Vision Expo 2026: The value of advanced clinical evaluation and risk management for contact lenses

During Vision Expo 2026 in Orlando,Florida, Andrew Bruce LDO, ABOM, NCLEM, FCLSA, and Mark Schaeffer, OD, FAAO, discussed why patients often resist paying additional professional fees for contact lens services and how modern technology has paradoxically made that value harder, not easier, to see.

Bruce explained that many patients are heavily steered by price, especially in an environment where mass merchants advertise free exams and online sellers provide lenses without proper prescription verification. This price-driven behavior leads patients to question why they should pay an extra fee for a contact lens evaluation when, from their perspective, the doctor is “already doing” the work during the exam. They often don’t recognize the distinct, additional clinical steps required to evaluate whether ongoing contact lens wear is safe and appropriate for their eye health. Bruce stressed that this misunderstanding is fundamentally an education problem: patients need to be taught that professional eye care, particularly for contact lens wearers, is not a commodity but a detailed, ongoing health service.

Schaeffer builds on this by highlighting how dramatically contact lens technology has improved. In the past, toric and multifocal lenses required long settling times and multiple adjustments, making the fitting process visibly complex and time-consuming to patients. Today, advanced materials and optics mean that first fits are correct around 80% of the time when following fitting guides, and chair time has decreased significantly. Ironically, this efficiency can make patients feel like they are getting less for their money because they spend less time in the chair. Schaeffer argued that practitioners must reclaim that “saved” time for intentional education and communication, not just rushing to the next patient. By explaining how advanced designs, optics, and materials enable rapid, comfortable vision, doctors can help patients understand that what looks like a quick renewal is actually the result of sophisticated technology and expertise. Patients should leave feeling heard, respected, and informed—equipped to explain to others that their lenses are the “latest and greatest,” offering better vision and end-of-day comfort, and that the professional fee reflects real clinical value rather than a simple prescription renewal.