Are you interested in learning more about eyecare in the Metaverse? Dr. Masoud Nafey shares his company, Monokül. Monokül is the first-ever virtual optical store in the metaverse, bridging the physical and virtual retail experience. Monokül is redefining how we measure vision. Leveraging state-of-the-art science and technology, Monokül is pioneering a new era in performance. Starting with Esport athletes, Monokül is creating a new standard in performance lens wear.

Monokül is redefining how we measure vision. Leveraging state-of-the-art science and technology, Monokül is pioneering a new era in performance. Starting with Esport athletes, Monokül is creating a new standard in performance lens wear.

Dr. Jim Asuchak

In partnership With CooperVision

“The research, the technology is there to manage myopia,” states Dr. Lyerly at the top of the episode. “The hardest part becomes talking to parents and changing that mindset for what is status quo for prescribing.” Our guests on this episode are Dr. Justin Kwan, Senior Manager, Myopia Management at CooperVision and Dr. Stephanie Tsang, practice owner at Golden Vision San Francisco Optometry. Both Dr. Kwan and Dr. Tsang have been practicing myopia management for a decade prior to any FDA approvals for myopia control options, and like Dr. Lyerly they’ve seen that while the available technology has exploded, the patient awareness of this possibility has lagged behind. How do we educate patients and parents effectively?

“It’s very rare in healthcare to be able to provide an immediate benefit, and also a long-term benefit to the patient,” states Dr. Tsang about her passion for prescribing myopia management. As a private practice owner she cares for her patients from childhood through adulthood, and seeing the long term impacts of keeping prescriptions low and reducing the risks of side effects of high myopia including retinal detachment, glaucoma, and myopic maculopathy has fostered a strong sense of duty1.  “Myopia management is not new; there are decades of research available,” she tells patients, “What’s new is how accessible the technology is.” 

Challenges that Doctors Face When Presenting Myopia Management

Dr. Tsang shares that when you enter an existing practice, sometimes the biggest hurdle is simply change. Practices typically have been approaching eyecare with glasses and contact lens options for decades, and to take a dramatically new approach by talking about slowing down myopic changes takes a total mindset shift from patients, staff, and the other doctors in the practice.  She talks to parents and her colleagues with a focus on what’s happening to the eye’s shape instead of simply the diopter value of the prescription. Axial length is a foundation of her conversations, and showing parents a picture of a normal eye compared with an elongated eye with just a basic diagram is extremely meaningful. Her approach to parents is very simple: “prescription increased, and this is concerning because the axial length is now longer.” 

Dr. Kwan advises against any negative framing of the conversation that could cause fear or discomfort. Throwing out retinal detachment and glaucoma risk factor data can scare patients which actually leads to lack of trust in the doctor/patient relationship. 

What do you do when a parent pushes back? We talk through examples of how you would navigate these common exam room convos:

“Myopia isn’t a big deal; my kid can just get LASIK when they are older.”

“Our goal is to make sure your child is a candidate to get LASIK. If the prescription gets too high, LASIK won’t be a treatment option. We need to help slow things down so that they are the best possible candidate for LASIK when they are old enough!” 

“My kid is too young to wear contact lenses.”

Dr. Tsang, Dr. Kwan, and Dr. Lyerly all share that a great approach is to talk to parents about the young patients in the practice that have been successful wearing contact lenses. CooperVision has also created great video content on the MiSight® YouTube channel  featuring real patients sharing their contact lens insertion and removal...

What is Behavioral Optometry? Dr. Marc Taub and Dr. Virginia Donati discuss a behavioral approach to patient care and how embracing the fundamentals of binocular vision can help you better serve your patients day to day visual function.

This Podcast is in Partnership with Allergan

“I was a dry eye sufferer,” Dr. Neena James says at the top of this episode when she describes her passion for the profession. “I had a hard time wearing contact lenses, and it got to be terrible. In college, I couldn’t even drive 5 minutes down the road. It really was debilitating.” This personal struggle led to a mindset that ‘it’s not just dry eye.’ She knows first hand that this condition can impact every aspect of a patient’s day. 

Dr. Neena James, Optometrist

In 2006 she purchased an existing practice, 20/20 Eye Care in Huntsville, Alabama, from a doctor who was planning his retirement. Her practice has now grown to three practicing optometrists serving patients from 6 months to over 100. “Every patient gets a cake when they turn 100!” Dr. James exclaims when she talks with pride about serving the elderly population of her practice. She sees dry eye in patients of every age – from childhood through geriatric populations. Detecting dry eye in her practice starts with patient history collected by her staff. They don’t ask “do you have dry eye”, instead her technicians are trained to ask about redness, watering, burning, and difficulty with contact lens comfort. Diagnostically, NaFL and lissamine green dye and an anterior segment camera are the tools she’s found to be extremely effective at detecting dry eye, educating her patients, and sparing excessive expense as her office grew. “Your biggest asset is your voice and the way you educate your patients and the way you can make your patients feel,” she says when it comes to being successful with dry eye care. “No pun intended- but the way you make your patients feel seen is the difference-maker.”

Her recommended dry eye regimen includes making intentional changes to their daily activities – computer use, makeup products, eyelid hygiene and warm compress massages – these lifestyle changes are all a part of daily modifications that need to be done to make a difference. Prescription medications that reduce inflammation in the eye like RESTASIS® are a go-to option for any patient with SPK, reduced tear break up time, or symptomatic patients who are already utilizing high quality artificial tears. 

Dr. James and her office were recently featured in an informational video about diagnosing and treating dry eye. You can check out the full video here. Partnering with industry to help educate herself and better educate patients around the world has been an exciting opportunity for Dr. James. She shares that having a relationship with her local industry representatives provided a great way to open the door to speaking and educational opportunities. “It’s hard to make the time with a busy clinic schedule,” Dr. James says about meeting with reps, “but they really are a good resource.” Preparing a media kit for your professional social media platforms can also be useful in reaching out to brands that you utilize and support. Including your number of followers, average engagement and impressions per post, and your audience demographics can help give brands an idea of the value you would bring to any partnership. 

We’re all feeling the added burden of employee turnover and difficulty in hiring, and training your staff is more important than ever. Not only does your office need successful training to get new hires up to speed, but a continual commitment to office training is essential for existing employees to envision a long-term career in this profession by empowering them with opportunities to grow, learn, and develop. 

Our guest on this episode is Jonathan Smith, Director of Training North America at EssilorLuxottica.  “We look at the industry, and it’s a growing industry, and we see the opportunities in the industry being centered around the transfer of knowledge,” he explains at the top of the show. “We see the opportunity to advance education and training, to modernize it and bring it to a new, fresh perspective. That’s why we created Leonardo.” 

Leonardo is an open platform featuring sleek, short videos that can be easily consumed in the flow of daily work, all available 24/7 and easy to access on a computer, tablet, or mobile device. With over 5760 hours of video, interactive lessons, and virtual classrooms in over 15 languages, knowing where to start can be overwhelming. The platform will suggest new content based on the content you engage and interact with to recommend courses based on your interests, meaning that no two users will receive the exact same experience. All courses on vision care are carefully conceived and taught by experts — ensuring learners have access to the latest scientific and clinical insights.

Leonardo is replacing Luxottica University and ECP University with a seamless transition – all usernames and email addresses used by existing customers with these previous legacy platforms will give them access to Leonardo. The training platform is open to all eyecare professionals, students, and even patients. Since the soft launch in May 2021, Leonardo has delivered over 1 million hours of learning globally. The most popular videos to date have been about Ray Ban and Oakley brand education and strategies for selling luxury goods. 

The name Leonardo is a nod towards the Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, and scientist Leonardo da Vinci who laid the foundations for modern culture through his studies and became a universal symbol of innovation. In fact, the logo for Leonardo is “science for a new vision” and the goal of the platform is to embrace both the art and the science of eyecare for a visually stunning and highly informative experience. 

The core platform is completely free to access, but there is also a premium section which will soon provide ABO and SECO continuing education Content, as well as a series of master classes. Future buildouts of the program will also include gamification with leaderboards and the ability to earn brand ambassador status based on courses completed. 

Ready to check out this new, modern way for your entire office to learn? Head to http://leonardo.essilorluxottica.com