For an ophthalmologist, fitting a contact lens for a patient is like piecing together a puzzle. Scheduling a fitting is the first step in determining the correct prescription for a patient’s vision and comfort.
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When we deal with contact lenses I go back to something I tell all my patients: every patient is like a puzzle. We have to put the right pieces in the right order at the right time.
When we talk about patient flow, about what to expect when you come into the clinic,
first of all, there's an initial fitting. We use a variety of machines to scan the front part of the eye, to figure out what the power of the eye is, to look at any structures that might be in our way, and anything that could be contraindicated for contact lens wear.
Then we come up with a game plan of what type of contact lens were going to fit.
Once we figure out what prescription and what type of fit we want, what kind of curvature we want, what kind of power we want, and what kind of a diameter we want, then we either pull that from our supply or we order it.
It takes roughly about two to three weeks for the lens to be manufactured, based off what type of manufacturing we do, and then the patient comes in.
At that time, we put the lens on and evaluate the health of the eye. We make sure that it's not going to hurt the patient. Then we look at the vision. If the contact is healthy for the eye and they can see out of it, then we dispense the lens for a probational period.
We have them back in a follow-up visit somewhere between a month to two weeks. They come back and they say “Dr. Kaufman, I love the comfort but my distance vision is not right,” or “My near vision is not right,” or “My vision is perfect but the comfort is not good.” Then we make an adjustment depending on what type of complaint they have.
On average I would say a patient can expect to be in our clinic three times: for the initial visit, for the dispensing visit, and for the follow-up. I tell patients that you can't outwork me. Meaning that I will be here until you are happy. If that takes three visits or ten visits, we’ll get it right. It's just putting the right pieces in the right order at the right time.
