Abstracts of the 2011 BCLA Annual Clinical Conference / Contact Lens & Anterior Eye 34, Supplement 1 (2011) S1–S43 S11

CONFERENCE SESSION 15 – Practical Contact Lenses

How to be successful with soft torics

Philip Morgan

The number of patients fitted with soft toric contact lenses has increased dra-matically in recent years. In fact, about 30% of all soft contact lenses fitted inthe United Kingdom are torics. This presentation will consider the reasons forthe great success of soft toric lenses by reviewing their key clinical attributes:visual performance, physiological response and lens fitting performance. Vi-sual performance is generally good with soft toric lenses and the relativeperformance versus spheres will be considered. Can aspheric soft lenses per-form as a well as soft torics? Soft toric lens fit needs to be carefully assessedand recoded in order to optimise visual performance with these lenses; cur-rent methods for achieving this will be presented. Other clinical tips will bepresented to ensure the best clinical outcome for our patients with soft toriccontact lenses.

How to choose the right soft lens for your presbyopic patients and thepearls of multifocal success

Cheryl Donnelly

The demographics of the Global population are changing, presbyopes on theincrease! Consequently, the potential contact lens wearer base that are pres-byopic is increasing, and yet research shows that the number of contact lenswearers in this age group declines significantly. Contact lens manufacturersare investing in design and technology to enable practitioners to successfullyfit these patients with contact lenses. This generic presentation will explorethe lenses currently available to the practitioner and how to successfully pre-scribe these designs and discuss tips for symptom resolution. The success ofmodern lens designs for the presbyope has been shown to be directly relatedto practitioner communication; this will be discussed.

How to choose the right care regime for both patient and product

Nick Atkins

Still supplying your solution starter kit based on what’s in the cupboard andnearest to hand at the time? This lecture will discuss the current range ofcontact lens solutions, the selection of contact lens care with regards to thebalance of efficacy versus toxicity, the potential for compliance and their in-teraction with contact lens materials. Advice on how to help avoid solutionhypersensitivity as a result of inadvertently selecting a poor combination oflens, lens care and patient will be given.

How to introduce and fit RGPs in your practice

Andrew Elder Smith

This presentation will discuss the role of RGP lenses within the modern highstreet practice. Despite the huge advances made in soft lens technology, bothmanufacturing andmaterial, over recent years soft lenses still fail tomeet theneeds of a significant proportion of potential wearers. The benefits and ad-vantages of RGP lenses will be discussed and their role in maintaining longterm successful contact lens wear highlighted. Practical advice will be givenon communicating the benefits of RGP lenses to wearers and useful tips onhow to make fitting RGP lenses straightforward and a positive experiencefor both practitioner and wearer. Strategies for maximising comfort and vi-sion as well as minimising common complications will be outlined. Finally,suggestions for charging for time andmaterials to ensure the process is prof-itable for the practice will be made.

How am I doing? Using your practice metrics to ensure success

Patrick Myers

Eye Care Professionals (ECPs) are trained to look after patients. Most of theirprofessional education is focused on analysing patients’ clinical needs andrecommending solutions to help them see better or look better. Little, if any,formal training is devoted to either management or marketing. This meansthat many practice owners and managers learn the marketing and manage-

ment skills through a trial and error process that is both time consuming andexpensive. This presentation will show ECPs how to measure their practiceperformance, how to identify the strengths and weaknesses and how to im-plement changes that will lead to significant improvements.

How KPIs changed my practice

Martin Russ

Practice owners and managers will learn the importance of Key PerformanceIndicators (KPIs) for monitoring practice performance. The definition of KPIswill be discussed along with the many benefits that will come from mon-itoring just ONE relevant KPI for your practice. Help will be given to iden-tify which KPIs to measure at any particular time, depending on practiceimprovement objectives. Tips will be discussed which have been shown toimprove specific KPIs. It has been shown that when a team is involved in themonitoring of specific KPI’s, the performance relating to this KPI generallyimproves.

Communication, body language and so much more

Jayne Schofield

We know that good communication enhances the patient journey and pro-motes loyalty to the practice but can we say we are communicating suc-cessfully when a recent survey showed that the majority of respondents saidthey wore their daily disposable lenses for longer that recommended? Thisis an example of where poor communication can put our patients at risk.Can we say that we adopt our style of communication to suit the patient orcircumstances? Most Eye Care Professionals consider themselves to be goodcommunicators but might not ask themselves whether the content of thatcommunication is still current, accurate and relevant to their patients. Is itthe fact that we are still promoting old technology as in the case of hydro-gel lenses or teaching our students or trainees about outdated products andtechniques?

CONFERENCE SESSION 16 – Contact Lenses and General Health

Keynote Address: Health and safe contact lens wear

Lisa Keay

E-mail address: lkeay@george.org.au

Refractive error affects millions of people worldwide. In the US alone over110 million people need refractive correction to attain good vision. Myopia,the most common form of refractive error, occurs at a prevalence of approx-imately 10-30% in most western countries but as high as 80% in parts of Asia.Contact lenses are used widely and around 5-11% of the adult population,in high income countries use contact lenses. The safety of contact lenses isan important consideration by weight of the many millions of people world-wide who use contact lenses. In most markets, regulations for the distribu-tion of medical devices dictate that contact lenses can only be supplied af-ter being fitted and checked by an appropriately trained eye care provider.As the “gatekeepers” to contact lens products, contact lens practitioners arein a unique position of responsibility. Epidemiologic research over the last20 years has identified patient characteristics which can increase the likeli-hood of complications in contact lens use. A number of studies have identi-fied health conditions, such as upper respiratory tract infection and chronicdiseases including thyroid disease and immune compromise which can im-pact successful contact lens wear. Appropriate advice for contact lens wear-ers will be reviewed. A series of modifiable and nonmodifiable factors havebeen identified which alter risk profile. The utility of this information for con-tact lens practicewill be discussedwith results frompractitioner surveys andchanges in contact lens practice. There have also been several studies whichhave evaluated the comparative performance of different lens types. Con-servative contact lens management strategies will be discussed with a focuson choosing the right lens and lens care products for a patient. While con-tact lenses are highly successful means of correcting vision, there are com-plications of contact lens wear which can temporarily impact eye health,through localized injury and inflammation. In rare circumstances, complica-tions such as microbial keratitis can cause permanent harm, making contact