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E-commerce sites aim to simplify the OD’s practice
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E-commerce is changing the way everyone does business, including optometrists. Instead of having to look through catalogues and make calls to your frame supplier, your contact lens supplier and your lab, you have the option of visiting one Web site and getting everything you need for your practice. You can make side-by-side comparisons on merchandise as well as place all of your ordering at once. You can also get the latest product launch information, chat with colleagues, fill out insurance forms and even check the day’s headlines.
Ordering is free and the sites are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Another perk with on-line ordering is that the system keeps track of what you have ordered in the past so there is no need to re-enter the information. Most ophthalmic Web sites also have built-in parameters that allow you to order only the proper lens or frames, greatly reducing returns.
E-Dr. Network
Jerry Hayes, OD, is CEO of one of the fastest growing online ophthalmic suppliers, the E-Dr. Network. “The site was conceived as an e-commerce site for independent practitioners with two goals: to consolidate the ordering process for the practitioner and to create order efficiencies for suppliers,” he told Primary Care Optometry News. “Our mission is to create a worldwide Internet infrastructure for the wholesale optical industry.”
Launched in 1998, E-Dr. outgrows its office space each year, and its staff has tripled in size over the past year.
“At this point we are taking more orders for contact lenses at our site than the manufacturers are at theirs,” Dr. Hayes said. The site carries all major contact lenses and frames from 13 of the top 15 suppliers and has a new deal with a major office supply company.
E-Dr. also has established a strategic marketing alliance with CIBA Vision as an investor and to promote E-Dr. The site is for eye care professionals and controlled by eye care professionals, Dr. Hayes pointed out: business-to-business e-commerce. E-Dr. also provides its members with online insurance verification, equipment auctions, and personal Web site design, so eye care practitioners can sell directly to their patients.
E-commerce is reliable, fast and easy, said Christy Byrd, OD, a user of the E-Dr. service. “Turnaround time for contact lenses is about 2 days and for frames, depending on the manufacturer, up to a week,” she said. Dr. Byrd, of Summerfield Family Eye Care in North Carolina, has been using this method of ordering for a few months.
“The best thing is the fact that I pay one shipping fee,” she said. “Normally, when ordering contacts from each individual company, if you don’t meet their minimum order, you pay, which can add up. However, this cuts all that out.”
First Insight
First Insight Corp. has recently launched paradeyes.com. “By adding paradEyes.com to our First Insight Network, we’re offering the practitioner a single online source for practice management in its broadest sense,” said Nitin Rai, president and CEO. “Forward-looking practitioners are ready to embrace the Internet as a tool to help strengthen their competitive position in the marketplace. ParadEyes.com will enable eye care professionals to improve their practices’ bottom line and enhance their patients’ experience.”
First Insight has announced a partnership agreement with Hoya Optical Labs of America, the second largest optical lab network in the industry with 2.5 million transactions annually. According to the company, this adds 10 more labs to paradEyes optical lab agreements now in place, for a total of 35 labs with 42 locations.
ParadEyes.com offers the additional feature of allowing optometrists to build Web sites “quickly and easily, enabling doctors to strengthen relationships with existing patients and market their services to potential new patients,” according to Sonia Rai, chief marketing officer.
Practitioners can now order soft lenses through paradEyes.com. In early fall, spectacle lens ordering will be available, and late fall will see the addition of frames, rigid gas-permeable lenses and practice management integration.
Because of cost efficiencies gained through complete vendor integration, paradEyes.com can offer free shipping on contact lens orders. The integration also provides real-time status on orders placed. “We’re able to watch the status of an order change before our eyes,” said Jeffery A. Calmere, OD, with Silicon Valley Eyecare, a paradEyes.com user. “We know when the order is submitted, when it’s received by the vendor, what the status of the stock is and when the order is shipped.” Calmere says the vast majority of orders have been in stock and they have received them the next day.
EyeVantage.com
E-business company VergeTech inked an agreement with Arizona-based eyeVantage.com in early spring. Together they are developing an e-commerce portal that will also deliver optical goods and supplies. Basically, this means another Web site to choose from when ordering supplies for your practice. To differentiate itself, eyeVantage.com will also provide electronic insurance claims processing, insurance adjudication, electronic billing, status notifications, patient and doctor communications, and clinical and auxiliary information.
Other sites, additional services
Vision Service Plan (VSP) launched its Web site, Eyefinity.com as the destination for all VSP electronic claims submissions, lab ordering and eye care news headlines. Other services include educational and training information, as well as appointment scheduling. Eyefinity attracted more than 14,000 users in 2 months. It has handled more than 1 million authorization, claim and lab order transactions, and more than 8,000 doctors are using the system to develop free Web sites through its eWeb service, according to the company.
In yet another e-commerce venture, ophthalmic publisher Jobson teamed with Consortio to unveil Sightstreet. Citing a product ordering inefficiency rate of more than 20% in the industry, Sightstreet claims its state-of-the-art technology, unique content, comprehensive databases and information, personalized training and Web marketing services make it the “electronic community that promises to offer its members a clear advantage.”
The Spanish company Opticanet follows the “classic model of an internet portal,” the company said. Users of its site are offered many value-added features such as forums, chats and sector links, as well as industry-specific information such as seminars, medical discoveries and new product launches.
Eyecity.com was launched in early spring as well. Calling itself a customized online optical, it provides merchandise selection and sourcing, storefront creation, hosting, advertising, customer service, credit card processing and fulfillment services.
Net4eyes, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ifa Companies, sets up customized Web sites. The company creates gateway sites for eye care professionals specific to the needs of each practice. A team of professionals from net4eyes will create a unique content mix that reflects each individual practice, position content to attract the target audience and provide readers with quality information about the business and services offered.
Optometrists and their patients can also use the Internet to virtually try on eye wear. Eyeweb allows the retailer to create a customized “eye wear boutique” on the Internet. Customers have their picture taken at the optometrist’s office, then search for, try on and select frames online. Then they go back to their doctor for a final fitting and to complete the purchase.
For Your Information:
- Jerry Hayes, OD, is chief executive officer of E-Dr. Network. He can be reached at 1555 The Greens Way, Jacksonville Beach, Fla. 32250; (904) 543-2400; fax: (904) 543-2401.
- Christy Byrd, OD, is in practice at the Summerfield Family Eye Care Center. She can be reached at 7301 Summerfield Rd., Summerfield, NC 27358; (336) 644-0802; fax: (336) 644-0680.
- Sonia Rai is chief marketing officer and
- Nitin Rai is president and CEO of First Insight Corp. They can be reached at 22845 NW Bennett St., Building B, Ste. 200, Hillsboro, OR 97124; (503) 906-6600; fax: (503) 533-8484.
- Jeffery A. Calmere, OD, has no direct financial interest in any of the products mentioned. He is a paid consultant for First Insight in the area of product development. He may be reached at Silicon Valley Eyecare, 770 Scott Blvd., Santa Clara, CA 95050; (408) 296-0511; fax: (408) 296-1647.