Thought Provoking Trends Opticianry Summit May 1-2, 2012.

Thought Provoking Trends

Opticianry SummitMay 1-2, 2012

Our IntentO To provoke thoughtO To indicate potential areas for

considerationO To stimulate discussion and debate

BABY BOOMERS AGING

O Need more eyecare

O More doctor visits, chair time, surgery, after care

O Need more eyewear, more complicated

O Needs for low vision aids

• What’s your expertise?

• Do you like seniors?

• Visual aids needs for the blind and visually impaired is growing.

• How should demographic changes be added to the opticians scope of practice?

O Spectacle sales ~150,000 pairs/month

O PD requests can result in patient conflict

O CL replacement is 15% of contact lens sales

O Borders, Blockbuster, Netflix

• What’s your attitude about online eyewear

• Will you change the way you do things?

• What do you need to know?

• When will you be brick and click?

• Can you make sunwear as a viable expression of your commitment to patients?

ONLINE

SHORTAGE OF HEALTHCARE

WORKERSO Not enough MD’sO OD – more

schools but still an expected shortage

O Nurses and allied health professionals

• Are there enough

opticians and

techs?

• What are the new

skills that need to

be added?

• In a shortage, what

job tasks

should/could be

transferred?

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

O The digital world is changing faster than we can absorb it

O Wavefront, optimized, aberrometry….

O 65% independents suggest that they dispense freeformO Lab results suggest

~20%

O Some ‘experts’ have it wrong

O Refraction by iPhone, Google eyeglasses

• What does it take to address this markets adversity to new?

• Don’t you trust us?

• Products are more sophisticated, opticians are not?

• Do you have the tools to know what’s real?

EDUCATION, REQUIREME

NTS & AVAILABILITY

O Mixed requirements state to state for opticians

O Some states separate licenses

O No state’s reciprocity

O Education approvers are also deliverers

O Education is mainstay of association revenue

O Associations struggle for members

• Is Licensure important?

• Should education be required? What should it be?

• Why does/doesn’t Optometry and Ophthalmology help?

• Should there be a common states agreement?

NATIONAL HEALTHCARE

LAWO A push for more

eye examsO ODs legislating

required exams for kids entering school

O Check Yearly, See Clearly (program over, intent still there)

• What “get-together” programs should we endorse?

SALARY AND COMPENSATI

ON

• Happy with your compensation?

• Does it warrant growth in the profession?

• Chicken or egg – education and skill or compensation?

O Average OD Staff Salaries ~$15-16

INDEPENDENT OPTICIANRY DISAPPEARIN

G

O 30 year trend

OMixed goals and infighting

• Do we still want to be independent or instead work for others (MD & OD)?

• How can the trend be reversed?

• What program is needed to develop the independent?

O 83%‐87% of consumers view eyeglasses primarily as a medical necessityO 75%‐82% see plano

sunglasses as a medical necessity

O 11.1% of all eyeglass wearers reported that they would “definitely” be willing to pay extra money for a pair of frames produced by a top‐name designer

• What is the role of brand and style in Opticianry?

• Is Brand 50% of the sale

• Is this good for retail, online, independent, etc…?

Do Consumers Value the Fashion or Function

in Their Eyewear?

DEFINE OPTICIAN

O Optical dispensers receive favorable ratings of excellent or good on sales assistance overall from the majority (83%) of consumers.

O Over half, 55% of consumers say the dispenser is very or somewhat important in helping them reach their final decision.

• Who are you now?

• What should you be in the future?

• Is there segmentation coming?

• What are the essential skills required?

OPTICIANRY’S SCOPE

STALLEDO No new state

licenses on >30 years

O No new certification test requirementsO Added

“Advanced”O Potential new

certificationsO Optician

refractionistO Sight testing

• What is an optician?

• Will everyone agree to the definition and promote it?

• What are the new skill definitions?

ARE YOU DOING THE BEST JOB?

O Average AR lenses approaching a third of lenses – is that good?

O Does the consumer really know what you’re there for?

NO RECOGNIZED EDUCATIONAL

STANDARDS FOR OPTICIANRY

O Everyone has a new or different idea

O Requires technical, clinical competencies

O Requires reasonable expectation of time to learn/complete

O Must include on-the-job clinical experience, supervised, documented and tested

• What should the

program include?

• How can it be made accessible?

• How to add the

hands-on?

SHOULD YOU WEAR

SUNGLASSES?

O The data suggests that we do a very poor job

CONSUMERS DON’T KNOW

“O” O Optician, Optometrist, Ophthalmologist

O Optometrist is the “go-to” word, ODs doing an excellent job

• Do we know who we are?

• What are the right venues to teach “optician”?

• What do we need to do first, next, next, next…?