Focus on Safety Eyewear

Safety by Choice Not by Chance

by Erinn Morgan

Why does safety eyewear make sense in today's dispensary? Because it's a much-needed eyewear niche that can grow your business—and help preserve your patients' vision.

A NEW PROFIT CENTER

According to Prevent Blindness America, more than 2,000 eye injuries occur every day in the U.S. Despite the fact that OSHA regulations require that workers' eyes be protected from potential hazards in the workplace, many of these eye injuries happen on the job.

This presents an opportunity for ECPs to assist patients in guarding their vision and growing their own bottom line. “Safety eyewear has helped our practice grow drastically with additional dollar volume plus the realization of a whole new patient base,” says Jason Bolenbaker, OD, of Visionary Eye Center in Reno, Nev.

Bolenbaker says that safety eyewear represents approximately 10 percent of his practice's overall dollar volume. “But when you look at overall jobs, the safety eyewear customer represents about 25 percent of my business because they also purchase a pair of prescription glasses at the same time,” he says.

This new patient base is realized from an agreement to administer the insurance benefits for safety eyewear for the local electric and water companies.

“We've benefitted from gaining the patient referred to us by his company for safety eyewear plus that person's family,” says Bolenbaker.

In addition, Bolenbaker reports that a full 95 percent of his safety eyewear patients have a prescription put in those glasses, raising the average sale.

FASHION MEETS FUNCTION

ECPs will benefit from stocking high-quality safety eyewear that also looks good—a feature that will greatly reduce the risk of eye injuries in the long run.

It also has to deliver unwavering performance. Visionary Eye Center demonstrates the strength of one of its key brands with a dramatic display.

“I took some Wiley X sample lenses out to the shooting range to test the ballistics,” says Bolenbaker. “I hit the lens with a bullet from a .22 and it remained perfectly intact. We use those as a sample in the office to show how strong they really are.”

For more information, please call 800-776-7842, see wileyx.com/safety, or scan the QR Code here with your smartphone