Eyecare Business connects with Eric White, OD, who practices at Complete Family Vision Care Optometry in San Diego, California, for The Inside View—a video series dedicated to exploring overarching conversations taking place across the eyecare industry. Here, he discusses all things myopia management, from how the growing emphasis on myopia management is changing the role of the optical team in conversations with parents and young patients, to small habit changes that can make a big difference in progression, and much more.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Good morning, everybody! My name is Dr. Eric White, and I'm in private practice in San Diego, California. I've been in practice for 40 years and I still absolutely love what I'm doing. Today, we're going to be talking about myopia management, which is one of my absolute favorite topics. I've been practicing myopia management for many years, but to make it even more exciting, my son came into practice with me about a year and a half ago from where he went to school and practiced in Boston. When he was coming in, I asked him, “What do you want to bring to the practice?" He said, "Myopia management." I told him I’d dabbled in it, but he said, "I want to take it to another level."

The most important thing to remember about myopia management is that it is an epidemic that we're seeing around the world, not just in our country. It is an unbelievably great opportunity for optometrists to bring something new to the practice that doesn’t just help with growth, but also really helps patients. One of the things that we're seeing, and I like to talk to parents about this, is a difference in outdoor time. When I grew up, I actually played outside. When my kids were growing up, they played a little outside, but they played video games which were at least across the room from them. Nowadays, because of cell phones, computers, and tablets, screens are right in kids’ faces all day long and that’s making their prescriptions start to increase. It's really important that we educate patient about that.

This isn't just something the doctor talks about in the exam room either. The whole staff has to be able to talk about it. From the minute a patient walks in the door to the minute they leave, the whole staff, from the front desk to the pre-testing, to the doctors in the exam room and the optical, we need to really emphasize to people why their child's eyes are changing. So when they come in saying, "Johnny needs a new pair of glasses," we don't just go, "Oh, good. He just needs a new pair of glasses because his eyes got worse." We need to educate them to why their eyes are changing and tell them that, instead of just correcting their vision, let's look further into it and figure out what we can do about it. They don't have to just get a new pair of glasses.

We have a program that will slow down, stop, or maybe even reverse the nearsightedness and the change in the length of their eyeball. It is very important that we educate parents and children on this. What I like to do is give them the simplest habit change: When you're holding your phone, don't hold it 6 inches from your nose. Hold it further back. That little change is going to take a lot of the strain off the eyes.

We have a very clear message throughout the practice and the optical. We have it written down and we talk to the staff so they can emphasize that everybody in the office has the same message. That is the most important way of communicating to the parents that this isn't just getting Johnny another pair of glasses. This is a program to help slow their child’s myopia.

And this is what is so exciting about the technology that is going on right now. We have Stellest from Essilor that came out for myopia management, and VSP is about ready to launch theirs, from what I've heard. There's going to be a lot of newer glasses coming out, but also contact lenses. It's just not multifocal soft lenses; there's gas permeable and orthokeratology. We have to explain to parents why we're doing this, that we're not just doing this to correct their child’s vision today. This is something that is a lifelong opportunity for them to take hold of their child’s vision. The parents or grandparents might have thick glasses or had LASIK and I’ll tell them, "Do you want your child to go in the same direction? Because it's only going to be worse nowadays because of the smart devices, because of the lifestyle that everybody is using. Instead of just correcting your vision, we can do something more about it.”

But again, it takes the whole office. Everybody has to have a clear message. Everybody has to be able to continually educate the parents because hearing “myopia management” can go right over their heads. So everybody has to explain that myopia is nearsightedness. They can't see far away, and their sight is better at near. And not just emphasizing the nature of it to the parents, but also educating the child as well that they can also help their friends. I say, "Hey, when you see your friends holding their phones to their nose, do something about it. Tell them, ‘No, that's going to make your eyes worse. My doctor told me that.’” We really show them that just that little change can help them, and that’s why I feel myopia management is such an incredible opportunity for practices now.

In today's world, we're always trying to find something to bring in extra revenue. It's not all just medical or eye exams. There are a lot of other things that we can do. For my practice, myopia management has been fantastic. It's not just for myself, but I really get pleasure out of being able to help Johnny's eyes from getting worse by doing simple things and having an array of treatments with atropine drops, contact lenses, and glasses; they offer so many opportunities. But again, everything comes down to educating the patient and their parents. I've gotten into the habit when I go in for an exam and I'm talking to somebody my age and saying, "Hey, how are the grandkids? Did you know that your grandkids might have something where their eyes are constantly getting worse because they're always on their phones?" Educate everybody who walks in the door; bring up myopia management.

We also use pamphlets in our practice. You have to give them something tangible to leave with because if you tell a patient when they're just in the office, they're going to go home and life goes on. But if you give them something with a QR code that they can zap and show everybody, and then follow up with them on it by calling and emailing them and answering their questions, they can think about it and consider which solution is right for them. This is a lifelong opportunity for the practice and for families to really take control of their child's eyes and slow down the progression of myopia because the more nearsighted you are, the more health issues that can come about later. That’s why we take as much time and put in as much effort as we do to educate.

I am blessed with a fantastic staff who can all relay the same message. You have to keep doing that so it just becomes routine.

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