Forward-thinking practices with aspirations to expand into shared-care schemes are the focus of a new Birmingham Optical team especially formed to support this initiative. Nidek is launching the new Nidek OCT combining colour retinal imaging and state of the art OCT functionality as a spearhead in spring 2015.
Speaking about future plans, CEO Chris Tyler describes a sea change in strategy and the way it was doing business. ‘I’m taking more of a strategic entrepreneurial role now. We’ve been very active over the entire platform of the UK and Irish optical scene and on the basis of Nidek R&D going forward we must ensure our supply chain strategies are aligned for the evolving nature of the market.’
At the forefront of this drive are director of clinical affairs Amanda Danson and managing director Neil Townsend, who has been with the company for 18 years and was part of the management buyout team eight years ago.
Danson who joined three years ago after 37 years in the profession as a DO, CLO, then optometrist, has responsibility for optometry sales and the clinical aspect of instruments, providing support and education for clinicians. ‘We don’t want to be a supplier that sends out boxes, but provide a fuller service,’ she explains.
[CaptionComponent="968"]Birmingham Optical is proud, Tyler said, of its heritage, which gave benefits with economies of scale, a large engineering team and market leading prices taking into account the quality of the range and residual values. Now, he says, it is time to evolve again and invest further in helping and empowering clients looking to capture best possible clinical and commercial outcomes.
Danson, who has worked across independent and multiple sectors, said forward-thinking practices have the opportunity to diversify and offer an extended range of services whether that be through shared care screening, specialist contact lenses, dry eye clinics or screening dyslexia to name but a few, spending quality chair time, educating their patients and building loyalty is key.
Clients, she said, need a route to be sustainable and to differentiate themselves. ‘Many of the instruments and R&D we can supply, whether the Nidek OCT or Oculus Keratograph for dry eyes, are the services that practices can offer to differentiate and get some return on their investment, which can lead to further instrument upgrades.
‘Some practices want to be completely niche and more aspirational and are creating a ‘state of the art’ experience. Others are coming to us for help and advice at entry level as a start-up business or want to build on their existing successful business and further improve on offering great services. With our portfolio of Nidek, Oculus, Keeler and Frastema products, we have a solution for everyone to be a one-stop supplier, making it very easy for people to transact with us.’
OCT launch
[CaptionComponent="969"]Danson describes the new Nidek OCT as a good route to entry and the right price point. ‘It is new R&D and we want to be more about preventative care than dealing with the problem. It’s phenomenal what you can see – why wait for field loss before glaucoma is detected on a field screener when an OCT can detect changes 5 years before. Nidek is not always first to market but it tends to take the best bits from everything else and bring it together. It’s not just a colour fundus camera and a great OCT, it has wider scans and autofluorescence and anterior module screening as standard,’ she says.
Tyler describes Nidek’s philosophy as making technology that is easy to use, simplifying the process and saving time. ‘It’s not about reducing chair time but maximising it with the clinician, so they can spend more time talking to the patient about specialist areas and personalising their experience. ‘Arguably it’s the world’s easiest to use OCT with advanced auto-tracking through auto-alignment, leaving the optometrist to review the images,’ he says. Most of Nidek’s OCT production for the first quarter has been sold, with Birmingham taking 75-80 per cent of the global soft launch, and a waiting list for more of the next production.
‘Everyone agrees clinical time has been undervalued for years and we want to empower the optometrist to charge a realistic fee for chair time. We’re not embarrassed to link clinical best practice with commercial best practice. Ultimately practitioners have the potential to charge out an incremental fee for OCT, bringing profit as well as beneficial screening to the practice,’ he says.
‘The overall dynamic is an ageing population in the UK, demographic changes and a stretched NHS. We are fully supportive of empowering optometrists to detect, triage and co-manage sight care problems as long as they get a realistic fee to do that. With the commissioning bodies it will take time to evolve.’
One issue is that optometrists were very rarely taught OCT at university, says Danson. ‘It’s about having confidence in how to interpret what you’re looking at, so besides making an easy analysis and a progression analysis of what’s going to happen to that patient, you’re giving them the confidence with training before purchasing the product and supporting them after that.’
‘While demonstrating the OCT at workshops, it highlighted the benefit of this investment as a number of optometrists who sat for a scan had asymptomatic and undiagnosed eye conditions which were discovered. In a four-week period we revealed a couple of cases of undiagnosed glaucoma, a central serous retinopathy and even a retinal detachment,’ says Danson.
‘CCGs recognise the importance of such instruments and are piloting initiatives to support screening in practice, providing an opportunity which is exciting for optometrists who can be more supportive of the community eye care.’
A new product recently made available is the Volk Eye Check device. This is an measurement tool, similar to using a small digital camera, for objectively measuring squint, lid position, iris diameter, eye aperture and pupil size and is continually enhanced with modules such as the new contact lens module.
‘It’s ideal as a little pre-screening device that fits nicely into the customer journey, to capture many baseline measurements and create theatre. You can take a host of measurements without great outlay and on “kids clinic” it can be invaluable and fun.’
‘We also cater for domiciliary services including hand-held fundus cameras, tonometers and slit lamps. Domi packages are proving to be also suitable for practices to use for disabled access patients and kids when desktop equivalents may not be ideal’.
Edging technology
While there is rising demand for OCT, Tyler argues that practitioners shouldn’t forget about underlying investment in traditional technology. ‘It’s all very well having the theatre of the OCT but it’s about the whole sight care experience,’ he says.
[CaptionComponent="970"]Accordingly, Townsend pointed out the company’s offer of a complete portfolio, adding that following a lull in the market, where people tended to make their edging equipment last through the recession, there is a 30 per cent increase in lens edger business over the last year and a half.
Townsend has a background in manufacturing optics, with responsibility for the lens edging division, operations and service. ‘Nidek’s still the number one brand for lens edgers in the UK and we’ve introduced automation to high-volume retailers with 32 (25) automatic units to retail opticians in the past two years, which is unheard of. Nidek is now trying to replicate the model globally.’
The LE-700 glazing workstation of lens blocker and edger in one unit has been introduced. Aimed at low-volume independents, after a slow uptake it has recently taken off, along with more advanced product for independents who don’t want to outsource rimless any more. ‘When prospective clients are in front of the machine they realise how easy it is to glaze full rim and even rimless mounts in-house.’
Nidek’s first ever dry-cut edging solution has been launched, an environmentally friendly option. ‘Nidek’s not scared of competitors taking market share while it analyses what clients truly require before launch. It recently introduced the high speed dry-cut SE1 and we sold the first unit in the world,’ he adds.
A major investment has been made in after-sales care, with Townsend describing the fleet of 32 employed service engineers and technical specialists as the largest in the UK. ‘It’s a huge technical team and we try to make sure that our after-sales care meets the expectation of the Nidek brand. This is where we’ve put a lot of money and effort, with a new software platform to manage our after-sales care.
‘Our engineers all use iPad technology with on-site live links to head office and face time to product specialists. Our first-time fix rate is higher than it has ever been and we are striving to constantly improve so to ensure industry-leading service support. Today we have the best and largest team we’ve had. We have our own training office to make sure our engineers are up to competency levels, both in ophthalmic product and lens edgers. There’s also a lot of advanced supplier training in Japan, France and Germany.’
Business is being developed with upgrade schemes from the LE-9000 to the latest LE-1000, for example, with success primarily with independents. This upgrade strategy was also following into the instrument sector with the RT2100 autophoropter to the more compact, smaller, automated RT5100. ‘Existing users now have the option to trade in the RT2100 rather than having to wait for it to wear out. We can demonstrate the USPs for the latest product but the loyal Nidek purchasers will get a good trade in value,’ says Danson.
CET and connections
Having appointed another optometrist in Jason Higginbotham as ophthalmic clinical adviser, and further qualified staff to the team, there will be emphasis on CET. A training suite has therefore been added to the top floor of the refurbished HQ.
[CaptionComponent="971"]Danson explains that as both she and Higginbotham are accredited CET providers, interactive sessions and workshops will be possible. ‘One of the opportunities for clinicians is discussing cases with fellow optometrists. It’s great to have peer review with like-minded colleagues discussing cases to gain confidence. We are more and more in demand for our educational support offering,’ she says.
As well as strategic alliances with Optix Practice Management Systems, Hoya Lenses and Thomson Software, Birmingham Optical has become a first choice provider to many optometry university departments including the latest optometry department at Hertfordshire University and are proud to support academia, adds Danson.
For Tyler, the key message is that there is more to Birmingham Optical than meets the eye. ‘As a privately owned business we are vigilant to new opportunities. The company is 57 years old and we have changed. We have evolved and I encourage generations of optometrists to become part of our family. We are very proud of the alliances we have got.’