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February 15, 2023
By Zachary Holland, OD, FSLS
Despite the many difficulties created during the last few years, I have found success and growth in my myopia management practice. Having great vendor relationships is vital to this success, and Euclid Vision Corporation has been a critical player in this aspect of my clinic.
Growing a practice was very difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic. Add in a labor shortage and a glooming recession nearing the U.S. economy in 2023, and maintaining and growing your clinic’s revenue should be at the forefront of your mind.
Every decision I make has a ripple effect on my patients, my family, and my employees’ families. Despite the many difficulties created during the last few years, I have found success and growth in my myopia management practice. Having great vendor relationships is vital to this success, and Euclid Vision Corporation has been a critical player in this aspect of my clinic.
It is well documented that COVID-19’s shutdown of in-person schooling, and the resultant remote learning structure, has increased myopia progression.1–3 While I think most eye care providers understand the implications of this situation, how many are willing to alter their prescribing patterns to accommodate and best care for their patients?
Although my clinic has already invested time, energy, and equipment to practice myopia management at a high-level years ago, working with a vendor who understands my practice and invests time and resources to help me grow has been refreshing.
Getting Started with Orthokeratology
Some ECPs hesitate to invest in new products and technology in uncertain times. However, in my experience, investing in orthokeratology will pay off in your practice very quickly, mainly because the initial investment is minimal. Here are the six steps to do so:
- Initially, you only need a topographer. Most additional equipment can be purchased later, specifically an A-scan to better monitor myopia progression, or a slit lamp camera/video to document and best communicate orthokeratology fittings with your lab’s consultants.
- Choose a manufacturer to partner with for lens design and fabrication. This vendor must produce accurate, reproducible, and advanced-level technology. Also, the lab must manufacture lenses quickly and not often experience shipping delays. When I tell my patients that their custom lens will be here in two weeks, and when it arrives sooner, the manufacturer exceeds my patient’s expectations, and my clinic gets the credit.
- Select a product that works for as many patients as possible with the initial set of lenses ordered. Euclid’s proprietary and advanced algorithms provide a first lens fit success of 87%.4 For doctors considering starting OrthoK, this can make a huge difference. With three simple parameters (Ks, refraction, and HVID – bonus points for topographical elevation mapping data), Euclid OrthoK lenses have advanced designs, providing patients with a premium result and allowing you to look like an expert.
- Having a quality consultation team at your side is critical. In those cases where the first lens may not be ideal, and you need to fine tune the result, Euclid’s consultation team allows for individual instruction and recommendations based on your clinical examination and findings. I really appreciate a consultation team where I often talk to the same consultants. I appreciate this level of personalized service. Working with the same individuals helps me dial in my understanding of their OrthoK lens design. In a short period, my understanding of OrthoK fitting philosophies has catapulted forward.
- Clinical time is a precious commodity for all of us. It’s something we never get back. Due to the simplicity of the empirical ordering approach and the expertise of Euclid’s consulting team, I save at least one hour per day ordering OrthoK lenses.
- Finally, I look for a partner vendor that provides products that can improve patient outcomes. I think Euclid MAX, with a hyper-Dk material of 180, combined with the proven lens design, provides an excellent product for my patients. Stereotypically, GP lenses can be uncomfortable or require some adaptation time. Euclid MAX has reduced this adaptation period. The comfort of Euclid MAX has even saved a few of my OrthoK fits. The toric alignment curves have been a game changer in improving my designs’ fit and centration. This improvement has allowed me to fit a wider array of patient prescriptions and fine tune existing fits.
While each ECP must decide on how to fit their patients best, as there are many options, I confidently recommend Euclid’s OrthoK lenses to help grow your practice’s success with myopia management.
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Dr. Zac Holland is the owner of the Cornea and Contact Lens Institute of Minnesota, a clinic dedicated to anterior segment pathology where 500 specialty lens fittings occur yearly. Dr. Holland is an adjunct faculty member at ICO, IU, and SCCO, and he precepts eight to ten fourth-year optometry students every year during their cornea rotation. CCLIM also participates as a research site for multiple FDA drug and device clinical trials. Dr. Holland speaks and writes primarily on keratoconus, corneal crosslinking, scleral lenses, and orthokeratology/myopia control. Dr. Holland is a Fellow of the Scleral Lens Education Society and a member of multiple associations, including the MOA and AOA, along with being on the legislative committee of the MOA. |
References
- Kuehn BM. Increase in Myopia Reported Among Children During COVID-19 Lockdown. JAMA. 2021;326(11):999. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.14475
- Wang J, Li Y, Musch DC, et al. Progression of Myopia in School-Aged Children After COVID-19 Home Confinement. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2021;139(3):293-300. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2020.6239
- Chang P, Zhang B, Lin L, et al. Comparison of Myopic Progression before, during, and after COVID-19 Lockdown. Ophthalmology. 2021;128(11):1655-1657. doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2021.03.029
- Data on file
This article is sponsored by Euclid.
