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KIDS’ EYES COUNT

LEVERAGE SOCIAL MEDIA TO RAISE AWARENESS OF THE PEDIATRIC VISION BENEFIT

WHEN THE Affordable Care Act’s Pediatric Vision Benefit (ACAPVB) was introduced, many O.D.s expected a dramatic influx of pediatric patients. However, after an initial buzz, nothing seemed to change. What happened?

There hasn’t been a big public service campaign to promote awareness of the benefit. So, it is up to us, as individual optometrists, to educate our patients who have kids who have never been examined, to spread the word to local pediatricians and market our services in-office with educational materials. However, an easy, and potentially more impactful way to generate awareness on a larger, unified scale is to use social media.

To help ensure parents know their children have coverage for eye exams, glasses and contact lenses under the ACAPVB, I propose that O.D.s band together and start a grassroots social media campaign. Here, I explain how.

USE A COMMON HASHTAG

A substantial amount of offices are using social media, and utilizing a hashtag (#) in posts can help to tie various platforms — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. — together. For example, I propose we use “#KidsEyesCount” in a post every Monday in July. An Example of a post:

“True or False? Under Obamacare, all health insurance includes a pediatric vision benefit. True! Vision and eye health are considered so important, they are automatically included in your plan. Take advantage of this benefit, and get your child’s eyes checked! #KidsEyesCount.”

DON’T FORGET TO SHARE

Remember, sharing on social media is encouraged — and simple. So, if you are experiencing writer’s block, feel free to share a post that has already been created. Using the hashtag, one can easily search for content by typing “#KidsEyesCount” in the search bar. The results will be all the posts that contain that hashtag.

HAVE FUN

The more engagement the post receives via likes, shares and comments, the better the chance it will be seen by your fans and their friends. To help with engagement, consider phrasing the information in the form of a question, like the example above, and, when possible, adding an eye-catching image, such as an image of kids’ frames you offer.

SPREAD THE WORD

The absence of a formal public awareness campaign has no doubt limited the impact of the ACAPVB. However, with the grassroots #KidsEyesCount social media campaign, we can help spread the word about this essential benefit. This July, join me in raising awareness by creating and/or sharing a #KidsEyesCount post every Monday. OM

JUSTIN BAZAN, O.D. is the founder of Park Slope Eye, in Brooklyn, N.Y. He is a member of the AOA, NYSOA and the AAOMC. In 2014, he received financial compensation for services from Allergan, Bausch + Lomb, Vision Service Plan, Luxottica, The Vision Council and Foster Grant. Visit tinyurl.com/OMcomment to comment on this article.