Some observers, including, usually, myself, often say that delivery of eyecare in this country is a confused, fragmented thing.

Marge Axelrad

This is due to the existence of so many different types of delivery systems and points of view about the role of different ECPs and retailers, suppliers and laboratories and managed vision care companies. Then there is the frequent disconnect that often exists between frame and spectacle lens companies, not to mention the eyeglass folks and contact lens folks.

The problem of fragmentation is that eyecare’s message to the consumer, to the patient and to decisionmakers about health care in the legislature and on the ‘outside’ of the field is often a batch of mixed signals which doesn’t really do the vision care universe, as a whole, any good. Rather, some patients are served admirably and in other instances, some not always as well.

Or, to look at it another way, the divisions and subdivisions within the vision care field sometimes operate at cross purposes when it really comes to communicating what’s best and new and modern about today’s eyecare options and eyewear solutions, from clinical development, to new technology, to style messages.

A new way to look at things is illustrated by Vision Monday’s Cover Story this month, which looks at a few examples of practices - rather large ones at that--which embody all the elements of eyecare in one place.

As VM reports, eyecare professionals involved with this type of broad-based practice tell VM that consumers find a comfort level in getting various types of vision-care services under one roof, and having a professional staff with a wide spectrum of specialized knowledge available to them.