LOW VISION

A Love for Service

7 strategies for making a passion for low vision a profitable one

lynne Noon, O.D., FAAO, Diplomate in Low Vision Rehabilitation, has focused exclusively on low vision for 25 years. She has two ViewFinder Low Vision Resource Center practices in the Phoenix area—one in the retirement community of Sun City and the other in the family neighborhood of Mesa.

“Though the demographics are different,” Dr. Noon said recently in an Eschenbach-sponsored webinar, “visually impaired people are everywhere. At both locations, 80% of patients come from within 10 miles of the office.”

Interested in making low vision a bigger part of your practice? Here, Dr. Noon delivers seven tips from the webinar “How to Make Low Vision Profitable in Private Practice.”

1. SET THE SETTING. “Basic low vision should be part of every ophthalmology or optometric practice. Though I practice low vision on a full-time basis, almost everything I do can be done in a general practice.”

2. REALIZING OUR ROLE. “Low vision patients have gone to every other type of eye doctor. They’re getting help with medical problems, but no one is helping them function. That’s what we do…help with functional tasks.”

3. BENEFIT FROM NO COMPETITION. “Most low vision products are high-profit items. They can’t be made by the commercial competition. In fact, they refer to me when they get a prescription they can’t handle.”

4. THINK MULTIPLE PAIRS. “Most patients have progressive eye diseases and have to update their low vision aids frequently. In addition to regular glasses, most will need sunglasses when they come in. They may also need side shields or amber tints, and maybe bioptic telescopes, strong reading glasses, a lighted magnifier, or a telescope. Some patients will need video magnification or sight-substitution products such as OCR readers, talking watches, etc.”

5. SERVE A GROWING NEED. “The number of Americans with major eye disease is increasing, and there aren’t enough doctors to see them, even though less than 15% of patients are aware that low vision services exist.

“Where is the need coming from? People are living longer and macular degeneration is a major problem. There are also combat patients and brain injuries, childhood vision issues (especially as we save more premature babies), stroke patients who need field expansion, etc., and the explosion of diabetic retinopathy.”

6. SHOWCASE PRODUCT. “Display low vision products in your waiting room. People don’t want what you have if they can’t see it. Both my offices are a storefront as well as an office.”

7. REACH OUT. “Besides building traditional community connections, contract with your local school district, plus rehabilitation and state agencies, and become a vendor for your state. These contacts are great referral sources for your practice.”

—Grace Hewlett