Are machines taking over???
I've been hearing a lot of talk about machines that take measurements,(pd, seg ht, etc) as opposed to doing them by hand/pupilometer(spl?). What are your guys' opinions on machine vs old fashioned? I think doing it by hand is a more personal experience for the patient, but that's just my view. What do ya'll think?
I think doing it by hand is a more personal experience for the patient . +1Originally Posted by kcox
It's a double edged sword.
Forget all the "experience" stuff. I just read Vision Monday, and I'm going to gag if I am fed another buzzword.
Just...get...the...job...done...right.
We can only hope so.
Of course it's more personal but purchasing machines to do measurements means you don't have to invest the time actually teaching your staff to do them properly and most likely you have a lot of remakes due to dispensor errors anyway so this seems a logical solution.
I like using the Visioffice for additional measurements. Its fantastic to have the technology at my disposal however I will always come behind that and remeasure. Regardless of the machines abilities I like giving the patient a more complete and 'PERSON'alized experience. Also I find the visioffice jacks up the seg .5-1 mm to high. I like giving the patients eyes a little room to breath in a progressive but thats just me.
If you want to give that patient a more "personal experience" then lay down that pupilometer and pick up your PD ruler. Do everything with that..........dem was da days.
That way you had MORE eye to eye contact with your patient. You actually touched the patient more. Who out there reaches up and gently pushes on the patient's jaw line while asking them to turn their head so that you can reach up with your hand and move their HAIR, not the ear to see how much adjustment is needed with the temple. If its to tight you cant SEE with your finger tips if color is being blanched out of the skin thus indicating its to tight.
Eight out of ten times when you hand them their glasses and ask how they feel the patient is going to say OK. Now reach up there tug on those glasses and catch them as they fall into your hand. Then tell the patient, "lets tighten these up a bit more."
Doing stuff like that is REAL PERSONAL experience. Very very very few of you out there do any of this.
[QUOTE=drk;
Just...get...the...job...done...right.[/QUOTE]
drk has nailed it here though. Just get the job done right. Feed yourself with your right hand or feed yourself with your left hand.....it don't matter long as you are feeding yourself and someone else isn't having to pick up after you.
Machines are wonderful tools, but it's very easy to depend on "auto" settings so much that we lose our ability to troubleshoot.
I'm Andrew Hamm and I approve this message.
I would rather troubleshoot, resolve the issue and hear the patient give a sigh of relief then sell a run of the mill Rx to a routine exam.
Its just a sense of sanctification for me knowing that I made someone feel better about themselves.
The WOW factor begins with using a DMD (digital measuring device). If you haven't used one you have no idea the impact it makes on clients. They do not replace PD sticks or pupilometers, but they do make explaining how customized, digital lens optimization will benefit them so they can make a more informed decision. If a client has had these measurements taken before somewhere else you are going to be hard pressed to convince them you're just as good with a 6 inch ruler. ( And you may very well be, but explain that to the client.)
I'm ok with robotics as long as they're infused with the 'three laws'.
WRT to POW, my fitting point heights, monocular IPDs, and pantoscopic tilt manual measurements, on average, will always be more accurate than fixed devices.
I'm their equal, for everything else (vertex and wrap).
So there.
Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. - Richard P. Feynman
Experience is the hardest teacher. She gives the test before the lesson.
I'm looking forward to trying a DMD someday. Here on the board I read pros and cons about them. I don't get excited with new technology. So many times I find it creates me more grief then anything else. But when it works like I am lead to believe it can be awesome. But I do like doing what ever I can to create the WOW factor and excitement when someones vision is considerably improved. I don't want them to have to hunt a look and start comparing (which is better 1 or 2?) to find the improvement. That is the true WOW factor. If they have to find it then I was the only one excited.
Some new techy measuring machines are a song and dance to impress the patient that you have the latest and greatest. "Our measuring system is 10 times more accurate than others" is the "BUZZ" out there. "We measure in 10ths of a millimeter to take your pupil height" Please! "Our lens are processed to within 100th of a diopter" Whatever. Nothing beats the skill of a highly trained optician! PROBLEM......there are fewer and fewer of those opticians out there(old school). So we have to embrace the technology and move forward. If you don't have some new device of some kind you will have some negative reviews from a few of your patients. Don't get me wrong, the new stuff is cool. Useful tools in the right hands
You sound a bit like me. Old School
Yup.
Let's face it - we are dealing with a generation of "apps" users, who can't find their way home without a GPS, and the word "streaming" has nothing to do with water. They are so dependent on digital, analog, etc. devices, and they don't have confidence in something as simple as a PD ruler. I'm glad I retired when I did.
Lost and confused in an optical wonderland!
Maybe if you feel you have to use these "techy" tools to impress the patient or to get the job done...........you really are not what we call a "old school real optician" and good at it. Measuring in 10th's mm is useless until you get a pair of glasses that will NOT slip. When they slip it just blew away the need for a .10th mm.
Grind to 100th of a diopter......whats the point when most of us still have lensomenters that mesure in .25 diopter. We cant even tell if the lab sent us a Rx ground to within 100th of a diopter.
Go wash your mouth out with soap, 24!
All this stuff is a LOOTTTTT of hype. With a pricetag.
I agree. You should (not) see what it's like in the exam room. It would scare you straight.
I am all for the betterment of technology in opticianry, BUT... when it comes to measuring for the perfect fit for a patient... it comes to experience to know when to change the norm. There are many techniques, but knowing your patient's lifestyle and observing his/her body movements will give you hints that the tech stuff can't measure and your patient will notice the difference. Ever had a shorter (or taller) than average patient come in your door with their chin up already Before looking at anything? or chin down watching the floor? these are hints if you have a progressive lens on tap for them.... and the new measure-without-thinking machine will do the job right.... for someone else, but not this patient. Pupilometers ROCK, but that height measure is fluid depending on the patient. The real personal touch is paying attention to what your patient needs to make his/her experience seamless... and that includes using your ears and eyes as your best tools. That's old fashioned service and that is what I am about.
Wow, I would trust the DMD over 90% of opticians measurements. I understand that the figure here might be lower something like 70% but our office nor any I know has the luxury of seasoned opticians.
When I think old school, I think VIP is just as good as any new lens out there. No lie I work with one of these seasoned techs and I find its often a good idea to throw her advice out the window and start from scratch.
I use the MakeOptics DMD, which is a programmed 1's and 0's version of me so the cost for a device is moot in my case and my level of trust in the device is high.
Phycology and perception play major roles in client satisfaction on many levels. You know, I know, we all know a 100th of a diopter and a 10th of a mm are virtually irrelevant. Is this the line you are going to use when you have a client come in and they've been exposed to DMD's? They are selling tools, it's as simple as that. Certainly, a skilled Optician can take the same (and maybe more accurate) measurements with PD sticks, distometers and a protractor. But perceptionally, which do you think a new client will have the most confidence in?
This technology, for better or worse is here and it's not going away. The more the public gets exposed to these devices the more they are going to expect their use every time and everywhere they purchase eye wear. Keep in mind, it also drives home the reason for personalized, in store, in person measurement of eye wear. For all the fear I see here on OB about online I would think we could all agree that this technology helps us drive home that message to our client base.
I can use a PD stick as competently as any well-trained Optician, but PLEASE don't send me out into the hinterlands of VA without my GPS!Let's face it - we are dealing with a generation of "apps" users, who can't find their way home without a GPS, and the word "streaming" has nothing to do with water. They are so dependent on digital, analog, etc. devices, and they don't have confidence in something as simple as a PD ruler. I'm glad I retired when I did.
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