Good Morning America Questions Online Eye Test

"Good Morning America delved into the online 'vision test' known as Opternative with a GMA Investigates segment, aired Aug. 5, that took the company's claims to task and confirmed AOA's concerns that such an inadequate service can pose a threat to patient health," reports  AOA (American Optometric Assn.) "'There's potential for missing things that can be very significant to your eye health and your systemic health.' What the GMA segment uncovered completely validates patient safety alarms, and drew a strong response from viewers who saw optometry on the side of the public, fighting for the highest quality eye care." Read more.

FTC Sues 1-800 Contacts for Restraint of Trade

"A leading proponent of the Coalition for Contact Lens Consumer Choice, 1-800 Contacts has been called to task over business practices found to undermine contact lens marketplace competition, antitrust regulators say." That's the post from the American Optometric Assn. (AOA). "The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed suit against 1-800 Contacts on Aug. 8, alleging that the company unlawfully used its market power to orchestrate and maintain anti-consumer agreements with rival online contact lens retailers. These agreements not only suppress competition in online search advertisements, but also "restrict truthful and non-misleading internet advertising to consumers, resulting in some consumers paying higher retail prices for contact lenses," according to the FTC's administrative complaint." Read more.

Get Your Scrips and Glasses Online--Without an OD

Opternative founders Aaron Dallek and Steven Lee, OD.

"The eyeglass prescription process is the latest health care service to be disrupted — and now optometrists are waging an all-out war against a startup that lets people do vision tests without looking away from their laptops," goes the Buzz Feed posting. "Less than a year ago, Opternative, a Chicago startup, began serving customers through its website. In that time, optometrist lobbying groups have successfully backed legislation that bans the company’s ability to operate in five states, including Georgia as of yesterday. Last month, the American Optometric Association complained to the Food and Drug Administration that the company’s service should be taken off the market and studied because it is allegedly operating without federal approval. In the same breath, the group likened startups like Opternative to the 'corporate equivalents of snake oil salesmen.'" Read more.

Vision Monday reported a few days ago: "Organized optometry won the latest round in its fight against online refraction when lawmakers in the state of Georgia enacted legislation last week which makes it illegal to issue a contact lens or spectacle prescription without an in-person, comprehensive eye exam conducted by a state-licensed practitioner." Read more.

1-800 Contacts Blasts AOA Attempt to Reform Federal Contact Lens Laws

"Legislation being pushed by the American Optometric Association (AOA) and introduced today in the U.S. Senate would rewrite current law to undermine competition in the contact lens marketplace to increase profits for optometrists at the expense of consumers. The legislation would reduce choice, increase costs and jeopardize eye health," according to a press release from 1-800 Contacts. "The misleadingly-named Contact Lens Consumer Health Protection Act (CLCHPA), introduced by Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., would gut the existing Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act (FCLCA), which eliminated barriers to retail competition making contact lenses easier to replace and less expensive to purchase. Since the Act became law in 2003, competition among contact lens retailers has provided consumers with more choice, greater convenience and lower prices." Read more.

Nutrition Matters in Eye Health

"New research gives optometrists yet another reason to discuss nutrition—and its impact on eye health—with patients," reports the American Optometric Assn. (AOA). "A recent study found that participants with high adherence to dietary guidelines had a lowered risk of visual impairment. The study tracked participants' adherence to specific dietary guidelines and the occurrence of visual impairments over 10 years. Researchers analyzed data from 3,654 participants from the Blue Mountain Eye Study, who were examined at baseline, and reexamined after both five and 10 years." Read more.

AOA Disputes Study Predicting Shortage of Optometrists

"The AOA is taking issue with a new business research report asserting that there will be a shortage of optometrists over the next decade-a claim at odds with the National Eye Care Workforce Study released in June," according to a post on the American Optometric Assn. site. 'The bottom line is that optometrists continue to be well-positioned to meet the growing needs of Americans for medical eye care.' Published on Sept. 2, the report from the Conference Board...concluded 'among doctors, optometrists and podiatrists are the specialists most at risk of shortage, with the general physicians and surgeons category not far behind.' According to the Board's study, this is attributable to an overall increase in demand for health care providers due to an aging American population and an overall decrease in supply as practitioners retire." Read more.

Shortage of Optometrists in Near Future? Maybe!

"A new business research report put optometry top among health-related fields facing labor shortages in the next decade—a claim the National Eye Care Workforce Study does not support," according to an AOA (American Optometric Assn.) post. 'The bottom line is that optometrists continue to be well-positioned to meet the growing needs of Americans for medical eye care.' Published on Sept. 2, the report from the Conference Board—a global business membership and research association—concluded 'among doctors, optometrists and podiatrists are the specialists most at risk of shortage, with the general physicians and surgeons category not far behind.' This is attributable to an overall increase in demand for health care providers due to an aging American population and an overall decrease in supply as practitioners retire, according to the study. The Conference Board labor report tracked 464 occupations in the United States between 2012 and 2022. Earlier this year, a poll concluded the 65-and-older population will surpass the 15-and-younger group by 2030, growing to more than a fifth of the U.S. population for the first time. It's a fact that prompted the update of the AOA's manual, Optometric Care of Nursing Home Residents." Read more.

AOA Issues Consumers Warning about Online Purchases

The consequences of making an incorrect or uninformed online purchases could cost patients more time and money in the long run, according to a new warning from the American Optometric Association (AOA).  An AOA study published in 2011 with the Optical Laboratories Association and The Vision Council reinforces the drawbacks of online orders. The study concluded:

• Of 200 glasses ordered online, only 154 pairs were received;
• 44.8 percent had incorrect prescriptions or safety issues;
• 29 percent had at least one lens fail to meet required prescription;
• 19 percent of adult lenses failed impact resistance testing; and,
• 25 percent of children's lenses failed impact resistance testing.

Read more.

New FDA Materials Warn about Dangers of Decorative Contact Lenses

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FDA brochure about the use of decorative contact lenses.

The FDA is launching a  campaign about the dangers of decorative contact lenses--more precisely the use of them without the fit of an OD or ophthalmologist. It's borrowing from the horror video genre that has inspired so many teenagers to slap on the color altering devices. The message also is backed by the American Optometric Association (AOA) and the Entertainment Industries Council (EIC). The three organizations produced and are distributing two public service videos designed to attract young people. The FDA has also released a brochure available at this link.

American Horror Story Helps Deliver Safety Message

The video, first screened at the recent AOA annual conference, uses clips from the television show American Horror Story, along with clips of professional makeup artists and optometrists. They note that before an actor or any individual can wear these lenses, he or she must have an eye exam, valid CL prescription, and lenses purchased from a reputable source.For more information about the program, click here.

AOA Survey Says Parents Don't Realize Importance of Infant Eye Exams

Only 19 percent of parents know that a child should have his/her first comprehensive eye exam between six and 12 months when visual development is most dramatic. This is one result from the American Optometric Association's (AOA) 2014 American Eye-Q survey. Optometry Cares – The AOA Foundation administers the InfantSEE program, which provides a no-cost one-time, assessment of infants' vision in their first year of life. These assessments complement routine well-care exams a baby receives from a pediatrician. Optometrists are trained to identify areas critical to vision development and have the tools needed to identify conditions not necessarily detected in a routine pediatric exams. Read more.

Digital Eye Strain on the Rise

"One day after Sarah Hinkley had been working on her computer for about five hours, she noticed her eyes started to burn and feel dry. 'My focus became blurry, like I was looking through a haze,' she says. As an optometrist, Hinkley knew exactly what was wrong. She was suffering from digital eye strain, also known as computer vision syndrome," reports USAToday. "It's becoming a widespread problem as more people spend hours each day looking at computers, cellphones, iPads, tablets and other electronic devices, says Hinkley, a spokeswoman for the American Optometric Association [AOA] and an associate professor at the Ferris State University Michigan College of Optometry. 'It is rampant, especially as we move toward smaller devices and the prominence of devices increase in our everyday lives.' In fact, almost 70% of U.S. adults say they have experienced some of the symptoms of digital eye strain, according to a survey conducted for the Vision Council, a trade group for vision care products and services. About 60% of respondents say they spend at least six hours looking at screens daily." Read more.

Cost Eye Care Costs Inched Up Last Year

Consumer costs related to eye care increased less than costs for any other health care service or related cost during 2012, reports the American Optometric Assn. (AOA). The Eyeglasses and Eye Care Services Index, compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), increased a mere 0.3 percent during 2012. That was well under last year’s overall inflation rate of 1.7 percent and a fraction of the 3.2 percent increase posted for health care costs overall during 2012, according to BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI) data. AOA notes that virtually every year since the government first began tracking them, increases in patient charges related to eye care have trailed both the overall inflation rate and increases in charges related to most other health care services. Prices for eyewear and professional fees for eye care increased 0.7 percent in 2011. The overall inflation rate was 3 percent that year. Read more.

AOA Helps ODs after Super Storm Sandy

In the aftermath of the devastation from Hurricane Sandy along the East Coast, Optometry’s Fund for Disaster Relief, administered by Optometry Cares-the AOA Foundation, is ready to assist optometrists whose practices and/or homes were damaged. The AOA has received several reports from optometrists who sustained damage from the superstorm and expects the number to rise. Read more.

Midwest ODs Getting Paid Again by Medicare

A  Medicare administrative contractor (MAC) reversed course on Monday and announced that it would withdraw a restrictive, anti-optometry coverage directive that wrongly sought to limit the scope of practice of optometrists in nine states, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). Wisconsin Physician Services (WPS) — the MAC servicing Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin — had issued an “optometry services” coverage determination whereby the contractor created a list of services it determined optometrists are allowed to provide based on its own interpretation of state law. With backing from a Medicare regional office, WPS then utilized the directive to deny payment for services provided to Medicare beneficiaries. Read more.

Students Spending 4+ Hours in Front of Video Screens--For School

How many hours a day do children spend on computers or other electronic devices? New data from the AOA’s 2012 American Eye-Q consumer survey indicate 60 percent of parents estimate their children spend up to four hours per day at home or in school looking at a computer or digital device screen, according to an American Optometric Association press release. With smartboards, tablets and other digital tools being incorporated into daily school curricula, the technology has students spending much of their time learning and socializing in front of a screen. Read more.

VisionWeb Pays Royalties to AOA Affiliates

Midwest Lens reports that "VisionWeb announced it will pay $60,882 in royalties to participating AOA state affiliates. The royalties are for eye care product orders placed by their members on VisionWeb over the last 12 months. This is the ninth year VisionWeb has paid royalties to the AOA for orders placed by its members to the VisionWeb supplier network of more than 400 suppliers in the United States. Since initiating the program in 2004, VisionWeb has paid a total of $319,667 in AOA royalties to participating state affiliates. Further detail on VisionWeb’s AOA Royalty Program are available at www.visionweb.com." Read more.

The Refraction Threats to ODs

"Are refracting opticians the only potential threat to the delivery of optometric refractive care? Probably not. New technology like the NETRA device may also become significant in how refractive care is delivered to our patients," according to an American Optometric Association press release. Read more.

Costs for Part B E and M Services Rising Quickly

Medicare Part B costs for evaluation and management (E&M) services are rising more rapidly than other Part B costs, according to a report issued last month by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), according to a press release from the American Optometric Association (AOA). Read more.

Averting a 30% Cut in Medicare Reimbursements

The AOA (American Optometric Assn.) and other physician organizations are increasing pressure on Congress and the Obama administration to find a solution that will avert a nearly 30% cut in Medicare reimbursements set to take effect at the end of this year. Read more.

Dry Eye Problems More Common Than Treated

"This study [on dry eye], sponsored by Allergan, Inc., exposed the fact that patients have a lot more to say about their dry eye than eye care practitioners may realize," according to an American Optometric Assn. (AOA) post. "Although, practitioners have known for years that the prevalence of dry eye symptoms is highest in females and increases with age, the study indicates that males are also susceptible. Moreover, some individuals, male and female, have been experiencing symptoms for more than 10 years. Sadly, this means that practitioners have been status-quo in their treatment regimen for a chronic medical condition that causes almost 42 percent of female patients to state that it blurs their vision and 43 percent to state that it made reading more challenging." Read more.