1. Thought Provoking Trends Opticianry Summit May 1-2, 2012

2. Our Intent O To provoke thought O To indicate potential areas for consideration O To stimulate discussion and debate

3. BABY BOOMERS AGING O Need more eyecare O More doctor visits, chair time, surgery, after care O Need more eyewear, more complicated O Needs for low vision aids What’s your expertise? Do you like seniors? Visual aids needs for the blind and visually impaired is growing. How should demographic changes be added to the opticians scope of practice?

4. O Spectacle sales ~150,000 pairs/month O PD requests can result in patient conflict O CL replacement is 15% of contact lens sales O Borders, Blockbuster, Netflix What’s your attitude about online eyewear Will you change the way you do things? What do you need to know? When will you be brick and click? Can you make sunwear as a viable expression of your commitment to patients? ONLINE

5. SHORTAGE OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS O Not enough MD’s O OD – more schools but still an expected shortage O Nurses and allied health professionals Are there enough opticians and techs? What are the new skills that need to be added? In a shortage, what job tasks should/could be transferred?

6. DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES O The digital world is changing faster than we can absorb it O Wavefront, optimized, aberrometry…. O 65% independents suggest that they dispense freeform O Lab results suggest ~20% O Some ‘experts’ have it wrong O Refraction by iPhone, Google eyeglasses What does it take to address this markets adversity to new? Don’t you trust us? Products are more sophisticated, opticians are not? Do you have the tools to know what’s real?

7. EDUCATION, REQUIREMENTS & AVAILABILITY O Mixed requirements state to state for opticians O Some states separate licenses O No state’s reciprocity O Education approvers are also deliverers O Education is mainstay of association revenue O Associations struggle for members Is Licensure important? Should education be required? What should it be? Why does/doesn’t Optometry and Ophthalmology help? Should there be a common states agreement?

8. NATIONAL HEALTHCARE LAW O A push for more eye exams O ODs legislating required exams for kids entering school O Check Yearly, See Clearly (program over, intent still there) What “get-together” programs should we endorse?

9. SALARY AND COMPENSATION Happy with your compensation? Does it warrant growth in the profession? Chicken or egg – education and skill or compensation? O Average OD Staff Salaries ~$15-16

10. INDEPENDENT OPTICIANRY DISAPPEARING O 30 year trend O Mixed goals and infighting Do we still want to be independent or instead work for others (MD & OD)? How can the trend be reversed? What program is needed to develop the independent?

11. O 83% ‐ 87% of consumers view eyeglasses primarily as a medical necessity O 75% ‐ 82% see plano sunglasses as a medical necessity O 11.1% of all eyeglass wearers reported that they would “definitely” be willing to pay extra money for a pair of frames produced by a top ‐ name designer What is the role of brand and style in Opticianry? Is Brand 50% of the sale Is this good for retail, online, independent, etc…? Do Consumers Value the Fashion or Function in Their Eyewear?

12. DEFINE OPTICIAN O Optical dispensers receive favorable ratings of excellent or good on sales assistance overall from the majority (83%) of consumers. O Over half, 55% of consumers say the dispenser is very or somewhat important in helping them reach their final decision. Who are you now? What should you be in the future? Is there segmentation coming? What are the essential skills required?

13. OPTICIANRY’S SCOPE STALLED O No new state licenses on >30 years O No new certification test requirements O Added “Advanced” O Potential new certifications O Optician refractionist O Sight testing What is an optician? Will everyone agree to the definition and promote it? What are the new skill definitions?

14. ARE YOU DOING THE BEST JOB? O Average AR lenses approaching a third of lenses – is that good? O Does the consumer really know what you’re there for?

15. NO RECOGNIZED EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS FOR OPTICIANRY O Everyone has a new or different idea O Requires technical, clinical competencies O Requires reasonable expectation of time to learn/complete O Must include on-the-job clinical experience, supervised, documented and tested What should the program include? How can it be made accessible? How to add the hands-on?

16. SHOULD YOU WEAR SUNGLASSES? O The data suggests that we do a very poor job

17. CONSUMERS DON’T KNOW “O” O Optician, Optometrist, Ophthalmologist O Optometrist is the “go-to” word, ODs doing an excellent job Do we know who we are? What are the right venues to teach “optician”? What do we need to do first, next, next, next…?