Use contact lens manufacturer rebates to your benefit
Use contact lens manufacturer rebates for daily disposable lenses to your advantage to promote better patient lens wear compliance and in-office contact lens purchase rates. Patients wearing daily disposables return more quickly for eye exams and are more compliant with lens wearing instructions.
Revenue lost from patients not purchasing contact lenses at your practice also relates to revenue lost from missed annual exams. In a study of 151 college students,1 23 percent reported having ordered contact lenses online rather than purchasing from their eyecare provider. Of those surveyed who exclusively bought contact lenses online, 24 percent admitted to not getting regular annual eye exams (the survey was conducted in a state with contact lens prescriptions limited to one year), and the same number of people acknowledged ordering contact lenses online with an expired prescription.
Using manufacturer rebates to promote in-office purchases not only helps your patient’s bottom line, but also most importantly their long-term eye health.
Related:
Encourage compliance
I conducted a review of major contact lens manufacturer rebates, and I found patient savings as high as $130 for an annual supply of contact lenses. Offsetting sticker shock of a contact lens supply order by informing patients of rebate offers can encourage patients to not only support your business but also encourages lens wear compliance.
A 2013 study by Dumbleton et al showed that patients who purchased their contact lenses from their eyecare provider returned for their annual eye examinations sooner than those who didn’t by almost 2 months (466 vs. 522 days).2 Unsurprisingly, those who didn’t buy contact lenses from their eyecare provider not only took longer to return for their annual appointments but also were less compliant following the manufacturer’s recommended replacement frequency.
More contact lenses:
Some 75 percent of subjects reported wearing contact lenses every day, but only 43 percent purchased the suggested annual supply. That’s a lot of patients not wearing their lenses appropriately and also not getting the proper follow-up care. These buying habits put patients’ eyecare health at risk, but if we can make the contact lens examination a seamless transition from exam chair to order at the same visit, it truly is in the best interest of the patient.
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