SurgiTel’s Partner Service Programs
ErgoPractice News – October 2020
By Jin Chang PhD
jchang@surgitel.com
Many clinicians who have their SurgiTel loupes refurbished by our facility have sent us their appreciation, letting us know their products are working like new. I have also recently heard from several clinicians, letting us know they read our monthly free newsletters and appreciate how it is very in-depth and informative.
I began thinking about many lesser-known services that SurgiTel offers, many of which are no charge. For your convenience, we will catalog them for you in this month’s eNewsletter.
SurgiTel partner services are of three main types:
- Educational Programs: Helping clinicians evaluate whether their current loupes and headlights meet ergonomic and eye-safety requirements by offering free evaluation services, publishing free monthly educational newsletters, offering free seminars on how to select ergonomic loupes and true-color eye-safe LED headlights, and helping out with hands-on workshops.
- Maintenance Services: Refurbish loupes to restore performance.
- Product Improvement Services: Where possible enhance old loupes with new technology and features.
SurgiTel’s Founding Mission
In the early 1990s SurgiTel was founded to help clinicians work safely by providing truly ergonomic loupes and true-color, eye-safe headlights. As a result of continued research and development during the last 30 years, SurgiTel introduced many world-first vision-related products with patented concepts.1 Today SurgiTel offers full range ergonomic loupes (2.5x to 8x) in both TTL (through-the-lens) and FLM (front-lens-mounted) styles, and true-color, eye-safe LED headlights. To alleviate problems associated with one-type-fit-for-all nose pads by offering truly custom nose pads, we invented ergo-fit-nose-pad (EFNP) systems (patent pending) which can be customized for various facial features. EFNP systems can be retrofitted to older frames for increased comfort and adjustability.
SurgiTel Partner Service Programs Catalog
SurgiTel offers nine (9) partner service programs to help clinicians:
First Program: Free Evaluation Service
Clinicians across the world suffer from working pain due to the use of non-ergonomic loupes and they don’t know if there is a way out. Of course, every manufacturer claims their loupes are ergonomic, but how can one know for sure?
SurgiTel’s staff has been trained in ergonomic principles to help clinicians. We can share well documented, third party, facts about the human body. Facts such as a safe, sustainable neck tilt should be less than 20 degrees.2
This is not information about our products. We know our products can meet these requirements and are happy to meet with clinicians to discuss ergonomic loupes, but purchase is not a requirement for the free evaluation. Our first objective is to do away with misinformation shared by other manufacturers who misrepresent facts in order to sell non-ergonomic loupes. These misrepresented claims are used to sell loupes which are currently hurting clinicians around the world. The physical problems associated with the use of non-ergonomic loupes will not appear right away, so clinicians cannot easily diagnose their neck pain. And then the misinformation continues to be accepted and spread.
We can also check clinical LED lights by comparing them with color-balanced neutral LED lights which are proven by third-party evaluation to offer the best color accuracy and be the safest to eyes.3 When seen side-by-side, the difference in blue light level and comfort is apparent.
To request a free evaluation, by phone, virtual meeting, or in-person meeting, contact your local representative at www.SurgiTel.com/MyRep
Second Program: Refurbishment Service
This service is to restore the condition of your SurgiTel loupes by ensuring alignments, replacing disposable parts, and cleaning loupes and carrying cases thoroughly. This is a great thing to schedule during any downtime. Clinicians often tell us they wish they did this earlier!
For more information, contact our Customer Service Department at Support@SurgiTel.com
Third Program: Rx-Updating Service
Clinicians over 40 years of age may not notice their loupe’s working distance is slowly changing over time. This is because the average person’s eyes change, and our natural focal distance moves outward. This is why most people need reading glasses eventually, to reduce this increased focal distance for best reading.
Clinicians over 40 should check their loupe’s working distance to their preferred working distance and get an adjustment if found different. This can be combined with Refurbishment Service. For FLM cases, just Rx of eyeglasses is updated and thus this service is not expensive. With SurgiTel prism loupes, users can easily correct the change of small working distance by interchanging working distance caps. This is one of SurgiTel’s advantages over other loupes.
For more information, contact our Customer Service Department at Support@SurgiTel.com
Fourth Program: Declination Angle Adjustment Service
SurgiTel is continually developing technologies to increase comfort and safety. The latest patented, assembly technology allows SurgiTel to make TTL loupes with the custom declination angle you need to achieve a safe and comfortable head tilt. This retrofitting service may be combined with other services such as Rx-updating service.
For more information, contact our Customer Service Department at Support@SurgiTel.com
Fifth Program: Custom Nose Pad Service
SurgiTel’s patent-pending ergo-fit-nose-pad (EFNP) systems can adjust space between optics and face, alleviate fogging problems, eliminate loupes touching cheekbones, eliminate eyelashes touching oculars, and enhance the overall comfort.4 Nose pad systems can be retrofitted to your loupes.
For more information, contact our Customer Service Department at Support@SurgiTel.com
Sixth Program: Free Lecture Service
This is a more formal and long-form version of our Free Evaluation Service. This course starts with the review of various functions of the eyes, and proceeds to issues related to loupes and LED headlights as vision-aid devices. The objective of the course is to help clinicians understand basic principles applied to core technologies, building personal loupes and selecting true-color, eye-safe LED headlights. We have offered this lecture to study clubs, schools, hospitals, and other educational meetings.
We can also provide this service virtually at this time.
For more information, contact me directly at JChang@SurgiTel.com
Seventh Program: Monthly Educational Publication Service
This service is to provide clinicians with basic scientific principles and technological advances made for loupes & LED headlights, to share clinicians’ experiences with both non-ergonomic loupes and ergonomic loupes, and to share safety issues of LED lights associated with strong blue lights.
This monthly publication is available at www.SurgiTel.com/news
Eighth Program: Hands-on Workshop Assistance Service
SurgiTel has provided loupes and LED headlights to various hands-on workshops and showed attendees how ergonomic issues related to loupes and the safety of LED headlights impact their experience.
For more information, contact our events team at Events@SurgiTel.com
Ninth Program: Mission Trip / Charitable Program Equipment Loans
Early in SurgiTel’s history we were contacted about loaning LED headlights to a medical mission trip to a foreign country with several students. We were happy to provide, and since then have loaned equipment for many trips throughout the world for many medical and dental initiatives.
To request, contact me directly at JChang@SurgiTel.com
Program Summation
I hope you have discovered something you, or a colleague, may find a useful service. Please feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any questions.
References:
- B. J., Chang, ErgoPractice News, May 2019, https://surgitel.com/surgitels-achievements-in-clinical-vision-and-ergonomics
- B.J., Change, ErgoPractice News, April 2014, https://surgitel.com/key-factors-for-ordering-custom-loupes-part-1-declination-angle-as-the-key-ergonomic-factor/
- Clinicians Report, Cordless LED Headlamps: A Bright Idea? A Publication of CR Foundation, May 2017, www.cliniciansreport.org
- B. J., Chang, ErgoPractice News, January 2016, https://surgitel.com/what-would-you-invest-to-avoid-a-work-stoppage-of-two-weeks/
