HANDS ON - Focus on Low Vision
Selling High
by Erinn Morgan

There is a strong business for eyecare professionals in more advanced, top-dollar low vision aids. How does a low vision practitioner justify high-end items to patients in need?

PHOTO COURTESY OF ESCHENBACH

Low vision patients may benefit greatly from vision aids such as video headsets, CCTVs, AR-coated magnifiers, and expensive glasses. Why steer them to the less expensive items without a complete presentation of the options?

"The people willing to invest in higher-end low vision devices are people of all ages who still want their independence," says Charles Burgess, OD, with Community Eyecare in Menahsa, Wisc. "I sold my first CCTV to a 98-year-old lady. With CCTVs, you just get more magnification and a wider view--it can help with both reading and writing. With it, patients can still pay their bills, write in their checkbook, and do things independently."

Through product knowledge, proper education, and targeted marketing, low vision practitioners can increase their sales of higher-end products. In the process, they also better serve their patients by providing them with options that can provide increased vision.

"Certainly, there is tremendous business with video magnification devices. The closed-circuit TVs, the various levels of video magnification used for reading, as well as things like the [headsets]," says Mark Wilkinson, OD, associate professor at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in Iowa City.

Electronic magnification devices are essential for those providing low vision, he notes. "It can't be done with just lower-end glasses and magnifiers at this point," he says.

The key with these low vision products is educating the patient about their features and benefits--and ensuring they know how to use them in their home setting.

"There is a little bit of craft to it above and beyond the technology," says Lylas Mogk, MD, medical director of the Henry Ford Health System Visual Rehabilitation and Research Center, which has two locations in Grosse Point, Mich.

The first step with high-end devices is to properly present them. "We explain what we can do to serve their needs and show why simple options may not work as well as more expensive options," says Wilkinson.

In addition to showing them what these products can do to help them function better, he also covers the pros and cons of each device.

Practitioners stress explaining the way the product works in detail to ensure patients are happy with their purchases and can use them to the fullest benefit.

"Take it to their house," says Mogk. "Our occupational therapists go to people's homes and show them how the devices can work best in their own environment."

Otherwise, eyecare professionals run the risk of an unhappy patient who is dissatisfied.

The best news with high-end devices is that most expect impressive growth in the future. "The market for high-end devices will grow tremendously as the baby boomers age," says Mogk. "There are more of them. They are technology savvy. They are not a Depression generation, and they are used to spending money. If it will improve their quality of life, they say, 'Bring it on.'"