Pricing and Positioning Strategies for Multifocal Contact Lenses

Editorially independent content, supported with advertising from Alcon

My wife, Grisel Lagunas, OD, and I are both optometrists, and we currently own two practices called Lifetime Eyecare Associates in the Woodlands and in Spring, Texas, along with six associates. I’ve been an optometrist for 25 years, during which I have owned nine practices, both commercial and private. Also, I serve as an administrator for Vision Source (Essilor of America, Inc.) in Houston, where I help facilitate meetings and I lead and mentor 80 offices in the area.

There are always opportunities to offer vision solutions to patients. In our practices, we say that every patient who walks in the door is a contact lens candidate until proven otherwise. We don’t wait for patients to ask us about contact lenses or other forms of vision correction, because often, they just don’t know what’s available to them. And, although we doctors are great at finding solutions to visual problems, none of us went to school to learn how to sell vision care products. We must first uncover the need, then offer the highest-quality and most appropriate solution for that patient, and then be able to explain the value of the product in their daily life.

Between our two locations, our total contact lens volume is approximately $850,000, and of that, multifocal contact lenses make up 31%, which is twice the market share of the top 500 offices, per ABB Optical Group data (proprietary data).

Our doctors love presbyopes, because this patient type is the most in need of medical care and vision correction and is the most profitable patient per examination. The bulk of the multifocal contact lenses we prescribe are daily disposables, because our team believes that this modality is the healthiest for patients’ eyes. If patients prefer to wear the lenses longer, however, we can transition them into a reusable lens in the form of a monthly or weekly option.

In this article, I will discuss the various pricing and marketing strategies my staff and I use when we promote multifocal contact lenses to our patients.

EDUCATION: OPPORTUNITIES TO TALK ABOUT MULTIFOCAL CONTACT LENSES

Patient education should begin on the practice’s website, continue on the phone call when a patient is scheduling an appointment, and occur again at the front desk when they check in for their appointment.

Inside the clinic, our team members introduce the concept of multifocal contact lenses to patients well before they need them, around the age of 35, as part of our discussions about presbyopia. Many patients don’t know that multifocal contact lenses exist, whereas others have been told by previous providers that they weren’t candidates for that type of lens. It’s important to reiterate that new contact lens technologies come out every year, and with broadened treatment ranges that make them suitable for more patients than ever before.

Toward our goal of prescribing contact lenses, we lean heavily on giving patients trial lenses. A patient can only value the benefits of a multifocal contact lens if they experience it for themselves, to see how comfortable it is and how it performs visually in all lighting conditions. Around 80% of our patients experience a “wow” effect the first time they try a trial lens, because the advanced-technology multifocal contact lenses are so good.

PRICING

When we’re using new technology in any part of our practices, including contact lenses, the patient’s perception of the price is the biggest challenge. Our strategy is to offer the best solution for that patient regardless of price, and let the patient determine its value to them. It is important not to prejudge patients’ ability to pay.

Often, patients have the perception that a private practice is going to charge more for contact lenses than web-based services or low-cost providers at big-box stores. However, by taking advantage of patients’ insurance contributions and any available manufacturer rebates, those of us in private practice can usually maximize the savings for patients.

Our distributor gives us a price monitor that we check three or four times a year to update our contact lens pricing to make sure we’re competitive both locally and online. Additionally, we use a system called CLX (CLX System) for contact lenses, with distribution from ABB Optical Group. The system can compare the pricing at our offices against the leading online vendors in real time.

MARKETING TO THE PRESBYOPIC DEMOGRAPHIC

As I stated previously, presbyopes are the most profitable patients in our practices—they spend more on both contacts and glasses than other age groups. To reach these potential multifocal patients, we focus our practice’s marketing tactics on mostly digital ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Google. We analyze which marketing campaigns are the most successful, and we collaborate with a company’s contact lens marketing team to release ads about multifocal lenses specifically to new patients, focusing on those who are both new to our practice and those who have not previously worn contacts. We release marketing campaigns around multifocal lenses a few times a year, because of the large opportunity with this patient population.

EDUCATION AND SUPPORT LEAD TO CONVERSIONS

In my experience, growing a practice’s contact lens business requires a balanced approach that emphasizes patient education and support for their needs, without sales pressure. In our conversations with patients, we properly set the expectation that someday their visual needs will change, and when that happens, we have best-in-class technology to help them. We keep our messaging simple, positive, and try not to undersell or oversell if they aren’t yet interested in trying contact lenses. We want to do right by our patients by giving them every chance possible to live a full and comfortable life as they begin, or continue, their eye care journey.

Claudio Lagunas, OD
Owner, Lifetime Eyecare Associates, the Woodlands and Spring, Texas
Administrator, Vision Source, Houston, Texas
Faculty, Alcon Experience Academy
clagunas@entouch.net
Financial disclosurses: Speaker and paid consultant (Alcon, MacuHealth, Vision Source)