Contact Lenses Definitions
Contact lenses definitions. We begin with definitions to ensure you become familiar with our terminology, understand how to generate accurate stats, and to grow your knowledge so that you can identify better lead measures to move the needle for positive change and achieve your wildly important goals.
The first column is dedicated to terminology, followed by definitions, industry benchmarks, and examples of how to apply the information based on best practice.​ Let’s jump right in and read through each term and definition:​
Contact lens appointments – this is the sum of all contact lens appointment types; new, established, and follow-ups. Tracking each encounter separately allows your clinic to analyze how many new contact lens wearers the clinic generates and also how many contact lens follow-up or no-fee appointments the clinic generates
Brand new contact lens wearers – these are patients who are brand new to contact lenses in their eyes. Whether they are a new patient or an established patient to your practice does not matter. You can track this manually. Refer to the wear and care service fee or add a contact lens training no-charge line item to your ledger options if this is a service your clinic does not charge for
Established contact lens wearers – established contact lens wearers can be a new or existing patient. They are currently or have very recently worn contact lenses and the training process also known as insertion and removal or wear and care will be minimal to none
Contact lens follow-ups – Contact lens follow-ups are appointments needed to confirm fit and function of the lens
Contact lens prescription opportunities – contact lens Rx opportunities are the sum of clinic-driven final prescriptions and walk-in prescriptions
Final contact lens prescription – final contact lens prescriptions are generated within your office once your ECP and patient are both happy with the vision and comfort of the lens
Walk-in contact lens prescriptions – walk-in contact lens prescriptions are probably not very common unless your clinic is in a high-traffic, high-visibility area. Tracking is recommended to document changes and identify opportunities over time. Perform your due diligence for walk-in contact lens prescriptions; verify the prescription is not expired and ask your ECP if they will honor the prescription
Annual supplies sold – annual supplies sold is defined as filling an entire 12-month supply of the prescribed contact lens
Annual supply capture rate – a 60% annual supply capture rate is the recommended starting goal. Suggestion; add an annual supply no-charge line item to your ledger options for easy tracking via production reports. Keep in mind, the written prescriptions will include some part-time contact lens wearers, but we are only counting annual supply orders for full-time wearers. Example: a prescription was finalized for part-time daily wear and the patient ordered two boxes for the year instead of eight. This would count as a written prescription, but not as an annual supply. The reason for this is that from a business perspective the full annual supply order creates the best profit margin and efficient use of overhead, staff, shipping, etc. Annual supplies also encourage compliant wear behavior and help maximize the patient’s materials benefit in most cases. Educate your contact lens patients not to open or write on boxes until they have used the box. This allows your office to return or exchange the unmodified boxes if needed, especially if you have patients returning at six months for follow-up appointments
Contact lens sales – This is also known as contact lens receipts and includes the sale of contact lens products. Do not include receipts on contact lens services here​
Okay, this was a great introduction, now let’s head over to the stats page!​