BUILDING YOUR PRACTICE WITH
GP AND CUSTOM SOFT CONTACT LENSES
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This newsletter will feature highlights from our April eye care practitioners webinar from GPLI Advisory Board member, Dr. Ed Boshnick, entitled: “Scleral Lens Practice Management”. Dr. Boshnick, a GPLI Advisory Board member, is a prolific specialty lens fitter and expert. He also might possibly be the best in our profession at taking images and his webinar emphasized both the benefits of taking images of scleral lenses and those accompanying the technology associated with scleral lenses.
The best I know at this technology is Dr. Tom Arnold (simply go to our Scleral Lens Troubleshooting FAQs module Click Here to Access The Module and see the quality of the many images he contributed) and Dr. Arnold credits Dr. Boshnick for his mentorship in this area. This webinar is now archived and available online under the “Webinars” tab at www.gpli.info.
In our next newsletter you will be in for another treat. Dr. Anita Gulmiri’s webinar this past Tuesday night to students and residents on orthokeratology troubleshooting represented an outstanding primer on orthokeratology fitting, evaluation, and topography applications. For anyone interested in incorporating orthokeratology into their practice, this is a must see and can be accessed under the “Residents & Students” tab on the home page.
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EDUCATION SPOTLIGHT:
"Scleral Lens Practice Management"
Edward L. Boshnick, OD, FSLS, FAAO
Dr. Boshnick had the following clinical pearls:
1. Learn from the “Pros”. Attend the International Congress of Scleral Lenses (ICSC) held every July in Florida and the Global Specialty Lens Symposium held in Las Vegas in January.
2. Contact optometrists, ophthalmologists, and opticians in your community to let them know you are developing this subspecialty.
3. Invest in photographic equipment that will allow you to capture clear, high resolution anterior segment images. These photos – along with other images (topographies, OCT, and slit lamp photos) – should be displayed and explained to the patient (ideally on a software program similar to Forum).
4. Develop a website with a unique name dedicated to scleral lenses and other specialty contact lenses: include photos and images to explain the many conditions and diseases that you treat with this technology.
5. Create a professional Facebook and Instagram page. Post interesting cases along with photos and images.
6. Gradually eliminate as many insurance plans as possible. What you lose in insurance revenues will be more than made up for in the higher fees that you will need to charge these patients.
The majority of Dr. Boshnick’s presentation pertained to focusing on imaging and photographic technologies to best determine the course of action that will be needed to address the needs of the scleral lens-wearing patient. He also provided a number of scleral lens cases to illustrate the benefits of imaging. His bottom line key points were:
1. Building a scleral lens practice is the best way to differentiate your practice from so many others that don’t want to get involved with this amazing and life-changing technology.
2. This is a great opportunity for those who are interested in addressing the visual and ocular needs of a huge number of prospective patients.
For anyone desiring to understand how to take high quality images as well as their many applications in clinical practice – notably with scleral lenses – this is a “must view “webinar.
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Resource Spotlight: Scleral Lenses
To accompany Dr. Boshnick’s webinar you can find a number of scleral resources under “Education By Lens Type” on the home page. This would include the following:
1. 30 archived webinars on scleral lenses
2. Scleral Lens Troubleshooting FAQs: a recently revised downloadable 40 page document pertaining to scleral lens applications, design, fitting, problem-solving, and care with 127 illustrations.
3. A link to the outstanding Michigan College of Optometry Scleral Lens Fit Scales.
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LOCATE A GP SPECIALIST
The GPLI maintains a database of U.S. eye care professionals who prescribe and fit GP lenses. This list is used daily by personnel visiting our consumer education website: contactlenses.org. Driven by zip codes, patients can obtain a list of GP Specialists (up to 25 listings) within a 100 mile radius of their zip code.
Do you need to refer a patient? Utilizing the new zip code where your patient is relocating or visiting, find a specialist to refer them.
Join 2,791 GP Specialists that are already listed in our database throughout the United States. You need to specialize in 4 of the 5 areas of expertise to enhance your listing. They are:
General GP Contact Lenses
Bifocal/Multifocal Contact Lenses
Contact Lenses for Irregular Corneas
Corneal Reshaping / Orthokeratology
Scleral Lens Designs
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2021 GPLI Monthly Webinar Series
May 18, 2021
Management of the Scleral Lens Ocular Surface Disease Patient Beyond the Fit
Presented by
Karen G. Carrasquillo OD, PhD, FAAO, FSLS, FBCLA
8:00 PM Central
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Upcoming:
June 15: Heidi Miller OD, FAAO, FSLS:
Pediatric Specialty Contact Lens Applications
July 20: Jeff Walline OD, PhD, FAAO:
Myopia Management Update
July 27: STUDENT WEBINAR: Dawn Lam, MS, OD, FAAO and Erin Rueff, OD, PhD, FAAO
Troubleshooting Corneal GP Lenses
August 17: Stephanie L. Woo OD, FAAO, FSLS:
Contact Lens Management of Keratoconus
September 21: Renee Reeder OD, FAAO, FSLS: Custom Soft Lens Update for Healthy and Irregular Cornea Patients
October 19: Jason Jedlicka OD, FAAO, FSLS:
Software Applications for Specialty Lens Designs
November 16: Greg DeNaeyer OD, FAAO, FSLS: Beyond the Basics: Advanced scleral lens design
December 21: Maria K. Walker OD, MS, FAAO, FSLS: GP Material Update
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Orders shipped to the USA only - 200 of each complimentary including shipping
1) GP Lens Management Guide (download only)
2) Fluorescein Pattern Identification Card
3) Correcting Presbyopia Tips Card
4) Contact Lens Clinical Pocket Guide
5) In-Office Disinfection of Multi-Patient Use Diagnostic Contact Lenses
6) See with Your Contacts Even When You’re Not Wearing Them (Orthokeratology Patient Brochure which can be downloaded as well)
7) Look as Young as You Feel (Multifocal Patient Brochure which can be downloaded as well)
8) Scleral Lenses are Big News (Scleral Consumer Brochure which can be downloaded as well)
9) Caring for Your GP Lenses (Care and Handling Patient Brochure which can be downloaded as well)
10) Myopia Management (Myopia Patient Brochure for which the references can be downloaded from this site)
11) Reading Verification Card (features both passages on one size of varying acuity and different types of print – newspaper, etc. – on the other side)
12) Scleral Lens Care Tips, Application and Removal Card
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Edward S. Bennett, OD, MSEd, FAAO, FSLS
Professor Emeritus, University of Missouri St Louis College of Optometry
President and Executive Director
GP LENS INSTITUTE (GPLI)
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The Gas Permeable Lens Institute is dedicated to providing eyecare professionals with unbiased educational and practice-building resources highlighting GPs and custom manufactured soft contact lenses.
Stay safe, remain happy, enjoy life and
respect and support each other.
ESB/pbw
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GP Lens Institute
(402) 465-4122
(800) 344-9060 (USA & Canada)
programs@GPLI.info
GP Lens Institute
GPLI Experts
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