How much money can a pair of OK lenses save after centralized procurement? Here are the things parents should pay attention to

Produced by | Eye Health is Real

Author | Chen Zhenzhen

1. The results of the first local centralized procurement of OK glasses are out, and the OK glasses that originally cost tens of thousands of yuan have seen a price reduction.

2. In addition to the price, you also need to pay attention to the qualifications of the institution that fits the OK lenses. Fitting OK lenses is a rigorous medical practice, and medical institutions below the second level do not have the qualifications to fit OK lenses.

3. OK lenses can alleviate the worsening of myopia, but the effect varies from person to person, and not all myopic patients are suitable for wearing them.

"In March last year, I bought my child a pair of imported OK glasses for a total price of 12,400 yuan. The doctor recommended replacing a pair every 1.5-2 years. The monthly maintenance costs for flushing solution, care solution, etc. are about 400 yuan." A parent of a myopic child told Eye Health that the cost of wearing OK glasses is nearly 20,000 yuan a year.

On June 2, 2023, the official website of the Hebei Provincial Medical Drug and Equipment Centralized Procurement Center released the proposed winning results of 19 types of medical consumables in the centralized volume procurement, among which the proposed winning results of orthokeratology lenses (commonly known as "OK lenses") were released. This is the first time that OK lenses have been included in the centralized procurement. Although it is not nationwide, it has also touched the hearts of many people.

Centralized procurement of OK lenses, from the era of tens of thousands of yuan to the era of thousands of yuan?

This round of local alliance procurement was led by Hebei Province, with a total of 16 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions participating. According to the results, the total number of OK lenses reported was 14,342 pieces, which were divided into two categories: standard lenses and toric lenses, corresponding to conventional vision correction and astigmatism correction.

There are a total of 5 companies selected for this OK lens procurement, with 10 products.

Image source: Hebei Province Medical Drugs and Equipment Centralized Procurement Center official website

In terms of winning bid prices, the standard lenses ranged from RMB 1,760 to RMB 4,050 per piece, and the toroidal lenses ranged from RMB 2,260 to RMB 4,450 per piece.

The selected companies include two domestic listed companies, Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. and Aibon Medical; among the other three companies, Xiamen Nanpeng Hengtai Technology Development Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Haohai Biotechnology and also the agent of Taiwan Hengtai Optics; Beijing Remote Vision Technology Co., Ltd. is the agent of Japan Aerfa; Shanghai Youkang Medical Equipment Co., Ltd. is the agent of South Korea's LUCID.

Eye Health noted that according to data from the National Medical Products Administration, 15 OK lenses have been approved for sale in China, of which 7 are domestic brands, involving manufacturers such as Optoelectronics, Aibo Medical, and Visiona Technology. Imported brands account for a relatively high proportion, of which 2 involve manufacturers in Taiwan, China, and 6 involve manufacturers in the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea and other countries.

Before the centralized procurement, the price of OK glasses was often more than 10,000 yuan. According to a report by Beijing News Shell Finance in July 2022, the terminal price of a pair of OK glasses ranged from 6,800 yuan to 13,000 yuan, among which the price of imported brands was relatively high. In addition, OK glasses basically need to be replaced once a year, and the high price makes many families miserable.

The lens prices finally determined in this centralized procurement are equivalent to the terminal price, with the cheapest pair of OK lenses costing 3,520 yuan and the most expensive pair costing 8,900 yuan. Compared with the previous prices of 6,800 yuan to 13,000 yuan, the price reduction range is about 30% to 50%.

When fitting a pair of OK glasses, in addition to the price of the lenses, there are also medical service fees (examination fees before fitting, regular follow-up fees after fitting) and daily care costs.

According to Red Star Capital Bureau, if you buy OK lenses in the ophthalmology department of a large comprehensive tertiary public hospital, routine checks such as vision are free, but instrument checks need to be paid for at the outpatient clinic, and the price of a comprehensive instrument check is about 400 yuan. OK lenses need to be rechecked one day, one week, one month, two months to three months after wearing, and every three months thereafter. If a comprehensive instrument check is performed each time, the annual recheck fee is about 2,800 yuan.

Yanjianweishi consulted many parents of myopic children. They said that the monthly care costs for their children wearing OK lenses, such as flushing solution and care solution, are about 200-300 yuan, and the annual care costs are about 3,000 yuan.

Assuming that the price of a pair of OK glasses was 6,800 yuan before the centralized procurement, and it dropped to 3,520 yuan after the centralized procurement, how much money can be saved after the centralized procurement if the OK glasses of this specification are fitted in the ophthalmology department of a tertiary public hospital and a comprehensive instrument inspection is carried out on time? Eye Health has done some calculations:

The director of the ophthalmology department of a tertiary hospital in Beijing, Xiang Jianwei, told Yan Jianwei that the price of OK glasses for patients will definitely come down after the centralized procurement. Whether the centralized procurement can be implemented well is another question. It is not convenient to predict the future situation at present.

Besides the price, there are hidden concerns when fitting OK lenses

If you enter the keyword "OK glasses" in the search engine, you will find that there are many OK glasses fitting institutions in the advertising information flow.

OK lens fitting institutions displayed in the advertising information flow

Eye Health contacted one of the private hospitals through the advertisement information. After a brief communication on WeChat, it was learned that as long as the child is over 8 years old and has no eye disease after examination, he can wear OK glasses, but there was no explanation about other taboos. The prices of different brands of products in this institution vary, ranging from 4,000 yuan to 20,000 yuan per pair. The customer service also revealed that you can enjoy a discount of 500 to 800 yuan by registering for an appointment at the store.

Orthokeratology lenses, also known as OK lenses, are a special design of highly oxygen-permeable hard corneal contact lenses. The lenses themselves have no degree, but are a non-surgical method of temporarily changing the corneal refractive power by changing the geometric shape of the cornea to improve naked eye vision. Myopic patients wear them for 8-10 hours at night when they sleep, and they can temporarily have clear naked eye vision during the day, but the cornea that is pressed down will slowly rebound, and they continue to wear them at night, and so on.

OK lenses belong to the third category of medical devices in China. In order to ensure the safety of wearing lenses, the country has extremely high requirements for their materials, production and clinical application range. As early as 2001, the former Ministry of Health issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Orthokeratology Lenses Fitting in Medical Institutions", requiring that orthokeratology lenses must be fitted in medical institutions of level 2 (including level 2) or above with a "Medical Institution Practice License"; ophthalmology must be included in the diagnosis and treatment subjects registered by the medical institution; the personnel should be ophthalmologists with intermediate or higher professional titles and technicians with intermediate or higher professional titles with practicing physician qualifications, and they should have received relevant knowledge training and passed the examination.

Eye Health checked the official website of the National Health Commission and found that some of the institutions that appeared in the advertising information flow and were engaged in the business of fitting OK glasses were unclassified or first-class medical institutions. In other words, for the sake of profit, institutions without qualifications for fitting OK glasses were illegally providing related services.

Only by doing the first step right can the OK lens be OK. The State Food and Drug Administration has issued a special consumer reminder for orthokeratology lenses: Even if orthokeratology lenses are used correctly, there is still a risk of eye diseases such as corneal endothelial cell reduction and giant papillary conjunctivitis. If the lenses are not fitted according to the requirements, it is more likely to cause abnormal phenomena such as increased eye secretions, eye congestion, and excessive tears, which will increase the risk of corneal epithelial damage such as corneal ulcers, keratitis, corneal erosion, iritis and other eye diseases. If treatment is delayed, permanent vision damage may occur.

Fitting OK glasses is a rigorous medical procedure and must be done in a regular medical institution. Before fitting glasses, you can check the qualifications of the medical institution through the official website of the National Health Commission.

The effect of OK lenses varies from person to person. Pay attention to three points before fitting.

OK lenses can alleviate the worsening of myopia, but the effect varies from person to person, and not all myopic patients are suitable for wearing them. For example, people under 8 years old, with myopia greater than 600 degrees, and those with severe trachoma, keratitis, dry eye and other eye diseases are all contraindicated for wearing OK lenses.

Before parents decide to give their children OK glasses, they really need to care about these things:

① Have you found a regular and qualified ophthalmology hospital (ophthalmologist, optometrist) to fit OK glasses for your child? Don’t believe the sales pitch of roadside optical shops and the exaggerated claims in online advertisements. They generally won’t proactively tell consumers that “OK glasses can only delay but not cure myopia.”

② After wearing OK lenses, have you done enough follow-up care and follow-up visits? Compared to frame glasses, wearing OK lenses is a very delicate job. You need to clean your hands and lenses every time you wear them to avoid contamination, and you also need to go to the hospital for regular checkups. If you don’t do enough care and follow-up visits, it is easy to cause complications such as keratitis and conjunctivitis.

③ In addition to trying to find a "magic weapon" to relieve myopia, have you paid attention to cultivating children's good eye habits? OK glasses only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. Prevention and control of myopia must start from the source. Scientific use of eyes and ensuring sufficient outdoor exercise time are also the cultivation of these habits that cannot be ignored.

References:

[1] Notice on the Publicity of the Proposed Winning Results of 19 Types of Medical Consumables Procurement in Bulk

http://ylbzj.hebei.gov.cn/content/2756

[2] Investigation of the OK lens industry chain: The factory price is only RMB 1,000 or 2,000, but why is the terminal selling price often over RMB 10,000?

https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/165663528092231.html

[3] Query of medical institution qualifications

http://zgcx.nhc.gov.cn:9090/unit

[4] “Guidelines for Appropriate Technologies for the Prevention and Control of Myopia in Children and Adolescents”

http://www.nhc.gov.cn/jkj/s5898bm/201910/c475e0bd2de444379402f157523f03fe.shtml