It should come as no surprise that daily disposables are considered by most of you as the healthiest modality for lens wear. While travelling around the globe speaking about innovation, I always ask practitioners what they believe is the healthiest modality for their patients. Without fail, 100% report that it is daily disposable lenses. But yet, we have not topped 40% of all lenses in the United States for use of the modality.
If we have a general consensus that daily lenses are the best, then why are we not fitting more of them worldwide? Most often, the answer to this question is “cost.” Many simply believe that daily disposable lenses are too expensive. But can we determine that cost is truly an issue? Do you ask your patients? I have yet to meet anyone who asks patients: “Are you able to afford the best contact lens option for you, or would you like me to make the judgement for what is best for you based on what I think you can afford?” With a 95% usage of daily disposable lenses in my office, I can tell you that patients can and will afford them. My experience shows that patients will find a way, and they will come back next year and pay for them again.
“Affordable” is really just a description that is placed on things based on what is seen as their “value.” People who do not see the value of something will always see it as too expensive. Therefore, unless patients see a problem, they will never buy into your solution.
When practitioners educate patients regarding the dropout rates of contact lens wearers, discuss end-of-day dryness, and talk about the feeling of a fresh lens and why it feels fresh, they can easily move their patients into what is ideal for them. Stop thinking about what is best for the pocketbook and instead think about what is best for their eyeballs.
READ more of my article here at Contact Lens Spectrum
