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Speaker: UPPs facilitate development of newer technologies
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LAS VEGAS – A speaker here at the Global Contact Lens Forum said the implementation of unilateral pricing policies in the contact lens industry is “one of the monumental changes in contact lenses in my career.”
Barry Eiden, OD, co-director of this Vision Expo West forum, and a panel of experts discussed this pricing strategy and its effect on clinical practice.
Co-director Louise Sclafani, OD, explained that with a unilateral pricing policy (UPP), a minimum price for a lens is established by the manufacturer. If the lens is sold for less than that, the manufacturer can limit or cut off their supply.
“This is an important concept,” Eiden noted. “It’s not setting a fee; it’s establishing the low point.”
Panelist Jack Schaeffer, OD, said: “You can sell the lens for more. In our practice, we don’t. I want to put my fees in my evaluation and in my office visit. I want people to know they can spend the same amount they’d spend at Wal-Mart. The purpose is to keep patients in your office where you can take care of them and not have them drop out.”
“The concept is if you don’t reward those of us who have to educate, then that technology will not be brought to the marketplace,” Eiden said. “If you don’t have minimum retail pricing, we do all the work and the large distributors realize all the profits.”
Schaeffer noted, “If we’re going to move into preventive care and wellness, we have to have a profit to run our practice. We can’t give away a box of lenses. If we do we’re going to lose the patient.”
Eiden said those practices who base their business model on rebates may be upset with the UPP concept.
Panelist Robert Davis, OD, noted that a UPP levels the playing field, and the concept exists in most commodities in the U.S.
“Most rebates are never used,” Sclafani said. “I don’t want to take the time to explain it to patients or hand out coupons. Most patients don’t turn them in.” – by Nancy Hemphill, ELS
Disclosures: Davis is a consultant to the Brien Holden Vision Institute, Special Eyes and SynergEyes. Eiden is a consultant, researcher or lecturer for Alcon, Bausch + Lomb, Alden Labs, Visionary Optics, Special Eyes, CooperVision, Paragon and Oasis. Sclafani is a consultant or speaker for Alcon, Allergan, Bausch + Lomb, the Brien Holden Vision Institute and CooperVision. Schaeffer is a consultant or speaker for Alcon, Allergan, Bausch + Lomb, CooperVision, Essilor and Vistakon.