This Month’s Moderator: Shelby Brogdon, OD

Sometimes, the simplest solutions can be the hardest ones to implement. As optometric practitioners, we’re aware of the advancements made in contact lens technology in recent years. The optics, materials, and range of fit parameters for lenses are truly remarkable compared to those of older-generation lenses, and their comfort and convenience have the potential to greatly improve the quality of patients’ daily lives. So, why are so many of us still focused on growing this segment of our business? Why do we still have new patients who come to their first appointment in outdated or inappropriate contacts because they either didn’t know about the new lens options or were told they weren’t candidates for a toric or multifocal? Why are so many active and athletic kids still in glasses?

I’ve been working with the Contact Lens Institute as one of its 2025 Visionaries, and I’ve been surprised to learn how many doctors simply are not talking about contact lenses with their patients. In August 2023, the Contact Lens Institute and the Vision Council conducted a survey with its US-based provider panel. From 173 qualified responses, only 49% said they discuss the option of contact lenses with most of their contact-naïve, eligible patients at every encounter.¹ Learning this changed the way I was practicing, and I’ve been impressed by how simply raising the topic with patients has grown my contact lens volume in a short period of time.

And so, the focus of this edition of Business Matters is on education—how we clinicians can better inform our patients about contact lens options that might just solve a pain point for them. The best way to do this is to get to know our patients’ daily routines, so we can connect the dots between their visual needs and the right solutions. Having these conversations isn’t hard, it’s just a matter of adding targeted questions to our dialogues with each patient who sits in our chair.

—Shelby Brogdon, OD

1. The Culture Calculation: Data-backed behaviors for contact lens success. The Contact Lens Institute. Fall 2023. https://www.contactlensinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CLI-Contact-Lens-Culture-Report-Fall-2023.pdf. Accessed June 12, 2025.