News13english

News

de

NEWS OctOBER - dECEMBER 2013

Social Marketing &

Presentación

Social Marketing &

contact Lenses

Hello friends The Vision Care InstituteTM Bogotá: contact lenses

10 Top tips

for a successful fitting.

Face to face

With the Dr. Henry Martínez

Benefits In Box

¿Is the contact lenses fitter prepared to meet the real needs desired by the current user, who demands more than a simple eye and vision test?

Social marketing modern theories states that social actors should look further than the obvious need of those who request their services and find the actual cause of consulting and solution expectation with which the patient may cooperate and be part of its execution and development.

Only if the user understands the process and wants to be part of the solution of the problem will he/she be able to overcome it. If the decision and treatment have been decided, thought of, understood and proposed only by the specialist, the outcome will not be successful because the patient will not feel like he or she is part of it.

Editorial

Dear colleagues, This issue of news aims to make each fitter reflect about their real interest for discovering the needs of their patients and discovering their expectations. The fitter needs to determine the patient’s requirements for comfort based on their life styles, as well as the impact and social inclusion and practicality required. In the same way, the fitter must perform a self-evaluation to ensure he or she has the capability to meet these needs, with equipment, tools, media, solutions, contacts, and appropriate and updated references to reach the patient’s goals.

Nelson L. Merchán B. Professional Issues Manager for Central and South America Johnson & Johnson Vision Care

Dr. Ian Davies, worldwide director of professional education, in his recent visit to TVCI Bogotá, shared his knowledge with a special team of Latin American fitters.

He gave a presentation of the top ten tips for a successful fitting in daily life in the visual health care office. We would like to share with you these 10 pieces of advice and hope you put them into practice.

Also, our common sections photo gallery, inbox, face to face and central page will take you on a short trip of proactive thoughts and professional reflections about our social commitment with the community. We should be asking among other questions: “Are we making things right? Should I work harder to have a more assertive communication and response with my users? Do I have to reinforce education and self-care culture and visual hygiene culture?”

Remember the Pan-American Journal of Contact Lenses is an option for academic updating, written in Spanish that this year reaches its 20th issue. Clinical cases, and articles to deepen your knowledge in different topics, as well as advice, situational and product analysis are offered. You are welcome to this issue.

I finally make an open invitation to you to use this tool as an open channel of communication between Johnson & Johnson and yourself. Let us know what topics you are interested in reading and would like to see in our news of the Vision Care Institute.

We wish you the best in November, and we hope your expectations of meeting goals, growth and impact for 2013 are being fulfilled as proposed in the beginning of the year.

A warm hug,

Nelson L. Merchán

10

TOP TIPS

for a successful fitting.

Adaptaded by Nelson L. Merchรกn B. O.D., Esp., MsC., PhD.

The 10 top tips to make the contact lenses consultation proactive.

Presentation by Dr Ian Davies during the Fourth Latin American Summit of Leaders in Action, Bogotรก 2013.

Adapted by Nelson Merchรกn.

Dr. Ian Davies, Global Director of professional education for Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, presented to the attendees of the 4 Latin American Summits, Leaders in Action, all of whom are contact lenses fitters, what could be the 10 most important pieces of advice to make the visit to the contact lenses fitter a satisfactory and positive experience, with excellent results.

These are the 10 pieces of advice:

1

Use the contact lenses as a tool for the user to choose their final spectacles (the winning combination).

Fit toric lenses to correct astigmatism.

2

Protect your patient against UV radiation.

3

4 Teach patients how to manipulate contact lenses properly and check this learning with the new user.

6

Use open questions about the user’s expectations, comfort, and added value needs.

5 Ask about ocular comfort and user satisfaction at the end of the day.

Clarify expectations of users older than 35, and give clear concepts and hope.

7

8 Talk about the use and replacement of frequent replacement soft contact lenses.

Urge the patient to take the lenses off and dispose of them at the recommended times.

10

Talk to children and teenagers about contact lenses, but include parents and tutors in these conversations

9 Be Happy: Positively show your passion and charisma of what you do daily to your patients and their vision.

This point is cultural. It is said that we need to educate the patient, but I think that we need to start by breaking paradigms that the practitioner contact lenses fitters of the region have because they always think in the pocket of the patient but do not think about the visual and ocular benefits. If the practitioner is convinced of that culture and the benefits of frequent replacement, I am sure they will transmit it positively to their patients and they will follow their practitioner´s advice. In this way we will have an important cultural change.

Who can be a better person to describe his impressions about this matter but him: Is it cultural or educational?

2. When we ask at the Vision Care Institute about the starting age of a new user to the category of frequent replacement soft contact lenses, what is the tendency for children, teenagers or mature adults?

Dr. Henry Martinez is an OD of La Salle University. He holds a refresher course in contact lenses from the same university. He has been the professional training manager at The Vision Care Institute, Bogotá, Colombia.

He manages discussions, debates and exploration of fitters who come to this Institute. No one else can describe ways of thinking and reactions to these topics of social and clinic impact better than him.

1. Dr Martínez, when we talk about the times when new and old users change and replace their contact lenses, the most common answer is daily, every fifteen days and weekly extended, how does the Johnson & Johnson company communicate this in its product portfolio?

Unfortunately, in Latin America only a 40% does it because the are convinced of the benefits this culture provides not only to the user – which is translated into Visual Health- but also to the practitioner because they have patients who are more committed with hygiene, visual safety. Besides they come to the office sooner than those who have a different expectation of replacement. The aim with that other strategy is to make the patient to buy their first pair of contact lenses.

This is another factor that raises controversy because only 10% of the practitioners are convinced that we need to evaluate the appropriate conditions for a contact lenses fitting no matter the age. It means that if the visual conditions allow for it and contact lenses are the best option for fitting, they can be fitted at any age. Therefore, it is very important to assess the benefits this fitting generates in their visual, sensorial performance, personality development, and safety of our patient, visual comfort among other factors. The other 90% wonders if the patient should be an adult, be aware, be hygienic.

They wonder if the ideal age is 11 or 12 years old, teenagers at 16 o after 19. In my professional and personal opinion age is not an exclusive factor in frequent replacement contact lenses fitting. We have to assess the benefits this fitting provides to our patients, and we should not forget the support parents can offer us when we make them part of the contact lenses fitting for their under age children.

The views expressed in the articles reflect only the view of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position and policies of The Vision Care InstituteTM.

With the Dr. Henry Martínez

In this usual section of an interview with a visual and ocular practitioner, with knowledge in this area of frequent replacement soft contact lenses and this time making reference to social marketing and the association of the need of the new users and the expectations of quality of life they bring to the office. We have invited Dr. Henry Martinez to show us the position of the fitter. He has developed, during 2013, a discussion forum about these new technologies, uses adaptation and limit of replacement and user education with the fitters who have visited The Vision Care Institute in 2013.

¿Is it cultural or educational?

Face to Face:

Face to Face 3. When we talk about correcting astigmatism with toric lenses and mentioning the different ranges to correct to the fitters, from 0.75 to 4.00, what are the most common answers given regarding confidence in the toric lenses to correct these ranges?

Most practitioners fit soft Toric contact lenses from 1.25 Diopters and unfortunately in many regions they still work with the spherical equivalent claiming that if the patient looks good with a spherical lens, they do not see the need to fit Soft Toric Contact Lenses in astigmatism lower than 0.75 an 1.00 Diopter. It is important to highlight here that modern fitters do not compromise performance of quality or visual acuity. We should go further to give our patients visual quality and better performance in the activities that require visual effort such as using a computer or jobs that require higher visual performance, avoiding in our patients signs of asthenopia, which are very frequent in our population visually active. On the other side we have astigmatisms higher than 4.00 Diopters, which are immediately dismissed because they overpass the range of available prescription in the market. We should not forget to set the distance to the vertex in those prescriptions to determine the real value of diopters for a contact lenses fitting. If that value is higher than the available range, perform a trial because soft toric contact lenses, due to their index of refraction, material properties and design, can offer a higher correction for astigmatism. In my opinion, soft toric contact lenses are an appropriate solution for correction in patients with low, medium and high astigmatism. What is relevant in this clinical practice is to perform a trial and assess the results obtained with those soft toric contact lenses regarding visual performance and comfort.

4. When we talk about daily replacement soft contact lenses what is the first impression most fitters have about it?

Most fitters answer that it is a very expensive category, that provides many benefits. However, due to our culture, they are not very successful because our patients want their contact lenses to last more time.

They claim that those lenses are for the United States, Europe, which are more advanced cultures than ours. Nowadays, we are less than a year time for the FIFA worldwide soccer Championship 2014 and among our participants a new category of sport patients has been generated. We can lead them to that culture of Daily Replacement Soft Contact Lenses. It is important to highlight that all human beings can be sportsmen in certain activities we perform. It is not necessary to make fittings in high performance sportsmen but also in ordinary people who may perform physical activities in their free time.

Therefore, a fitting with Daily Replacement Soft Contact Lenses can offer them better visual performance and they can perform their sport with no limitations. The most offered categories are frequent replacement contact lenses 5.Is UV filter considered a benefit for the health of the patient or is it only a sale argument? What do they think?

Everyone argues that it is a benefit for health, and they are aware of the importance of UV protection not only at a visual level but for their general health. Unfortunately, that culture is not well positioned in our society because if we ask if people use any kind of sun protection, most people’s answer is no. We need to be aware of the fact that it is a topic that pertains to us.

As health practitioners, we are called to educate our patients and users on UV radiation harms caused in the population. For that reason, we should fit contact lenses with UV protection Type 1, which guarantees actual protection facing UV harmful radiation. Most practitioners admit that when they fit they forget to mention them as a health benefit or as a sales benefit. They simply forget it or ignore it.

Thank you very much Dr. Martinez for your opinions. We are sure your answers will help our readers community to make deep reflections about their communication with the patient when fitting them in a healthy, reliable and safe way, seeking for their welfare and comfort to be satisfied.

Our Visitors local and international

Argentina, August 1 and 2

Argentina, August 8 and 9

Chile, August 22 and 23

Chile, August 26 and 27

Argentina, September 4 and 5

Bogotรก, One Day, September 30

Colombia, October 1 and 2

Chile, October 7 and 8

Benefits for Members

In Box

de

1

Course at The Vision Care InstituteTM in Latin America

The Vision Care InstituteTM First Class member will attend a course to experience the facilities at The Vision Care InstituteTM in Bogotรก and Puerto Rico. The studiylan is a perfect balance between continuous knowledge in contact lenses and company abilities topics.

2

National and Local Meetings

The Vision Care InstituteTM First Class member has the opportunity to go again to the local Meetings at The Vision Care InstituteTM . The answer to new contacts and businesses among members are these local meetings at The Vision Care InstituteTM First Class in each country, at no cost, as well as the rest of the activities of this program.

3

Three- Monthly News

The Vision Care InstituteTM First Class member will receive an exclusive News Bulletin with all the most important events and news about Contact Lenses and short and interesting comments about the latest news in the field. There will also appear Interviews with the most experienced visual health professionals on important topics.

4 Exclusive Educational Materials The Vision Care InstituteTM First Class member will periodically receive the most relevant printed material for his or her practice.

Scales useful for diagnostic and treatment, new tools, useful advice, anamnesis special forms, patient orientation, trading tools and more.

5

Journal Revista Panamericana de Lentes de Contacto

The Vision Care InstituteTM First Class member will receive periodically the Magazine Revista Panamericana de Lentes de Contacto, which contains important scientific advances, exclusive information on the visual health union and specialized articles on a great variety of topics related to Contact Lenses.

6 Web/Blogs Community

The Vision Care InstituteTM First Class members will have exclusive access to our webpage www.tvcibogota.com, where they will find diverse tools to complement their professional development such as a forum, blogs, news, galleries, professional profiles and online videos.

Erique Koch Contactologist Chile

Back in my hometown and recovering from that quick trip to Bogotรก, I would like to thank each one of you for the kind invitation to the V Phase of the Course Excellent in Contact Lenses that has just finished. I have felt privileged to have participated again in these courses that always provide us an opportunity to broaden our knowledge and experiences in our professional practice. It was all framed in a high host staff of Johnson & Johnson. Thanks

Mรณnica Zimmermann Contactologist Argentina

It was a great pleasure to attend the classes at the Vision Care Institute de Bogotรก. Year by year they surprise us even more!

My mind is now open to all fields of our profession, and it is something I have to thank!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Please extend my gratitude to the colleagues at the Institute!

I send a warm good bye with sincere and kind love!

Susana Guzmรกn Optometrist Guatemala

Good morning dear Sirs at Johnson. It is a pleasure to say hello and wish you success at work. On this e-mail, I would like to thank you the incredible opportunity you have just offered me giving me the opportunity to attend phase 5 of first class that took place on March 11th and 12th. I am from Guatemala and this was my second time in the course. I was fascinated time, as I was the first time, with the experiences I had those days. As I was expecting it, it was very enriching for my professional life and even for my personal life in different aspects. I would like to congratulate you for such an excellent educational work you perform with all of us. I also take advantage of the opportunity to say that everything was great. Thanks you very much!