Eric Schmidt, O.D., Explains Why Nanodropper Was Right For His Clinic Network
When renowned glaucoma specialist Dr. Eric Schmidt first encountered Nanodropper, his skepticism was high. Dr. Schmidt is president of the Optometric Glaucoma Society and president of Omni Eye Specialists, part of the Keplr Vision network of eyecare clinics.
“My first thought was, ‘wow, that’s a great idea.’ My second was, ‘I can’t believe that it would have real benefit.’”
His opinion quickly flipped after meeting the Nanodropper team at a conference and witnessing a demonstration of the Nanodropper Adaptor. He reviewed some of the company’s published clinical trial data, and conducted his own successful trial in his office on bottles of Tropicamide.
Learn why after his initial skepticism, Dr. Schmidt and Keplr Vision are now rolling out Nanodroppers to their network of clinics across the country!
How does Nanodropper help your clinic?
We first tried using a Nanodropper Adaptor on a bottle of Tropicamide in one of our exam lanes. We put a Nanodropper on one bottle, and kept another bottle nearby without a Nanodropper attached. The bottle without Nanodropper ran out months earlier. That was a bit of an ‘aha’ moment for me.
Once the proof of concept was clear, we thought about where we can put this in our practice to save some money, and how do we help our patients with Nanodropper?
We have Nanodropper Adaptors on all of our dilating drops. We mostly use Tropicamide or Phenylephrine, which is so expensive. With seven exam lanes in our practice, we generate meaningful savings on our dilating drops by using Nanodropper Adaptors with these bottles.
Translate that to our Keplr Vision network, which includes 287 practice locations with more than a thousand exam rooms, the savings potential is very meaningful for our group.
How does Nanodropper help your patients?
Two items for me are adherence and keeping my patients on branded glaucoma eyedrops.
The difference between my patients using their drops every day versus running out at 22 days, 25 days, and not being able to refill until after 30 days due to their insurance policy, it makes a world of difference. The Nanodropper Adaptor takes them well past that 30-day mark.
We have also found that the Nanodropper allows us to keep patients on branded glaucoma eyedrops for longer. We have a huge glaucoma practice, and I’m a big proponent of using branded medication whenever possible. I have found the side effects and intraocular pressure benefit to be typically more predictable than generic drops.
As I convince patients to use Nanodropper, it decreases their cost per installation, which in many cases has allowed me to keep them on the branded medication. Keeping them on branded glaucoma eyedrops like branded prostaglandin and Alphagan P is a win for tolerability and efficacy. Generic Brimonadine, which is what I would use if my patient can’t tolerate Alphagan P, has a significantly worse side effect profile. Most notably with hypersensitivity and allergy. If I can reduce the likelihood that the patient will be hypersensitive to their medication, that’s a big win.
The same logic holds for patients who are on long-term dry eye medications. There should be a profound benefit in terms of reduced side effect risk. There is a great deal of risk of side effects from preservatives and buffering agents in glaucoma and dry eye drops. If we can reduce ocular surface disease side effects, patients are going to be happier and their vision will probably be better too.
