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Thread: Giving out contact lens specs

  1. #1
    Bad address email on file Spex's Avatar
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    Giving out contact lens specs

    Have any of you had many of these "1-800....." &/or cheap contact lens suppliers hounding you for contact lens specs for your patients?? How do you handle them? I have been told that even license & unlicense opticians now HAVE to release this info to these sleeze balls.

    If you do have to do this, do any of you require the patient to sign some sort of waiver or release in order to give out this info?? How about charging a "fitting fee" at the time they sign the release in order to cover the charges for taking these measurements originally (we don't charge a fitting fee if they purchase the contacts from us). We are thinking that if we have to give out this info, then the patient will have to pay the original fitting fee that was waived when they purchased the contacts from us. Would this fly???

    Thanks gals & guys!! Gosh, I feel like looking for a new profession!!!

  2. #2
    Optical Clairvoyant OptiBoard Bronze Supporter Andrew Weiss's Avatar
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    First, the not-so-good news: in the US, legally, doctors are required to provide patients with their prescriptions for eyeglasses and contact lenses. This includes providing the Rx to other providers of the patient's choice. We get calls/faxes from 1800-CONTACTS frequently (about 1 every other day) asking for the patient's CL Rx. And, so long as that Rx is current and valid, and so long as the patient has signed a HIPPA release (that's a US thing), we have to provide it. Our office requires all CL patients to come back annually for an exam and CL check, and if the patient doesn't do it, the Rx is no longer valid and we'll tell 1800CL that.

    Yes, it is frustrating to put all that work into fitting and teaching the patient and then have them purchase lenses from someone who retails them for what the lenses cost us wholesale! We do charge a fitting fee. But one thing we tell our patients is that they can only get sample lenses from us for emergencies if they buy their CLs from us. If they want to buy from 1800CL, and they run out of lenses and need one pronto, sorry, they're out of luck. Maybe you can say that the fitting fee is waived only if they agree to purchase 1 year's worth of lenses through you. And if they don't want to do that, they pay for the fit. I think most people will understand that.

  3. #3
    One of the worst people here
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    See, you guys should get your laws changed to match Ontario's. 1-800-Contacts can dispense here.

  4. #4
    Optical Clairvoyant OptiBoard Bronze Supporter Andrew Weiss's Avatar
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    Have you found that has eaten into your CL practice?

  5. #5
    Bad address email on file Spex's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Weiss
    Have you found that has eaten into your CL practice?
    It hasn't cut much into it. But these calls are getting more frequent AND annoying. I CAN see where it will be cutting into more in the future, & you don't really make enough on CL's to make a big deal out of it. I guess the best thing to do is to just charge a fee that will make it worthwhile to fit CL's, give them a good deal on the lenses, & require that they have a follow-up exam every year & charge for the follow-up (that way you will be able to make something even if they are getting their CL's from the 1-800's). I don't know, there is probably something in the law that won't let you do that either.

    These people that don't want to buy CL's from you but want you to take measurements & give them the spec's, would scream bloody murder if you were their employer & didn't want to pay them for the work they did for you!!

    I still don't know why you can't require them to sign a release. How do I know that 1-800 isn't calling to get the person's info so that they can try to sell them contacts by saying that "we already have your info & this is how much we can save you on CL's, so do you want to buy some from us?" Wouldn't releasing a patient's info without his written permission be illegal??
    Where is the consumer protection in that???

  6. #6
    One of the worst people here
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Weiss
    Have you found that has eaten into your CL practice?
    Opps, I meant that they can't dispense here.

  7. #7
    Optical Clairvoyant OptiBoard Bronze Supporter Andrew Weiss's Avatar
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    OK, For-Life, that makes a lot more sense! :)

    Spex, the fact is, that even though your patient has to sign a HIPPA release form in order for you to release the information to 1800CLs, 1800CLs doesn't have to get a release in order to pass that information on. Not so great. :(

    I don't see an easy answer to this. The good patients will continue coming to you, I'm sure, and they'll understand why you're charging for the fit.

  8. #8
    OptiWizard
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    Check out the prices on 1-800, they recently went up quite a bit. Seems Rx verification (law compliance) is increasing overhead costs.

    So now they have to verify Rx validity like the rest of us and have our same expenses.

    My prices are now about the same as 1-800.

    Harry

  9. #9
    Master OptiBoarder LENNY's Avatar
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    Solutions:

    1 Give the patient higher price for an eyeexam and fitting and lower (even lower than 1800) price for contacts.

    2 Sell a year supply with whatever rebates they have to drop the price even lower.

    If they still want the RX give it to them you already made more money on fitting!

  10. #10
    OptiWizard
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    Spex,

    You should definitely be charging a fee for your expertise and skill in fitting contact lenses. If you charge nothing , then patients will percieve it as having no value( as you are finding out). Charge a reasonable fee for your lenses and earn your living being a professional contact lens fitter. Patients can shop for lens and make easy comparisons but they can not easily shop your skill, knowledge, service and professionalism. You should have changed your business model years ago. Good luck:cheers:

  11. #11
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    Lenny hit it right on! ALWAYS charge a fitting fee, the price of your knowledge and professionalism dictates such charges. Charge $.05 less per box, provide an annual supply so max rebates can be taken advantage of, and Never deduct the fit fee because if you do, the next time the patient decides to change to 1800..., and then you do charge, you most likely lost that patient because they will feel they got scammed.

    Now, my office goes one step further, We go into 1800's website, print out all the prices, post them next to ours and an instant savings will be seen and we don't lose.

    Regarding release of patient rx's to 1800 or other on-line discount distributor, It doesn't matter if you provide the rx or not, they are going to dispense them anyway. According to the law, the rx provider has 8 business hours from the time the request was made (as long as it was requested within the standard work day, otherwise the 8 hour rule moves to the next business day), however, who is to say that they "didn't receive" the reply within the time and simply hide the fax transmition, or, note that "unable to reach office". I have seen patients use their dentists office fax number, and still get the rx filled by 1800.
    Now, if they get caught doing any of the above, it is an $11,000 fine per infraction, but who has the resources to police it.

    If you provide the services as I and others mentioned, you should have very few people leaving you to go online shopping.

    Good luck with your decissions.
    :cheers:
    Cowboy

  12. #12
    OptiBoard Professional Dannyboy's Avatar
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    Wave

    I have given some thought to this and it seems that there is no way out of given the prescription to the patient after the independent optician does the fitting (no doctor involve other than providing an "ok" for contact lenses). Curiosly is that even if you do give the parameters out only mail sources like 1800 will actually fill the Rx.

    Opticians in our state are actually hesitant to fill a prescription that another optician has written. Since the new Federal law states that OD, MDs and "others" must write the prescription. I have no problem in providing the parameters since even before the law, the 1800s would have filll the prescription even if they did not have one.

    What concerns me is the legality that we have as Opticians in filling a Contact lens Rx provided by another optician and not a doctor. California law is the only one clear to that respect but for us Floridians here is a legal dilemma. Will the provision in the Federal law really apply to us? Are we the "other" who can provide the Rx?

    It seems that for a state as organized as ours (from the Opticianry standpoint) our state board has not addressed this issue. Are we going to have to wait for the FTC to address this .. but if it never addressed?

    As for present we are writting the Contact Lens Parameters as Parameters plus all the required information as in the Federal Act. We had already 2 rejects of local opticians refusing to fill the prescription. I have no problem with this as i feel I am complying with the law.


    Dannyboy:idea:

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