DR. IAN WHIPPLE’S STORY:
How a leading OD uses CLX to strengthen the doctor-patient
relationship under any circumstances.
DR. IAN WHIPPLE
Owner of Vision Source of Farr West, Utah
Patients Want Convenient Access to Contact Lenses
In the eye care industry, practices are rewarded when they satisfy their patients’ growing demand for convenience.
That’s why Dr. Whipple says that CLX’s white-label, online, contact lens ordering platform is a necessary part of his approach to selling contact lenses. Along with a well-trained staff, he sees CLX as a critical ingredient to his high contact lens capture rate. “We have our physical location but we’re trying to also create an experience where patients can take advantage of the convenience and ease of ordering contact lenses online and they can do that through our office, online, in the middle of the night because of CLX”.
Options for When It’s Time to Reorder
In addition to providing a contact lens webstore for his practice, CLX helps Dr. Whipple’s team get proactive about contact lens reorders. What happens in his practice when a patient purchases a partial supply of contact lenses on the day of their exam? Before they are due to run out of contact lenses, CLX automatically sends these patients a personalized ordering link, prepopulated with their current prescription. “CLX sends a text message reminder or an email reminder, hey it’s time to purchase the rest of your lenses, you only bought a 6 month supply, your 6 months should be up, here’s one click to purchase the remainder of your year’s supply. I think that feature is incredible for us”.
Dr. Whipple’s Challenge to the Industry
By using disruptive tools and focusing on the patient experience, ODs can remain in control, even as the market shifts.
“I’d like to issue a personal challenge to optometrists — let’s disrupt our own profession and offer something that patients, frankly, want and that they’re demanding.” According to Dr. Whipple, right now is the time to start maximizing the use of solutions like CLX to satisfy patients, because as the industry continues to change, the relationship doctors have with their patients are at risk.
“I don’t know what optometry is going to look like in the future. But if ODs aren’t the ones leading the charge, I don’t know that we can trust other entities to maintain that doctor-patient relationship.”