THE TECHNOLOGY behind daily disposables has improved immensely in the past few years. In addition to an increased focus on comfort, options have expanded to include dailies for astigmatism and multifocals.
The Vision Council’s December 2016 VisionWatch Contact Lens Report says 5 million of the 40.1 million contact-lens wearers in the U.S. wear dailies; that’s an increase of more than a quarter million in just one year.
While daily disposables are considered more convenient, they do cost more than weekly or monthly lenses. However, you can help patients calculate the cost of lenses and solutions and show that by comparison, dailies aren’t that much more expensive.
With only 12.4 percent of the population of contact lens wearers in dailies, there are many opportunities to sell more.
Dailies Total1, Dailies AquaComfort Plus. ALCON
(800) 875-3001, alcon.com
Clariti, MyDay, Proclear. COOPERVISION
(800) 341-2020, coopervision.com/practitioner
Acuvue Oasys 1-day with hydraluxe technology. JOHNSON & JOHNSON VISION CARE
(800) 874-5278, acuvueprofessional.com
Biotrue ONEday, Biotrue ONEday for Astigmatism, Biotrue ONEday Multifocal for Presbyopia. BAUSCH + LOMB
(800) 828-9030, biotrueonedaylenses.com
NaturalVue Multifocal 1-day with Neurofocus Optics Technology. VISIONEERING TECHNOLOGIES
(844) 884-5367, vtivision.com
Miru 1-day. MENICON
(800) 636-4266, meniconamerica.com
Smart Ways to Sell Daily Disposable Contact Lenses
Dr. Mile Brujic
Premier Vision Group in Bowling Green, Lima and Minster, OH
Daily disposable lenses basically sell themselves. One perceived mental barrier is that they are too expensive. But, once you factor in options like the manufacturer’s mail-in rebate with a six-month or yearly supply of lenses then the perception of daily disposables being more expensive is not necessarily a reality. I break down the cost of the lens to my patients by saying, for example, it costs $360 for a year’s supply or a fresh, new, clean lens in your eye for only $1 a day. We also ask patients to rank their lenses on a comfort scale of 1-10 at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. More often than not, patients see a drop in lens comfort by the end of the day. I think they become complacent about this because they don’t know what other options are out there. We see an increase in their comfort score when we transition them to daily disposables. They can be awesome for part-time wearers and any new contact lens wearer is a candidate for them, from a five-year-old child to a 70-year-old senior.
Dr. Melissa Barnett
UC Davis Eye Center, Sacramento, CA
Daily disposable contact lenses are the cleanest and healthiest type of contact lens. They help with compliance because patients do not need to clean them. A clean contact lens surface can help the ocular surface of the eye and reduce the incidence of dry eyes and allergies. Daily disposables are great for occasional wear such as social occasions, sports and camping. They are fantastic for patients who are new to contact lenses and for teenagers. It’s also great to be able to wear a new lens every day. It means you don’t have to remember when to replace them or buy solutions. You can even take your contact lens off before sleeping while in bed. Daily replacement contact lenses are fantastic for travel and are an excellent option to prevent infection.