what is your opinion on this

[beatstreet]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I just started working at a private optometric practice and i had a question about something that happened today. a patient came in to pick up her glasses and was told that the prescription for one of the lenses was off by 0.25 (it was supposed to be -2.50, but the SRx was -2.75). now, the doctor told this patient that it was not off by that much and her eyes would get used to the lenses if it felt uncomfortable at first. what is your opinion on this?

 

[OntOD]

I just started working at a private optometric practice and i had a question about something that happened today. a patient came in to pick up her glasses and was told that the prescription for one of the lenses was off by 0.25 (it was supposed to be -2.50, but the SRx was -2.75). now, the doctor told this patient that it was not off by that much and her eyes would get used to the lenses if it felt uncomfortable at first. what is your opinion on this?

If a patient is undercorrected by ~10%, (s)he may experience discomfort, eyestrain, etc.. and I personally would not willfully dispense a lens that is that far off. If it was -8.50 vs -8.75, then that's a different story, and a majority of patients won't notice the difference. That being said, many patients will still adapt to such a discrepancy (-2.50 vs. -2.75) without any subjective complaints; so they still may be fine. If the dispenser told the patient that she can returrn and replace the lenses if she feels uncomfortable with them after a few days, then that's acceptable, but it still may add an inconvenience to the patient.

 

[rpames]

There is a saying at ICO, "What's quarter between friends?" A quarter diopter is such a very small amount that if I went in and refracted the patient, I could very easily be .25 different from the next guy. I agree that .25 in a 2.50 is different from .25 in an 8.58, but it is still pretty minor. Since the doc told the patient the lens was slightly off and they could return if it is problem, I find nothing wrong with what was done. And lets not forget that most people would love a little extra minus.