EYE CARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTS THOSE IMPACTED BY HURRICANES

In the wake of the recent Hurricanes, the eye care community has provided help:

• A & A Optical. Donated a percentage of all sales to Hurricane Harvey victims through this month.
• Alcon. Worked with regional eye doctors to donate Alcon contact lenses to those affected by the hurricanes.
• Allergan Foundation. Donated $200,000 to the American Red Cross.
• AOA. Asked for contributions to the Optometry Disaster Relief Fund, which provides immediate help to those affected by natural disasters.
• Carl Zeiss Vision, Inc. Created the ZEISS Harvey Assistance Program, which included financial, product and service assistance for its business partners, patients and employees in the greater Houston area.
• Costa. Provided eye wear to Hurricane Harvey first responders, sent t-shirts to shelters and gave 100% of its profits from Vision Expo West orders to the American Red Cross.
• Essilor. Donated more than $200,000, did re-dos on Hurricane-damaged lens orders and provided lab bill deferment for up to 60 days.
• Luxottica. Donated $85,000 and bestowed 100% of its September sales from its Texas state flag-bearing Oakley Fuel Cell model to Hurricane Harvey victims.
• OneSight. Sent Hurricane Harvey victims 2,000 frames via independent eye care providers and local LensCrafters stores and raised funds to provide glasses to Hurricane Harvey victims.
• Vision Source Foundation. Raised more than $310,000 for all O.D.s affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
• VSP Global. Provided its Mobile Eye Care clinics (eye care clinics on wheels staffed by volunteer VSP network doctors), to Houston to provide replacement spectacles and eye care.
• Wiley X. Donated $5,000 to the American Red Cross and 10% of all sales through its online store and 5% of all dealer purchases to help raise disaster relief funds.

OM will continue to update eye care’s role in hurricane recovery efforts at Optometricmanagement.com . We invite you to send information not listed here to jennifer.kirby@pentavisionmedia.com. ■

JOHNSON & JOHNSON VISION PURCHASES E-COMMERCE CONTACT LENS SERVICE

Citing Sightbox’s e-commerce capability and consumer convenience, Johnson & Johnson Vision has acquired the service.

“Consumer preferences and digital technologies are accelerating a broad shift to e-commerce across many industries,” says Ashley McEvoy, company group chairman of Johnson & Johnson Vision Companies, in a company-issued press release. “We are excited about how Sightbox can potentially fuel category growth by meeting consumers where and how they want, and by helping more contact lens wearers connect with eye care professionals through this concierge-type service.”

Sightbox, an online (sightbox.com ), membership-driven subscription service for contact lens wearers, enables members to schedule comprehensive, annual eye exams and contact lens evaluations and provides an annual supply of “all popular” contact lenses, according to the website. ■

AOA EXPRESSES ‘DISAPPOINTMENT’ AND ‘CONCERN’ ON CHILDREN’S VISION SCREENING RECOMMENDATIONS

On the heels of the release of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s (USPSTF) recommendation to patients and primary care physicians that children ages 3 to 5 undergo a vision screening, at least once, to detect amblyopia or its risk factors of strabismus and anisometropia, the AOA released a statement of “disappointment” and “concern.”

“Doctors of optometry are extremely concerned that the USPSTF Children’s Vision Screening Recommendation will continue to hamper ongoing efforts to combat unacceptably high rates of preventable and treatable vision loss in children — especially among vulnerable and at-risk children who deserve care in communities across America,” AOA President Christopher Quinn, O.D., says in the release.

The organization’s specific issues with the recommendation:

• Vision screenings can provide “false negatives” and miss up to 75% of vision problems in school children; of those children identified as having vision issues via a vision screening, 61% do not get treatment.
• The recommendation did not “adequately address” the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report, “Making Eye Health a Population Health Imperative: Vision for Tomorrow,” created by an eye health and vision expert task force, as the AOA had hoped it would.
• The USPSTF did not clarify, that its recommendation is for an “amblyopia screening” vs. a “vision screening,” despite the AOA’s request to do so.

The USPSTF is an independent group of national experts in prevention and evidenced-based medicine that work to improve the health of all Americans by making evidenced-based recommendations to primary care physicians. (uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org .) ■

YOUNG ADULTS AT LESS RISK FOR CONTACT LENS-RELATED EYE INFECTIONS THAN ‘OLDER’ ADULTS, STUDY SHOWS

Although previous studies show young adult and adolescent contact lens (CL) wearers are more likely to practice poor CL hygiene and acquire contact lens-related eye infections, a 2016 CDC-commissioned population-based online survey of young adults (ages 18 to 24), adolescents (ages 12 to 17) and “older” adults (ages ≥25 years), shows the latter are at higher risk.

Specifically, 88% of older adults reported at least one risky behavior for a CL-related eye infection vs. 81% of young adults and 85% of adolescents.

The online survey was comprised of 4,548 U.S. adults (aged ≥18 years) and 1,618 U.S. adolescents (aged 12 to 17 years) who were asked about their CL behaviors and risk factors related to CL–related eye infections. (Adolescent participants shared the homes of the adult participants.) Further, survey participants were selected to represent the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey.

As the CDC’s 2015 data on CL wear and related eye infections did not include adolescents, young adults and “older” adults, the government organization commissioned this populationbased survey.

TOP 10 EYE-INJURY CAUSING SPORTS

Eye infections, irritations, scratches or trauma inflicted by others was implicated in this No. 1* eye-injury-causing sport:

1. Water & Pool Activities: 6,351*
2. Basketball: 5,751
3. Guns, Darts, Arrows, Slingshots: 2,946
4. Baseball/Softball: 2,473
5. Bicycling: 2,195
6. Soccer: 1,745
7. Health Club – Exercise, Weight-Lifting: 1,556
8. Other Sports and Recreational Activities: 1,271
9. Football: 1,250
10. Racquet Sports: 1,166

Source: Prevent Blindness, Sports-Related Eye Injuries by Age, 2016

COOPERVISION BEST PRACTICES SUBMISSIONS DUE THIS MONTH

“Submissions for CooperVision’s third class of Best Practices Honorees are due Oct. 31.

To be considered, a U.S. practice must fit contact lenses and submit practice profiles and stories, via written response or video, that illustrate: innovation in the improvement of eye health and education, leveraging technology for practice growth and advancing the profession in the eyes of the public. Honorees for 2018 will be announced early next year and will represent the Best Practices initiative at industry trade shows. Also, they are invited to educational meetings at CooperVision’s headquarters in Pleasanton, Calif.

The Best Practices Initiative was created two years ago to recognize, “the innovative and unexpected things that eye care professionals do to provide the best possible care to patients, grow their practices and advance the profession.”

See EyeCareBestPractices.com ■