NEW YORK—The launch of new remote refraction technologies is a major topic of concern among eyecare professionals, particularly optometrists. A new Jobson Research ‘QUICK POLL,’ sent to the broad Jobson Optical database, generated more than 1,000 responses in a 24-hour period and illustrated those attitudes with nearly 80 percent of respondents indicating they were “very” concerned and another 15 percent reporting they were “somewhat” concerned that remote refraction services could cause patients to miss out on a comprehensive eye exam.

The survey specifically mentioned the new Opternative technology, which debuted earlier this week, as VMail reported and the new EyeNetra Blink service, which launched earlier this spring.

The survey reflected ECPs’ attitudes about patients in general being aware of the difference between a refraction and a comprehensive eye exam. Sixty-one percent of the respondents said that they felt patients were not aware of the difference while 19 percent thought they were and another 19 percent said they weren’t sure. In addition, a big majority, 73.7 percent, said their additional concern was inaccurate refractions from the new technologies, while secondary concerns were a loss of revenue or patients.

The majority of the QUICK POLL respondents were optometrists, 63.2 percent, another 27 percent were opticians/dispensers while other respondents described themselves in other office or lab roles.

When asked if certain technologies and models such as Opternative and Blink were a disruptive force in the eyecare industry, ECP respondents said that remote/online refractions were either somewhat or very disruptive (a collective total of 78.4 percent) while a collective 71.9 percent said that “smartphone based auto refractors and other smartphone based diagnostic equipment was disruptive. Some 88 percent collectively saw “online dispensing” as a disruptive force.

A full report of the survey, in a downloadable format, will be posted on Monday to the Jobson Optical Research website.