Leading Off
TIPS, TRENDS & NEWS YOU CAN USE
Most Senior Drivers Approve of Stringent License-Renewal Process
An “overwhelming majority” of senior drivers say they support increased probes regarding license renewal for their population, reveals the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s latest “Older American Drivers and Traffic Safety Culture” report.
“My patients who require a comprehensive eye exam in order to complete their driver’s license renewal are typically very compliant and aware they may not meet the vision criteria,” explains Bethany S. Martinez, O.D., M.S., F.A.A.O., director of Low Vision at the Birmingham Alabama VA Medical Center. “I recommend these patients research alternative transportation, and I provide information on public transportation options.”
The report shows more than seven out of 10 drivers age 65 and older say they approve of policies that require drivers age 75 and older to present in person for a license renewal and pass a medical screening. Also, almost 80% of drivers older than age 75 say they support medical screenings for those in their population.
A total of 86% of those age 65 and older drive, 84% of those age 65 and older have a driver’s license, and 68% age 85 and older say they drive five or more days a week, says the AAA’s “Understanding Older Drivers: An Examination of Medical Conditions, Medication Use and Travel Behaviors” report.
U.S. AMD Drug Market to More Than Double in Roughly 10 years
In 2013, the United States accounted for 49% of the AMD global therapeutics market and will make up 55% by 2023, from $2.5 billion to $5.6 billion, reports GlobalData.
“The new therapies entering the market will be the main drivers of growth in the U.S., with the wet AMD drugs Fovista (Ophthotech), squalamine (Ohr Pharmaceutical, Inc.) and abicipar pegol (DARpin, Alcon) potentially launching in 2017, 2018 and 2020, respectively,” explains GlobalData’s Neurology and Ophthalmology analyst Catherine Daly, Ph.D.
Julie Torbit, O.D., associate clinical professor at Indiana University School of Optometry and member of the Optometric Retina Society, says she’s not surprised by these findings, as new therapies for wet AMD are needed to improve visual outcomes and quality of life in patients who have this chronic debilitating ocular disease.
She adds, “To provide hope to newly diagnosed wet AMD patients, I would not hesitate to mention that new, promising therapies are on the horizon that have the potential to reduce the number of treatments needed or even eliminate the need for injections by using eye drops.”
Giving You the BUSINESS
■ Make a conscious effort to notice whether you are taking time to connect with your staff. If you are, nice job! If not, do it, as you might leave a lasting positive impression on someone. - Joanne Maynard, www.kenblanchard.com, Dec. 9, 2014
■ Does your practice have an Instagram account? If not, you should consider it. The photo and video-sharing app now boasts 300 million active users a month, trumping Twitter’s 284 million. – Vindu Goel, www.nytimes.com, Dec. 10, 2014
■ Your business plan’s marketing strategy should include four elements: a market penetration strategy, a growth strategy, a channel of distribution strategy and a communication strategy. - Small Business Administration, www.sba.gov/writing-business-plan, Dec. 10, 2014
■ If you don’t get to use your strengths in your work, productivity is likely to drop-off after 20 hours of work per week. If you do get to use your strengths, chances are you can work at least 40 hours a week before there is a major drop-off. – Tom Wrath, www.tomrath.org, December 10, 2014
■ To achieve a successful e-mail marketing campaign, place a sign-up link on your website, create a compelling subject line (e.g., a giveaway, trunk sale, etc.), place your call to action above the area that appears on the computer screen, use images, be brief, and use automated replies to provide additional useful information. – Brett Relander, www.entrepreneur.com, May 6, 2014
Experts Discusss Dry Eye Disease Management Recommendations
Last month, a panel of optometrists from across the United States and Canada met at the first Dry Eye Disease Summit to discuss the challenges eyecare professionals (ECPs) face in managing dry eye disease. Participants at the summit agreed that the complexity of current dry eye disease guidelines makes it a challenge for ECPs to implement dry eye disease strategies in their practices.
During the meeting, held in Dallas, optometrists “identified key areas of agreement” and created “straightforward, easy-to-implement recommendations in the areas of screening, diagnosis and treatment,” says Summit Co-Chair Derek Cunningham, O.D., F.A.A.O., Dell Laser Consultants, Austin, Texas. Summit participants plan to distribute insights from the meeting throughout 2015.
Other summit co-chairs include Paul Karpecki, O.D., F.A.A.O., Koffler Vision Group, Lexington, Ky.; Marc Bloomenstein, O.D., F.A.A.O., Schwartz Laser Eye Center, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Ian Benjamin Gaddie, O.D., F.A.A.O., Gaddie Eye Centers, Louisville, Ky.; Scot Morris, O.D., F.A.A.O., Eye Consultants of Colorado, Conifer, Colo.; and Kelly Nichols, O.D., MPH, Ph.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala.
The summit, jointly sponsored by 17 companies in the field of optometry and dry eye disease, was “long overdue,” says Thomas Kislan, O.D., Hazelton Eye Specialists, Hazelton, Pa., an attendee at the meeting.
Dr. Dave Biberdorf, a member of the “The A Team” - High-Performance Vision Associates, tests the eye convergence skills of a NASCAR Hendrick Motorsports pit crew athlete at the team’s facility in Charlotte, N.C. This recent “A Team” event was supported by the Vision Care Division of Alcon/Novartis. The “A Team” was created in 2014 as a national group of sports-specialty trained eyecare professionals.
RESEARCH Notes
■ Bariatric surgeries, particularly malabsorptive operations, place patients at an increased risk of developing nutrient shortcomings, such as B12, B1 and C, which can cause ophthalmic complications, such as corneal ulceration and optic neuropathy, reveals November’s The Journal of Metabolic Surgery and Allied Care.
■ A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and observational studies involving 177,683 subjects suggests aspirin use is not linked with AMD occurrence but increases neovascular AMD risk, says the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE): Quality-assessed Reviews.
■ Severe obstructive sleep apnea is a risk factor for glaucoma, reveals November’s Eye.
■ First-born children tend to have better eye movement skills, suggesting they are more prepared for reading before kindergarten, reveals an Illinois College of Optometry study presented at the AAO meeting.
■ Long-term use of 50% autologous serum drops appear a safe and effective dry eye disease (DED) treatment, particularly for severe DED patients who have tried all conventional treatments sans success, reveals December’s Cornea.
Thanks to all you attendees, Roger Zimmer, executive vice president of PentaVision Media and Publisher of Optometric Management, received a Mouscar (Disney’s version of an Oscar) from Disney Destinations for 10 years of “delivering leading education, research and networking” at the “Optometric Management Symposium on Contemporary Eye Care.”
Photo Courtesy of Disney
Tomorrow’s Tech:
■ The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers $1.25 million for projects to create the foundation for the United State’s first whole-eye transplantation program, the University reports. Due to the challenges of immune rejection and reestablishing the connection between the optic nerve and the brain, complete eye transplantations have not been realized. Pitt doctors will be working with clinicians and scientists from Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego, on the projects.
■ Through facial scanning software and 3D printing, University of Miami researchers have created a quick means of making facial prosthesis for patients who have hollow sockets post eye surgery (eye cancer patients) or congenital abnormalities. Using a mobile scanner, patients undergo topographical scanning of both sides of their faces, and the software develops a mirror scan of the “normal” side and then blends both scans together.
O.D. Notebook
Associations:
■ The American Academy of Optometry is inviting submissions for courses for the 2015 meeting, which will take place in New Orleans 2015. The submission window closes Feb. 2, 2015. For course submission guidelines, visit http://bit.ly/1v929FQ.
■ EyeLearn, the AOA’s online learning resource program, now offers an AMD CE course worth two hours of accredited CE that contains a module on vision rehabilitation and one on nutrition. Also, AOA members can access CE recordings from Optometry’s Meeting 2014.
■ Prevent Blindness has appointed Kevin Bakewell, senior vice president and chief public affairs officer of AAA, to its Board of Directors as Chief Volunteer Officer Association Chair. Also, current Board members Mary Blankenship Pointer and Torrey DeKeyser will serve as Board of Directors Treasurer and Board Secretary, respectively.
Company News:
■ Accu-Lens Inc. says it has renewed its Platinum Level Sponsorship with the Scleral Lens Education Society (www.scleralkens.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching contact lens practitioners the science and art of fitting scleral contact lenses on patients who have corneal irregularities and/or ocular surface disease.
■ Alcon has launched Alcon TV, which provides content about the company, including business, corporate brand and corporate social responsibility, products and patient awareness information. Visit http://bit.ly/1wah5bw to access it.
■ CareCredit’s Caring Communities Program has provided a $25,000 grant to Optometry Cares – The American Optometric Association Foundation’s InfantSEE program.
■ Santinelli International is running a second “Think Outside the Box Edge” Rimless Eyewear Contest, in which Santinelli ME Lens Edger clients can use the device’s Design Cut technology to create and submit a pair of their own rimless eyewear designs. For contest information, visit http://bit.ly/1ugTWyK.
■ Transitions Optical, Inc. has named its annual Transitions Awards program finalists. The finalists, under optical labs, optical retailers and independent eyecare professionals, will be honored during Transitions Academy, January 25-28 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Orlando, Fla. For further information, visit http://bit.ly/16IRjlr.
■ Vision Source, an alliance for optometrists, has added its 3,000th location with Gaddie Eye Centers, a full-service multi-location practice in Louisville, Ky., owned and operated by Ben Gaddie, O.D.
■ Whole You, a Mitsui Chemicals America company will be reintroducing and repositioning an improved version of PixelOptics eyewear. For more information, visit http://www.whole-you.com.
FDA News:
■ The NaturalVue (etafilcon A) daily disposable soft multifocal contact lens, from Visioneering Technologies, Inc., has been issued a 510(k) clearance. The company says it plans to launch the lens in the first quarter of 2015.
■ Aflibercept (EYLEA) injection, from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, has been accepted for priority review for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy in diabetic macular edema patients.
Meetings:
■ Registration is officially open for International Vision Expo & Conference East 2015, which will take place at the Javits Center in New York, N.Y., March 19 to March 22. For additional information, visit www.visionexpoeast.com.
State News:
■ Leased O.D. offices must be physically separate from retail stores, and retailers are prohibited from controlling the practice of the optometrist, effective January 15, 2015, says a Tennessee Board of Optometry rule approved in December. Current retailers have until July 1, 2015 to make the cosmetic changes to separate their stores from the leases O.D. offices.
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