drill mounts does this office do? Are the inevitable remake charges coming out of this doctor's pocket? Does the lab charge the office less to drill but not mount?

Practice would help, yes. Good tools would help, too. The problem is lack of man power. I completely agree with the opticians learning to do this, but we have no time for training.

[optical24/7]

Training (and continuing training) is essential for all opticians. Whether it be new lens designs, materials, digital measuring equipment, ect. What happens when the lab tech is sick, on vacation or quits? Cross training should be the goal, especially in a busy office. If time is an issue, then the good doctor should pay to train after/before hours.

[newguyaroundhere]

Unless you have a lab on site, I would want the opticians to know how to assemble a drill mount on site. It would save on the turnaround time for the patient from possibly having it completed the same day instead of having it sent out to a lab to be worked on and waiting a few days to a week for it to come back in.

[Dr. Bill Stacy]

Maybe the good doctor needs to go get some training in drill mounts himself. What a concept, a doc that knows opticianry...

[Lab Insight]

Yeah, I know, stupid question in general. However, causing problems in my office.

Our opticians, while having the knowledge to put together a drill mount, do not have the skill or practice to do a good job of it.
Our lab tech does a good job but the doctor is saying it's an optician job.
Generally speaking, I would have to say putting together a drill mount falls under the lab domain. My opticians don't have the time and end up scratching the lenses due to not having the experience of doing it often. Again, I know that sounds lame and please don't judge me but I have to figure out how to get doctor out of our dispensary. Putting drill mounts together is a skill, isn't it? You need to have done it a lot to end up without scratches (pressure mounts).
Thoughts please???

It's the labs job to drill and assemble to have it done right and without scratches. Opticians now a days are just mostly glorified technical sales people. I've been one for 30 years and it's way different compared to when I began. Sadly the art is lost hence why I ventured back into owning a lab and providing a skilled service to people that appreciate my efforts and knowledgeable service.

[Barry Santini]

Maybe the good doctor needs to go get some training in drill mounts himself. What a concept, a doc that knows opticianry...

Fair is fair, Doc.
Then Opticians should learn and understand refraction

[rbaker]

An real Optician is equally at home at the dispensing table or the lab.

It's hard to find a "real" optician these days as the corporate suits prefer the sales clerk / lab rat business model.

[Barry Santini]

On the other hand, "real" old-style opticians were rarely trained and/or never learned the art of selling. B&M overhead is simply too high today to allow deficits to exist in these skill sets.

B

[MakeOptics]

On the other hand, "real" old-style opticians where rarely trained and/or never learned the art of selling. B&M overhead is simply too high today to allow deficits to exist in these skill sets.

B

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +1

I find it sometimes counter productive to focus on old skills and completely forget or denigrate sales and personal skills. I won't paint with a broad stroke but most the time I hear "real old school opticians", it's coming from a crotchety optician that I would cringe putting in front of a client.

The true masters I know are the ones that work all ends effortlessly, I know making it look effortless took a lot of work. Still learning myself everyday, I am fortunate enough that I currently literally work for the best opticians in the nation.

[Don Gilman]

Fair is fair, Doc.
Then Opticians should learn and understand refraction

Ooh....low blow

[rbaker]

Au contraire mon ami ! Back when I learned the Craft we were in competition with all the other ethical Opticians for the Rx's coming out of the MD's offices and professional sales skills were what separated the successful Optician from all the rest.

[CME4SPECS]

I think it would depend on whether or not your opticians job description included lab work. In my opinion, that is lab work.

[jc17777]

The optician should know how to do this. It wouldn't make sense if someone with a drill mount job came in for a repair and you told them you would have to send it to the lab for processing. I do agree with the other people in this thread tho the optician should be trained and have practice material handy and having the proper tools are key

[Dave E]

[QUOTE=CME4SPECS;516848]I think it would depend on whether or not your opticians job description included lab work. In my opinion, that is lab work.[/QUOTE

So you would send in a pt drill mount to a lab to have it put back together?

[CME4SPECS]

No I wouldn't send it anywhere! I know how to do it. If you read the original post, there is a lab tech and an optician. I assume that the optician dispenses and the lab tech does lab work. If they worked for me, the optician would be expected to do lab work. But hey, I work alone.

[Dr. Bill Stacy]

Fair is fair, Doc.
Then Opticians should learn and understand refraction

Given the skills and knowledge needed for refraction vs drill mounts, in this thread I'd say let the doc learn how to refract and the optician how to drill. But that's me. I have no problems with opticians learning refraction as long as it's taught to them in both structured didactic and structured clinical settings under qualified instructors. I'm against trial and error, watching someone do it, or just pushing buttons and twirling knobs.

[Barry Santini]

Given the skills and knowledge needed for refraction vs drill mounts, in this thread I'd say let the doc learn how to refract and the optician how to drill. But that's me. I have no problems with opticians learning refraction as long as it's taught to them in both structured didactic and structured clinical settings under qualified instructors. I'm against trial and error, watching someone do it, or just pushing buttons and twirling knobs.

That's ok Doc. Smartphone and other technologies will make the grunt work of refraction a non-human endeavor

B

[optical24/7]

Au contraire mon ami ! Back when I learned the Craft we were in competition with all the other ethical Opticians for the Rx's coming out of the MD's offices and professional sales skills were what separated the successful Optician from all the rest.

Amen Dick!

Retail opticians that didn't have interpersonal skills simply stayed in wholesale labs. We all knew the money was in retail. But it's always taken personable skill sets to successfully compete in the dispensary.