IcareLabs Blog

As you well know, being in retail business these days comes with some interesting challenges that entrepreneurs like yourself never had to consider. Today, Internet savvy consumers are doing their research before you ever get a chance to talk to them. Consumers with a desire to shop local small businesses, or those who are looking to be loyal patrons to a shop down the street are becoming harder to find as a more "global" approach sets in.

Over the past few years, several states have passed legislation relating to managed vision care. Many of these new laws prohibit managed vision care plans from mandating that the ECP must use a designated lab to make the lenses covered under the plan. This means many of our customers can now use IcareLabs for these managed vision care plans, depending on what state your practice is in!

In some states, the managed vision care plan is still entitled to set differing reimbursement rates for out-of-network supplies and services. Check with the managed vision care plan for more information.

According to The Vision Council, there have been 40 such legislative efforts, some of which were not signed into law, or died in process. Below is a summary of bills that have become law, or are currently somewhere in the legislative process. The summaries were provided by The Vision Council.

Today's Informed Consumers

The way business is being done now is very different from the way business was done even ten years ago. Today, 90% of Americans spend at least two hours a day on digital devices. When a consumer is interested in a product or service, they look it up and do research on the Internet. Don’t you? They are a more informed consumer than the customer of the past.

In doing business today, it is not just marketing campaigns with a message of, “We offer this great product, buy it”. It is about building relationships, getting the patient to be interactive with you as their eye doctor, with your staff and with the products you offer. It is necessary to inform the patient as to “Why” what you and your company offers is for them.

So, you’ve worked hard to get your website and social media to a place where you can be found, and people can learn all about your optical business and it’s products and excellent customer service. Things are going along just fine. People are starting to follow you, like you, share your posts and visit your website.

Suddenly, a customer posts a bad review on your social media page!

It’s not the end of the world. Sometimes negative reviews happen. However, there are some things you need to know to make the best out of the situation. And, if all goes well, you could actually spin a negative online review into a positive one for your optical store.

Trends for the Optical Industry

Though sales were up for ECPs in 2015, there are 1,000 locations nationwide closing every year. Private Practice Eye Care Providers (PPECPs) are losing 2-4% of their market share each year to the corporate optical ‘big box’ retailers. The PPECPs provide 65% of the eye exams but, sell 39% of the eyewear. How do you gain more of those sales and not let them walk out your door?

There is a growing category in the optical business that is somewhat disregarded and certainly somewhat misunderstood. One in 28 Americans age 40 and above suffers with low vision. That number will grow over the next 20 years due to the fact that approximately 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 every day. It is estimated that more than 39 million Americans have low vision or a disorder that can lead to it.

Eyecare Business Magazine first referred to low vision as “the most underserved category in optical” back in the early ‘90s. Twenty years later, not much has changed except that the growing number of patients who suffer has increased as the population increases.

These patients, for the most part, are being told that “nothing can be done” or they’re not being seen at all. While it’s true that there is no cure, there are solutions that can help people improve quality of life, such as daily living aids, low vision devices and sophisticated spectacles.

There is an abundance of research available on how taking vitamin and mineral supplements to improve our health and energy level. One issue that is of particular interest to eye care professionals is improving eye health through supplements. And, one question that keeps coming up is how can supplementation help with eye health overall. There are some eyeglass stores that promote eye health supplements to their patients. If you don’t, perhaps this information will be helpful and might inspire you to do some research on your own.

It All Starts With A Healthy Diet

As the name itself implies, taking supplements are to go along with a healthy diet. No amount of dietary supplementation can provide all the nutrition a body needs to be healthy. Poor diets and unreasonable amounts of junk food are associated with many serious health issues, including vision loss. On the other hand, there is some research that indicates certain vitamins and nutrients can be beneficial for maintaining eye health and good vision.

As you review an organization, look into what have they done within your local community. Prevent Blindness.org is a national non-profit organization that has coordinated events, medical information and collateral to help your business bring attention to a good cause. There are opportunities for you to promote support for Prevent Blindness. Your office can show your customers that you are supporting their community. Find out through local organizations, churches or schools what local need there is to help.

Other states passed laws previously forbidding Managed Care Insurance Companies requiring eye doctors to use their labs. Now, Texas joined them in June, 2015 as Texas Governor, Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 684 (Click here) into law.

This Texas law allows private optometric practioners to fulfil patient’s eyeglass prescription for their lab of choice, instead of being forced to use the managed vision care company lab. The law goes into effect in September 2015. Contracts entered into or renewed on September 1, 2015 and after the date will be covered by this law.