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.

South Carolina House and Senate Override the Governor's Veto of Legislation Banning Online Eye Exams

The South Carolina House voted to override Gov. Nikki Haley's veto of a bill banning the practice of offering prescriptions for lenses and contact lenses after an online exam. The original legislation banning the practiced was passed 100-1 last month. "Chicago-based Opternative launched its online service in South Carolina and dozens of other states nationwide last summer. CEO and founder Aaron Dallek said the company has hundreds of customers in South Carolina," reports the Kansas City Star. "Opternative offers $40 to $60 prescriptions — depending on whether customers want a single prescription for glasses or contacts, or a prescription for both — within 24 hours for people ages 18 to 45 with a computer and smartphone. Customers taking the test are asked to take a certain number of steps away from their computer screen, depending on their shoe size, and use the computer like a digital eye chart. A text message sent to a customer's smartphone allows it to be used as a remote control. Answers to multiple questions, along with medical records, are sent to a state-licensed ophthalmologist contracted by the company. Inconsistencies mean a prescription won't be written, Dallek said." 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.

Online Contact Lens Exams: The Way of the Future?

In February 2014, Optometry Times reported: "Patients may soon be able to undergo a refraction online through Opternative.com in a matter of minutes and for a fraction of the cost of a traditional exam, but the company doesn’t intend for its test to replace a complete eye exam. 'We hope (doctors) realize we are not looking to replace them and understand that we are looking to innovate this space,' says Aaron Dallek, Opternative CEO, speaking exclusively to Optometry Times. 'We hope that this is something that forward-thinking optometrists and ophthalmologists start using.'" (Read more.)

Ophthalmologists talk about the development. Surprisingly, many do not have grave reservations about the development. Optometrists, on the other hand, hold more reservations, primarily fearing that individuals will behave as if Opternative-like exams can replace complete eye exams. Read more.

Online Refraction Coming to a Home Near You

Here comes online refraction. Chicago-based Opternative is "the world's first online eye exam [without a web cam]. Opternative's refractive exam delivers a valid prescription, signed by an ophthalmologist," according to the company's Facebook page. The upstart hopes to perform refractions for myops--temporarily presbyops need not apply--within the next five months. It also is working with the National Institutes of Health to ensure the efficacy of the prescription, which the company says might be better than the traditional prescription. Finally it wants to hook up with optometrists, ophthalmologists, and "large" online retailers, thereby making the purchase of contact lenses and eyewear as seamless as possible for the patient. The company executives quickly note that individuals need eye exams at least once every two years. 

Don't confuse this development with devices that transform iPhones in autorefractors, such as EyeNetra's Netra G, which primarily is a tool for eye care professionals attempting to refractor in locations where it would be difficult to bring traditional equipment.