The Importance of Professional Opticians to the Patient
Good vision is so often taken for granted, even though it’s arguably the most important and central of the senses in life. While often seen as an appearance consultant, the optician is more importantly a technology and materials interpreter, pairing excellent vision solutions with aesthetically pleasing design and color. It is the optician who is on the front line where vision technology meets the patient!
Opticians directly and significantly influence a patient’s quality of life. After the doctor makes every effort to define precisely what is necessary to rectify a patient’s deficient visual acuity, it is the Optician who is tasked with the important selection and application of available technologies to realize the doctor’s prescription. It is also up to the Optician to make appropriate recommendations that can optimize the patient’s visual perception while minimizing the stress and discomfort associated with even modestly impaired vision.
While the average patient visits their eye care professional approximately every one to two years, the technology of eyecare advances almost daily! It is the optician who has the responsibility and opportunity to present these technologies and their benefits to a sometime skeptical patient. The skepticism is frequently deepened by many patients’ lack of willingness to invest in their eyesight and the quality of life that good vision endows. It is precisely this challenge that makes a good optician so important.
Whether it be digital progressive lenses, a quality AR and scratch resistant coating, a quality or designer frame, a lifestyle specific pair of glasses or sunglasses, it is left to the optician to explain the tangible benefits to the patient while justifying the additional cost.
Ironically the same patient who ‘hates spending money on glasses’ fully expects optimal, accurate, and comfortable vision!
