STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING YOUR DAILIES® PRESCRIPTIONS

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Thank you to Alcon for supporting this podcast and the optometric profession as a whole. Dr. Amanda Nanasy and Dr. Jennifer Lyerly were both compensated for their participation in this podcast.

Optometrists have never had better technology for enhancing contact lens comfort and vision. Today’s podcast guests—Dr. Carla Mack, Senior Director of Professional Strategy for Alcon, and Dr. Amanda Nanasy, optometrist and sports vision specialist at The Eye Center of Pembroke Pines in Florida—are both passionate advocates for the power of contact lens prescribing both in growing your optometric practice and improving patient quality of life. They outline strategies for improving your practice success by prescribing daily disposable lenses and multifocal contact lenses.

This year Alcon celebrates the 10^th anniversary of the Power of One™ Program that revolutionized optometric prescribing habits to enhance patient compliance with a focus on contact lenses with daily and monthly lens replacement frequencies.^1,2 Despite increasing numbers of practitioners embracing daily disposable contact lens prescribing, there are huge opportunities for growth in the market yet to be realized.³ Studies show 80% of patients say they are more interested in wearing daily disposable lenses when recommended by their eye care professional, and 99% of eye care professionals want to fit more of their patients in daily disposable lenses.^4,5

New research from the Power of One™ 2.0 aggregated from 2.6 million patients proves that contact lens patients spend more at their optometrist’s office than glasses-only patients, and daily disposable lens wearers spend more than monthly or two-week replacement lens wearers.⁶

Dr. Nanasy has a strong daily disposable practice, and her biggest advice to practitioners wanting to grow their daily market is to offer the technology to every patient, every time. Many optometrists pre-judge patients, or ask questions in the exam lane that fail to elicit patient dissatisfaction with current contact lenses. If you ask a question that can be answered with, “fine” you’re probably not getting a true gauge on how your patients are really feeling about their lenses. Her goal is to make every annual eye exam a chance for her to talk about new and improved technology.

The biggest opportunity for contact lens growth is in multifocal lens technology. The American population is getting older; by 2020 there will be approximately 1,800 presbyopic patients for each eye care professional,^7,8 only about 13% of eye care professionals in the US are currently fitting multifocal or monovision lenses.⁹ Recent data shows presbyopic patients suffer through a range of emotions, including feeling old (51%) and frustration (43%),¹⁰ and multifocal contact lenses can help meet the needs of these patients who are physically and socially active, embrace technology and are appearance conscious.^11-14

Through the Practitioners Visiting Alcon Program, Dr. Nanasy has seen firsthand how Alcon’s new fitting process leads to increased first lens fit success. With the new fitting guide, there is a 96% fit success with 2 lenses or less per eye.^15,16 For doctors that have struggled with multifocal patient success in the past, Dr. Nanasy encourages practitioners to keep the process simple and follow the fit guide. In her own practice she had a patient complain of distance blur in her initial lens selection. Every part of her previous body of optometric knowledge told her to hold up minus lenses and over-refract, but the fit guide recommended adding plus. She decided to follow her own advice and adhere to the fit guide, and was amazed at her patient’s positive response.

Dr. Nanasy has also seen an influx of new patients coming in and asking for multifocal contact lens technology thanks to a new commercial for DAILIES TOTAL1® Multifocal contact lenses featuring young presbyopes struggling in a dimly lit restaurant. Airing during prime time on multiple channels, this ad specifically targets the emotions and experiences of presbyopia, encouraging patients to seek their optometrists for solutions that will keep them feeling young.

Are you interested in visiting the Practitioners Visiting Alcon Program to learn more about the latest in product technology and industry innovation from Alcon? Just talk to your Alcon Vision Care Sales Representative for the details!

References

1. Guthrie S, Dumbleton K, Jones L. Financial implications of patient compliance. Contact Lens Spectrum. 2014;29:42-45.
2. Dumbleton K, Richter D, Bergenske P, Jones LW. Compliance with lens replacement and the interval between eye examinations. Optom Vis Sci. 2013;90:351-358.
3. Nichols J. Contact Lenses 2017. Contact Lens Spectrum. 2018;33:20-27.
4. Survey of 300 contact lens wearers; Alcon data on file, 2015.
5. Survey of 132 eye care professionals; Alcon data on file, 2016.
6. GLIMPSE de-identified aggregate data, Alcon data on file, 2018.
7. US Census Bureau, Population Division. Table 9: Projections by sex and age for the United States: 2015 to 2060. NP2014-T9. December 2014.
8. American Optometric Association. The state of the optometric profession: 2013. Available at: https://www.aoa.org/Documents/news/state_of_optometry.pdf. Accessed October 25, 2016.
9. Morgan P et al. International contact lens prescribing in 2015. Contact Lens Spectrum. January 2016;31:24-29.
10. Survey of 1,543 consumers 38 to 55 years of age; Alcon data on file, 2014.
11. Survey of approximately 60 presbyopic patients; Alcon data on file, 2013.
12. Szumski E. Baby Boomers DO use Social Media but how? July 2015. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/baby-boomers-do-use-social-media-how-evelyn-szumski. Accessed March 8, 2017.
13. Lyons L. Internet Use: What’s Age Got to Do With It? March 2004. Available at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/10993/internet-use-whats-age-got-it.aspx. Accessed March 8, 2017.
14. Age Perception Impact Study, a survey of 1067 adults in the United States; Alcon data on file, 2015.
15. Merchea M, Evans D, Kannarr S, et al. Assessing a modified fitting approach for improved multifocal contact lens fitting success. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Optometric Association, June 20-24, 2018, Denver, CO.
16. Bauman E, Lemp J, Kern J. Material effect on multifocal contact lens fitting of lenses of the same optical design with the same fitting guide. Presented at the British Contact Lens Association Clinical Conference & Exhibition, June 9-11, 2017. Liverpool, UK.

© 2018 Novartis    11/18     US-PRA-18-E-1437b

Podcast References

1. Guthrie S et al. Financial implications of patient compliance. Contact Lens Spectrum. December 2014;42-45.
2. Dumbleton K et al. Compliance with lens replacement and the interval between eye examinations. Optom Vis Sci. 2013;90:351-358.
3. GLIMPSE de-identified aggregate data, Alcon data on file, 2018.
4. US Census Bureau, Population Division. Table 9: Projections by sex and age for the United States: 2015 to 2060. NP2014-T9. December 2014.
5. American Optometric Association. The state of the optometric profession: 2013. Available at: https://www.aoa.org/Documents/news/state_of_optometry.pdf. Accessed October 25, 2016.
6. Morgan P et al. International contact lens prescribing in 2015. Contact Lens Spectrum. January 2016.
7. Merchea M, Evans D, Kannarr S, et al. Assessing a modified fitting approach for improved multifocal contact lens fitting success. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Optometric Association, June 20-24, 2018, Denver, CO.
8. Bauman E, Lemp J, Kern J. Material effect on multifocal contact lens fitting of lenses of the same optical design with the same fitting guide. Presented at the British Contact Lens Association Clinical Conference & Exhibition, June 9-11, 2017. Liverpool, UK.
9. Alcon data on file, 2014.
10. Alcon Multifocal Contact Lenses: Fitting Guidelines. 2017.

See product instructions for complete wear, care and safety information.

Important information for AIR OPTIX^® AQUA Multifocal (lotrafilcon B) contact lenses: For daily wear or extended wear up to 6 nights for near / far-sightedness and/or presbyopia. Risk of serious eye problems (i.e., corneal ulcer) is greater for extended wear. In rare cases, loss of vision may result. Side effects like discomfort, mild burning or stinging may occur.

© 2018 Novartis    11/18     US-PRA-18-E-1437a