Luxottica has further strengthened its optometrists’ myopia management expertise with a raft of resources for continued professional development and clinical use.
Peter Murphy, Luxottica’s Director of Eyecare and Community, Australia & New Zealand said in the face of a growing global myopia epidemic, Luxottica is ensuring its 700+ practising optometrists (from OPSM Australia and New Zealand as well as Laubman & Pank) are best placed to discuss various myopia management treatment options with patients (or parents of patients) who are myopic or at risk of developing myopia.
“Data shows that patients are now presenting earlier and becoming more myopic, with more serious eye health outcomes a consequence. Therefore, we have embarked on a comprehensive program covering education, communication and training of our optometrists and retail team,” he said.
As well as providing a number of exclusive CPD modules on myopia via the Luxottica Institute of Learning, since 2018 Luxottica has facilitated workshops and follow-up myopia lectures for its optometrists, delivered by leading external academic speakers. Additionally, key optometrists have been able to access Luxottica scholarships, enabling them to complete post graduate University studies in myopia with the expectation that their learnings about best practice myopia management will be shared with the broader team.
MYOPIA MANAGEMENT SUPPORT PACKS
At practice level, the distribution of myopia management support packs containing evidence based information sheets, has helped educate both practice staff and patients.
“Luxottica produced the myopia management packs with the input of its optometrists from its two key focus groups, namely the Luxottica Eyecare Advisory Panel (LEAP) and the Contact Lens Advisory Team (CLAT),” explained Mr Murphy. “LEAP is a sounding board for all things related to optometry whereas CLAT provides input to matters specifically related to contact lenses and solutions. Essentially they are the key opinion leaders of our Luxottica optometry community.”
PRODUCT SPECIFIC TRAINING AND TECHNOLOGY
For product specific training, Luxottica recently collaborated with both CooperVision and Essilor to deliver webinars on both MiSight contact lenses and Myopilux ophthalmic lenses respectively.
“In November 2019, over 90% of our 700+ optometrists completed both the CooperVison MiSight accreditation and the Essilor Myopilux training. All Luxottica stores are now able to offer these products as treatment options and form a key pillar in our approach to myopia management,” said Mr Murphy.
Additionally, he noted that Luxottica now has 50 optometrists skilled and actively prescribing orthokeratology (OK) contact lenses for myopia management. This service is to be complemented by the introduction of new eye care technology, including the Essilor WAM 700 Wave Analyzer, which will significantly increase the number of stores with access to corneal topographers, supporting more optometrists in prescribing OK lenses.
“The Essilor WAM 700 Wave Analyzer provides a plethora of clinical data regarding the anterior segment of the eye, and a good insight into the health of the cornea and lens. It will be used in conjunction with the Essilor Vision R800 phoropter to produce a more precise refraction and a better customer experience,” explained Mr Murphy.
“The Vision R800 phoropter means that we can now refract to 0.01D. If we are intending to monitor small changes in myopia, nothing comes close to this level of sensitivity. We are also considering the best technology to incorporate axial length measurements of the eye and monitor any changes over time,” he said.
GLOBAL LEARNINGS
As a global business with a significant presence in Singapore, China and Hong Kong, Luxottica is well placed to observe trends in myopia and approaches to its management. To this end, over the past two years Luxottica ANZ has sent several optometrists on short term study tours to both Hong Kong and Singapore as part of its Luxottica International Network Exchange (LINX) program.
Its merger with Essilor, which has a major research and design facility in Singapore, has also provided opportunities to collaborate and gain insights into the latest clinical trends in the Asia Pacific region.
With a focus on continued learning and improvement, Mr Murphy said Luxottica is committed to exploring more opportunities to further the knowledge and skills of its optometric team.
“As one of the largest corporate groups of optometrists, Luxottica has a responsibility to ensure that its standards of care are at the forefront of clinical best practice. We collect all relevant myopia management related data and use it to provide feedback to our optometrists regarding appropriate clinical benchmarks. We are committed to the overall long-term eye health and clinical care of our patients… at the heart of the matter is the need and desire to look after every customer as best we can.”
