True. I guess as an academic debate, he can't stand anywhere based on his claims. But at a political level, he can do whatever he wants.Originally Posted by kws6000
True. I guess as an academic debate, he can't stand anywhere based on his claims. But at a political level, he can do whatever he wants.
I routinely provide patients with their full contact lens prescription (lens type/brand, powers, diameter, base curve, etc), provided they've undergone my fitting process. If a patient has not been fitted there is no way in hell I'm recommending a base curve! And you shouldn't either.
Do people actually ask you to just guess at what base curve they should be? That sounds really odd...
if your patient had a full eye exam from you a month ago, but was not fitted for contacts. then comes back in and wants a contact lens rx, what would you charge for that service?
I agree, i would not tell them a base curve either unless i had fitted them. people do ask. One lady the other day handed me an rx dated the same day and asked if i could measure her pd. I asked why didn't she ask her eye doctor. She said she did but was told she had to go to an optical store for that. She said that seemed very odd considering the rx pad was pre-printed with the letters "PD" in the lower left corner. I told her I would do it for $30. To my surprise she pulled out her debit card.
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I would charge my usual and customary contact lens evaluation/fit fee - depending on the type of lens required. I won't say how much b/c the practice I'm in now does not charge enough... In the amount of time it takes me to properly fit a contact lens I could do at least two, maybe three fully dilated eye exams - exams that pay a hell of a lot better.
I agree its an annoying that a lot of Rx pads do have PD preprinted, the clinic I'm in does too. Sometimes we doctors skirt the whole issue by telling the person we don't do measurements for glasses and they have to see their optician and ask them about it... I know, its not nice to you, but frankly these are usually the people I can't wait to get out of my own hair (and sometimes with these types I'm desperate!). I tried putting a lot of thought into how best the PD thing should be explained, but I guess come May 1st it doesn't matter anymore.
The PD thing really makes my blood boil, I REALLY do not want to waste anymore of my time taking a figgin' PD. AGHHHH
These rule changes are scary. The following has happened to me a couple of times in NY. A patient, who has never worn contacts, takes their spectacle Rx and contacts an online CL seller, who then proceeds to tell them which CLs they should wear. Now I mark my Rx blank with the words, " for spectacles only".
Write the PD down in code , make it yards or inches or both or make it a baseline number plus or minus another number that is meaningfull to you . You will still have provided the PD but it just is not in mm . Make it in letters AA or A-C or whatever .I would charge my usual and customary contact lens evaluation/fit fee - depending on the type of lens required. I won't say how much b/c the practice I'm in now does not charge enough... In the amount of time it takes me to properly fit a contact lens I could do at least two, maybe three fully dilated eye exams - exams that pay a hell of a lot better.
I agree its an annoying that a lot of Rx pads do have PD preprinted, the clinic I'm in does too. Sometimes we doctors skirt the whole issue by telling the person we don't do measurements for glasses and they have to see their optician and ask them about it... I know, its not nice to you, but frankly these are usually the people I can't wait to get out of my own hair (and sometimes with these types I'm desperate!). I tried putting a lot of thought into how best the PD thing should be explained, but I guess come May 1st it doesn't matter anymore.
The PD thing really makes my blood boil, I REALLY do not want to waste anymore of my time taking a figgin' PD. AGHHHH
DO NOT CO OPERATE and make life easy for Coastal or Kevin Falcon . F 'm just like they are doing to you.
They are not playing by the law . Why should you ? They are making things up as they go . You do it too . PD could be recordered as + 4 or - 3 or whatever, relative to your own baseline number. IF they want a seg height , give em that too . but measured from the eyebrows down .
Sure...if they pay me for a trial fit.
have a different concept on margins.
Most online sellers use chinese labs and frame sellers, which have a different concept on margins.
They pay much more realistic prices than we do this side of the Pacific and they work with margins tagged to volume which they seem to be getting. Their volume seems to go up continously as their website traffic increases indicate.
Don't wait, take action and get it going.
Glasses online? B.C. optometrists take a dim view
Read some of the comments to this article.
Bylaw revision would allow pharmacy technicians to fill prescriptions unsupervised (click to read)
What the heck is going on in BC? Now they're going to let pharmacy techs, with only 8 months of education post high school, dispense drugs without supervision???
Maybe BC will start letting the average citizen change laws without having any legal education.
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You are correct. A new clause will allow political staff to sit in the legislature and vote on behalf of the MLA while the latter is on the golf course.
So what's the deal now with opticians in BC? I was under the impression that opticianry still exists, but that dispensing is unregulated.
I had a conversation with an RO today who said that opticianry in BC as a profession is now extinct - the reason being, is that dispensing is unregulated, and therefore anyone can be an optician - and since anyone can be an optician - this would cause problems for other problems due to license portability via the AIT - therefore they have simply done away with opticianry. So what is the truth?
Here's the BC College website:
http://www.cobc.ca/
This person has also told me the 6-month training course for opticianry is now effectively gone. This doesn't make sense to me, since a regulation that deregulates dispensing doesn't mean "opticianry" can't be taught. Maybe folks who graduate don't get licensese, but the knowledge can still be shared in academic institutions. The BC school website is here, and there is no mention of them being closed down.
http://www.bccollegeofoptics.ca/main.html
Another optician told me you can take the BC 6-monther, then apply to Alberta for a license, then apply to other provinces via AIT.
So what's the deal? And with regards to refraction - is it still a controlled act? Or can anyone refract?
Refraction has never been a controlled act (in Ontario). Neither has measuring someones blood pressure. Diagnosing and prescribing are controlled act. So gathering the information is in the public domain, but using the information requires education.
I guess what I meant was, is prescribing a refraction a controlled act in BC now? Or can anyone do it?
It's a moote question. It was illegal to sell contacts and eyeglasses without being an optician and first having a prescription. That did not stop anyone.
In Ontario , the regulators have not been able to govern Great Glasses and stop them from refracting and dispensing without so much as an opticians license.
the optical jungle................................
Well Well Well ..........................................
We are back to what I remember about BC in the 1960s and early 1970s when being on the road selling frames...............................
the optical jungle
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