Ever wonder what issues there were with the optician and/or their office from the lab's point of view and ways that they could be solved? In a survey to labs, through our sister publication LabTalk, we asked just that. After reviewing the results, here's the first of what will be a number of discussions and recommendations.

Pogo, the comic strip character had it right—as opticians we often shoot ourselves in the foot. When we polled a variety of labs and asked what was a major gripe, it was mi_si_g I_form_ti_n. The solution—online ordering, a better templates, more scrutiny, and here's another opinion...

As you know—we're always happy to be included in these discussions and we are always willing to share our ever-so-humble “two cents." We see knowledge of the lab, employee passion, the use of electronic communication and a great relationship with the lab as the best tools to solve the issue.

First, we find that so often the problems which affect the overall patient experience begins with the ordering Optician/technician and their inability (we say with the greatest degree of respect) to understand all the dynamics of the very complicated and sophisticated visual systems we are trying to build. Much of this, we have found, comes from a basic lack of understanding for how lenses are processed. This is one of the reasons we push Laboratory Tours as much as we do.

Secondly, this situation tends to be compounded if there is a genuine lack of Passion at the dispensing level. What we too often fail to realize is that while we sell multiple pairs of glasses every day... on average—Mrs. Jones has not bought eyewear in 2-3 years. For her... this is a big deal and we, as an industry, need to treat it as such. With as much price competition as exists in the marketplace, we must work to create a better patient experience, or we run the risk of further erosion within our patient base. As the old saying goes..." without value, you are left solely to compete on price."

At Toledo Optical, we currently receive about 70 percent of our Rx's electronically, via Online Ordering, which has produced incredible results by almost eliminating the past concern of having Rx's submitted with either missing or illegible information. In addition to the submission method, however, we have found (and have proven) that the patient management process can be driven much more successfully when ECP's have a strong relationship with their Laboratory and when the two work hand in hand to offer their patients the best in quality and care.