ODs successfully offer contact lenses through their own Web sites

With consumers seeking the convenience of ordering contact lenses online and federal legislation permitting any company to sell contact lenses to patients with valid prescriptions, some optometrists are keeping contact lens sales in-house by offering them to their patients through a Web site.

“We were motivated to be able to provide the convenience that patients were looking for in purchasing products over the Internet and also to compete with other organizations that are trying to sell contact lenses to our patients over the Internet,” said Glenn Ellisor, OD, who practices in Kingwood, Texas.

An evolutionary idea

The federal Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act, which went into effect in February, required – as many states already did – that eye care practitioners release contact lens prescriptions to all patients following a contact lens fitting. This ruling followed other legislation and settlements made in a contact lens antitrust lawsuit that allowed mail-order and Internet companies to maintain the right to sell contact lenses with a valid prescription.

Michael Gorman, OD, who owns Family Vision Center in Stratford, Conn., explained that with this legislation, optometrists should consider establishing their own Web-based Internet contact lens sales.

Dr. Gorman’s office developed a Web site with contact lens sales capabilities about a year and a half ago at www.famvision.com. “To us, it was more than developing a Web site – it was an evolutionary thing, because this was not an option 10 years earlier,” Dr. Gorman told Primary Care Optometry News. “More and more optometrists will now start to develop this.”

Developing a site

Several optometrists discussed with Primary Care Optometry News ways to execute an office Web site that has capabilities beyond providing general information.

Dr. Gorman started by looking to see what was out there and interviewing a few different Web development companies. He outsourced the graphic development and created the e-commerce Web site, tailoring it to fit his needs. Once the site was developed, his staff maintains it so that monthly specials and price changes can be updated on a regular basis.

Dr. Ellisor said his office outsourced to a company called EyeHub.com based in Gold Beach, Ore. “I think it is working well. It only works as well as you market it in your practice. The key is to really make your patients aware of your Web site, and that takes some time,” Dr. Ellisor said in an interview.

Gary Gerber, OD, who primarily works as a practice-building consultant out of Hawthorne, N.J., has been using a new product called Eyecarepro.net.(Eyecarepro.net, Toronto) Eyecarepro.net provides e-commerce capabilities as well as other practice management capabilities, such as patient scheduling, that are connected directly to the doctor’s practice management software.

“The practitioner can design a complete Web site and then decide if he or she wants the module for patients to order contact lenses,” Dr. Gerber explained.

With this module, a patient fills out an order for contact lenses that goes directly to the manufacturer. Then, the patient provides credit card information that puts the money directly into the optometrist’s account.

“It takes no staff time to complete the order,” Dr. Gerber told Primary Care Optometry News.

The benefits

Having patients order their own contact lenses online cuts administrative costs for the practitioner as well as gives the practitioner a way to retain the contact lens sale, Dr. Gerber explained.

“It is really a way for doctors to say to their patients that they can have the convenience of ordering contact lenses online and still deal with their doctor – someone they trust,” he said. “Given the opportunity, a lot of patients would use the Internet if they knew they could get their lenses from the doctor.”

Practitioners find that, in addition to cutting operating costs, Web sites help build a database of patient information. This endeavor involves an investment to outsource the site development, as well as time to market the capability to all patients.

However, Dr. Gorman explained, “We all live in an information age, and the Internet is part of it. Thus, we should use the technology creatively to serve our patients. A 24/7 Web site with e-commerce is just that.

“You shouldn’t limit your practice,” he continued. “Even a one-doctor office can offer an e-commerce Web site.”

For Your Information:

• Glenn Ellisor, OD, can be reached at 1714 Kingwood Drive, Kingwood, TX 77339; (281) 359-2020; fax: (281) 359-7019; vsourcegde@aol.com.
• Michael Gorman, OD, can be reached at 775 Main St., Stratford, CT 06615; (203) 377-2020; fax: (203) 381-9936; famvision@aol.com; Web site: www.famvision.com. Kristine Heslin is the Web site developer for the office.
• Gary Gerber, OD, can be reached at P.O. Box 435, Hawthorne, NJ 07507; (800) 867-9303; fax: (810) 592-7160; drgerber@powerpractice.com.