I interviewed Dr. Penn Moody, owner of Moody Eyes, last September (Penn Moody, OD talks about …..) mainly to ask him about his experience with atLast by Pixel Optics. I did not make it through all my questions so I thought it would be good to continue our interview a few months later and get some more Moody Eyes Musings…..
One of the questions I still had was: “Does this product help distinguish an independent optical retailer from optical chains?” Dr. Moody had several comments about this question and we had quite a discussion about it as follows:
“Product alone is not a silver bullet” Dr. Moody believes what distinguishes a vision care practice is not just products recommended and dispensed, but a total patient service viewpoint. Most competitors have access to the same or similar products. What really makes one’s optical business stand out is how you use your product mix to solve your optical patient’s problems. Certainly atLast! fills an important place in this mix.
“The devil is in the details” I thought this was a great comment as there are so many details to get right: off axis, PD, seg height, frame choice and fitting, to name just a few. “If only one of these is being wrong it can diminish the whole experience for our optical patients”
“The staff and the optometrist have to have a shared vision about patient care from start to finish”
It is often said one can tell most about a business or person by how they handle problems. At Moody Eyes Dr. Moody personally calls patients with problems or issues that the staff have problems solving. The goal is to demonstrate to the patient a total commitment to their satisfaction and to teach them how they should view the practice. Specifically, after he has resolved their issues, Dr. Moody gives them the assignment of recommending Moody Eyes to their friends and family members. Many optical patients follow through on this, which is one way of turning a problem into an opportunity.
As many people like to look up information on the internet, it is important to have a good website and I think Moody Eyes has an excellent one. It is very easy to search for information and user friendly.
I asked Dr. Moody for an update on his atLast experience and recommendations. As he has developed a better method of qualifying patients he is fitting more progressive lens patients with Pixel. The first question he asks is what the patient likes and doesn’t like about their current lenses. This usually leads to a discussion of visual demands and activities. One of the most common complaints is of a narrow field of view, particularly when using a computer of for other intermediate distance tasks. Since atLast! is specifically designed to provide a wide field at this distance it will typically be the lens of first choice. Another aspect of this lens patients like is atLast!’s clear distance and peripheral vision. Dr. Moody has also found a minimum seg height of 15mm works well, but 16 works better. He believes this type of lens is a whole new category and well worth exploring to satisfy optical patients’ ever changing needs.
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You can get good product anywhere but not good service. Inaccurate fitting and/or inappropriate frames for the RX will ruin even the best lenses and frames. I see it all the time.