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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-30

  • @GlennBeck Whoever chose the video of the day for 3-4-10 should be fired. http://bit.ly/aB0w8O #
  • @jabancroft Your awesome friends who…want you to de-pants in public…with your wife present? in reply to jabancroft #
  • @leolaporte Topic for TWIT should include Glenn Beck's new insider extreme. http://bit.ly/aDmUme in reply to leolaporte #
  • @ConanOBrien Still no Shows in SLC either. in reply to ConanOBrien #
  • I'm sick, but I have enough strength to send this message. Sleep is good.
    David Langford #
  • Now that Obamacare passed, Americans better start studying Argentina 2001. http://bit.ly/cQUVbT #
  • I couldn't agree more: http://bit.ly/bJlTnq #
  • Just got back from Repub. Caucus. for my precinct. Last time: 5 people. This time: over 70. #
  • Since I contributed a dollar to the Children's Miracle Network, I wore jeans to work today. It was awesome. #
  • I love Easter Sunday. Family, Food, and #ldsconf #
  • @BrianReganComic You must have been near Pocatello, ID in reply to BrianReganComic #
  • I won't be taking my laptop to Bentonville, so I'll Tweet from my phone. #WMHW2010 David Langford #
  • Eating mexican food at WM optical lab's multipurpose room in Fayetteville. #WMHW2010 #
  • The WM lab in Fayetteville is huge. I think they converted an old supercenter building. Over 10000 orders a day! #WMHW2010 #
  • I just spoke with Dr. MA #WMHW2010 #
  • I just met Dr. Mark Travis, former big wig at WM HQ and now a VP at 1800CONTACTS. He says anytime you want a tour in Draper, UT it can … #
  • Check out 1800CONACTS new drama commercial on YouTube. #WMHW2010 #
  • I think doctors and insurance/.gov needs an open, honest discusion re exam fee for ins. vs private pay. it does cost us more to bill in … #
  • Billing ins. Overhead is more than pvt pay but not double. we should be allowed to charge a little more to ins. #WMHW2010 #
  • Breakfast was a really long line, but I still got my waffle. Good thing about WM conf is tons of food. #WMHW2010 #
  • WM wants to be the leader in providing affordable healthcare to EVERY American. #WMHW2010 #
  • Save money. Live better. is not just a tag line. It's a summary of a Sam Walton quote and an obligation to our customers. #WMHW2010 #
  • 2500 vision centers in USA. 3700 pharmacies. 77 Clinics. 3 labs in USA, 2 in Mexico. #WMHW2010 #
  • Top V.C.s yearly gross 1.2 to 1.8 Meeelion dollars. #WMHW2010 #
  • IF we're supposed to get adv. Insruments and EMR, then we need a floor plan to accomodate it. #WMHW2010 #
  • Staff training in talent, spoptical skills needs to step up. not just sales training. #WMHW2010 #
  • 38 /58 /88 priced glasses are here to stay. There will be a back to school rollback for a daily contact brand. #WMHW2010 #
  • WM employee discount for associates in VCs is so competetive that it begs the question why is there even vision insurance? #WMHW2010 #
  • Of 77 clinics in WM, most are afilliated with a local hospital or healthcare system. My ? is does WM care if panel excludes ODs? #WMHW2010 #
  • Why aren't all VC managers opticians? Good question. We'll probably work towards that while still respecting those who aren't. #WMHW2010 #
  • This made me laugh: http://onion.com/ckprW7 via @TheOnion – Deranged Gunman Opens Fire On Shooting Range #

Posted in General.

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By the way, got a drop for my eye?

What do you do when people ask you outside the exam room: “What drop should I buy to help my red eye(s)?”

I break it down on my practice website.

Posted in General.


Optometry Video

Apparently there was a video contest, and Marc Schmitt at PUCO submitted a great entry. I recognized three professors in it: Dr. Hannu Laukkanen, Dr. Dennis Smith, and Dr. Lorne Yudcovitch.

H/T to Dr. Maino.

Posted in General.

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Walmart Health & Wellness Meeting 2010 Updates for 2010-05-06

  • WM employee discount for associates in VCs is so competetive that it begs the question why is there even vision insurance? #WMHW2010 #
  • Of 77 clinics in WM, most are afilliated with a local hospital or healthcare system. My ? is does WM care if panel excludes ODs? #WMHW2010 #
  • Why aren't all VC managers opticians? Good question. We'll probably work towards that while still respecting those who aren't. #WMHW2010 #

Posted in General.

Tagged with , , .


Walmart Health & Wellness Meeting 2010 Updates for 2010-05-05

  • Breakfast was a really long line, but I still got my waffle. Good thing about WM conf is tons of food. #WMHW2010 #
  • WM wants to be the leader in providing affordable healthcare to EVERY American. #WMHW2010 #
  • Save money. Live better. is not just a tag line. It's a summary of a Sam Walton quote and an obligation to our customers. #WMHW2010 #
  • 2500 vision centers in USA. 3700 pharmacies. 77 Clinics. 3 labs in USA, 2 in Mexico. #WMHW2010 #
  • Top V.C.s yearly gross 1.2 to 1.8 Meeelion dollars. #WMHW2010 #
  • IF we're supposed to get adv. Insruments and EMR, then we need a floor plan to accomodate it. #WMHW2010 #
  • Staff training in talent, spoptical skills needs to step up. not just sales training. #WMHW2010 #
  • 38 /58 /88 priced glasses are here to stay. There will be a back to school rollback for a daily contact brand. #WMHW2010 #

Posted in General.

Tagged with , , .


Walmart Health & Wellness Meeting 2010 Updates for 2010-05-04

  • Eating mexican food at WM optical lab's multipurpose room in Fayetteville. #WMHW2010 #
  • The WM lab in Fayetteville is huge. I think they converted an old supercenter building. Over 10000 orders a day! #WMHW2010 #
  • I just spoke with Dr. Mark Travis. He’ll give you a tour of 1800Contacts when you’re in the SLC area. #WMHW2010 #
  • I just met Dr. Mark Travis, former big wig at WM HQ and now a VP at 1800CONTACTS. He says anytime you want a tour in Draper, UT it can … #
  • Check out 1800CONACTS new drama commercial on YouTube. #WMHW2010 #
  • I think doctors and insurance/.gov needs an open, honest discusion re exam fee for ins. vs private pay. it does cost us more to bill in … #
  • Billing ins. Overhead is more than pvt pay but not double. we should be allowed to charge a little more to ins. #WMHW2010 #

Posted in General.

Tagged with , , .


Walmart Health & Wellness Meeting 2010 Updates for 2010-04-29

  • I won't be taking my laptop to Bentonville, so I'll Tweet from my phone and port it to this blog. #WMHW2010 David Langford #

Posted in General.

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Biofinity Contact Lens Review

Since “Biofinity” and “Biofinity contact lens review” are the most frequently searched terms leading to my website, I thought I would give everyone my view of the Biofinity contact lens.
Biofinity Contact Lens Box
Its technical specs can be found at the Coopervision website. Silicone hyrdrogel lenses (the super breathable class of contacts) have been on the market for years, but Coopervision came to the game after Ciba, Bausch & Lomb, and Vistakon. All the latter use a special coating on the surface to make the silicone material wettable for your eye, but Coopervision’s unique Biofinity material is wettable throughout the matrix of the material.

It’s a one month lens, which is convenient for most people to remember when to toss their now old lenses which will soon become cesspools ripe for eye infections. The reason is because they build up deposits, like this:

B&L and CL Spectrum photos

Replace your contacts on schedule!!!

Lots of lenses are only two week and toss lenses, but Biofinity is resistant to deposits enough to allow it to be a one month lens. Official and approved.

Biofinity also got an FDA indication for extended wear. In other words, if your doctor thinks your eyes can handle it, Biofinity can be worn one week straight, take it out, clean it, soak it overnight, and then repeat.

Now, I’ve tried this, and while it was totally doable, for me it’s not as comfortable for extended wear compared to Ciba’s Night & Day (by the way, I refuse to call it Air Optix Night & Day Aqua because that is just waaaaaaaay too long a name for a contact lens.) But guess what. That’s just me. Maybe for you it could be fine. However, almost every patient I’ve tried this with comes back a week or two later and says they would rather be Rx’d Night & Day if extended wear was their approved goal.

If you’re just interested in daily wear (taking out every night) or if price is the main consideration, then Biofinity wins over Night & Day because it’s only around $50 per box of 6 lenses rather than Night and Day at ~$70 per box of six. Another consideration is that you can now get Air Optix Aqua (regular, NOT Night & Day) for ~$47 per box. My only beef with that is that it’s basically the same lens as O2Optix which was released as a two week lens, so I’m not sure whether to believe that Ciba wants you to wear a 4 week lens for two weeks or a two week lens for four weeks.

Comfort-wise, it seems to me that the percentage of patients that like the comfort of the Biofinity is about the same percentage of people that like the feel of O2Optix. Now, the only thing is, both those percentages are less compared to Acuvue Oasys comfort. But consider that a year supply of Acuvue Oasys (a 2 week lens) is about ~$272 while Biofinity is around $200.

Biofinity has a great toric lens in case you have low to moderate amounts of astigmatism (0.75-2.50) in one or both eyes. For mild amounts of astigmatism (0.25-0.50 and maybe 0.75), its aspheric optics help mask it for clearer vision compared to contacts without aspheric optics.

Anyway, my advice is to just try it out. If you like it, buy it. If not, try something else. That’s how I roll. I alternate between wearing Biofinity, Acuvue Oasys, and Night & Day. Mostly Night & Day. But hey, I’ve been wearing contact lenses so long that you could poke me in the eye, and I’d barely feel it. But seriously, I think I have significant corneal hypoesthesia which allows me to tolerate pretty much any lens that gets pushed out into the contact lens market.

Another consideration for you is the compatibility of lens material to your desired contact lens solution system. Some lenses can only tolerate the most expensive solutions. The Biofinity material is pretty much compatible with even the most cheapest of house brand multi-purpose solutions. On average. Your eyes may vary.

I think Biofinity is a quality lens, but take it home along with your Oasys and Night & Day or O2Optix and see which one works best at which price for you.

There, does that answer your question?

Posted in General, Reviews.

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Optoblog Wins Lottery – Retiring from Eyecare

After spending thousands of dollars per month playing the lottery, it’s finally paid off. I won the Idaho lottery, so I’m retiring from the eyecare profession.

With all the money I can pay off my practice loan, student loan, line of credit, credit cards, taxes due and…wait, I guess I’ll have to work a few more years because I still wouldn’t have enough to retire on.

Oh well. Happy April Fools’ Day!

Posted in General.


Optoblog Poetry #004

Fly open. Zipper Broken.
Eyes elevated. Me Mortified.
Seventeen bucks at Division 1 saves the day.

True story, BTW.

Posted in Poetry.

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