Tuesday, 12 October 2010

Nike Giveaway for Eye Care
Topic: Eye Care
Do you sell Nike eyewear? If yes, think of referring your customers to SeeMuchMore.com maintained by VSP Vision Care and Nike, according to a posting on ThatsFit. "The folks at VSP Vision Care, who specialize in personalized eye care programs for millions of people in the U.S., want to bring attention to the importance of keeping an eye on your vision, and to do so, they've teamed up with That's Fit to give away a $250 Nike gift card to be used toward protective eyewear or the Nike product(s) of the winner's choice! The gift card can be redeemed both in Nike stores and online."

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 6:28 AM EDT
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Monday, 11 October 2010

Ahoy! Honoring World Sight Day, Oct. 14
Topic: Eye Care
World Sight Day on October 14 will focus on eye health and equal access to care. Mercy Ships uses its state-of-the-art hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, to deliver world-class health care to some of the poorest countries in the world. Their services include Mercy Vision, an eye care program that includes land-based eye clinics as well as eye surgeries done onboard the ship.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 7:00 AM EDT
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Eye Care Turning to Social Networks on Web
Topic: Optical
Check this out from the BaltimoreSun: "Monica Dillon wasn't happy with her eye care provider, so when she saw an online deal for an exam and glasses for $50, she clicked on it...'The timing was right so I jumped on it,' she said about her purchase via Groupon, a deal-of-the-day e-mail sent to tens of thousands of people in the Baltimore region and millions nationwide....'This worked out; they found a problem with my prescription.'Katzen Eye Group, the company behind the deal, is among the growing number of health care providers testing the latest in social media.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 6:54 AM EDT
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Sunday, 10 October 2010

Peek of the US Optical Market
Topic: Optical
Research and Markets (recently released its U.S. "Optometrists and Opticians" report. It notes that "the retail optical industry in the US includes about 13,000 optician stores with combined annual revenue of $8 billion, and 20,000 offices of optometrists with combined annual revenue of $11 billion. Large opticians include Luxottica Retail (LensCrafters and Pearle Vision), Eye Care Centers of America, and US Vision. The optician segment of the industry is concentrated: the 50 largest chains hold about 60 percent of the market. The optometrist segment is highly fragmented."

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 8:03 PM EDT
Updated: Tuesday, 12 October 2010 6:48 AM EDT
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People Put Off Eye Care
Topic: Eye Care
Optometry Today reports that more than "20% of Britons have put off or cancelled an appointment with the optometrist due to concerns about cost, and a further 16% have delayed getting eyewear when a new prescription has been required, a survey has shown. The study, commissioned by health insurance providers Health365.com, surveyed 1,000 employed adults in the UK about the cost of healthcare. Almost half of those questioned (43%) thought eye tests were free for all and, more generally, 77% of those quizzed said they were concerned about the price of healthcare."

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 7:14 AM EDT
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Saturday, 9 October 2010

Acuvue 'Facebooks' Teen Patients
Topic: Contact Lenses

Contact lens company Acuvue's results from its email campaign aimed at teenagers lagged in the past few years. It turned to Facebook. Initially the company could not get the results it needed, but "since January, ...[the] contact lenses brand's Facebook 'likers' have jumped from about 10,000 to 41,000." The figures jumped because the company converted its teen e-mail subscribers to its page on the social site, according to a post on ClickZ.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 8:21 AM EDT
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Younger & Transitions Seminar
Topic: Continuing Education
Transitions Optical and Younger Optics are running two new seminars for eye care professionals in 12 cities during October and November. Attendees will receive two ABO education credits, as well as professional vouchers to try Transitions XTRActive and NuPolar Trilogy lenses for free. At each event, ECPs will be given a chance to win a popular prize, such as an Amazon Kindle, no purchase necessary. The first seminar, called Eyewear Essentials: More Choices, will provide information on patient expectations and emerging trends. The second seminar, "Make Sunwear Important with a New to the World Sunlens: NuPolar® Trilogy® – Visual Armor," will introduce a new lens product and learn how to make sunwear a more important part of their business. For more information, call 1-800-848-1506, extension 3,www.transitions.com/eyewearessentials. or register online at

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 7:56 AM EDT
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Friday, 8 October 2010

Time Is Running Out. Register for OpticalCEUs Fall Conference
Topic: Continuing Education

Opticians from Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island are reserving seats for OpticalCEU's Fall 2010 Conference at the MGM Grand Conference Center, Foxwoods Resort and Casino on Sunday,October 24. (Click to register online; click for directions). If you have not registered, we strongly advise that you do. During the past six conferences, we have sold out and have not been able to accept last minute reservations. You can register online or call 203-366-5991 (leave a message).

Contrary to rumor and speculation, Connecticut's Department of Health, by legislative mandate, requires all licensed opticians to take seven hours of in-person continuing education in order to maintain their licenses. Without that seven hours, a licensed optician is in violation of state law. Just last year, the state of Massachusetts audited all licensed opticians, ensuring that they were all up-to-date with their credits. Massachusetts has a similar law as does Connecticut.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 6:18 AM EDT
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FYI: You Work in a $31.7 Billion Industry
Topic: Optical
"A study in the early 1970s showed that 25 percent of the U.S. population ages 12 to 54 suffered from nearsightedness, or myopia, which means they have trouble seeing things at a distance. A more recent study, from 1999 to 2004, showed the rate had soared to 41.6 percent. Americans spend $31.7 billion annually on vision products and services, according to the Vision Council of America. Eyeglass frames and lenses make up the largest portion, about $21 billion," according to a post on ChicagoTribune.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 6:07 AM EDT
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Reminder about Changes in Flex Accounts
Topic: Insurance
"Starting Jan. 1, employees will no longer be able to use their health care spending accounts to pay for over-the-counter drugs and medicines without a doctor's prescription, although they will be able to use them for many other drugstore items, such as bandages and contact lens solutions, without a prescription.Also, the law will let many parents use their accounts to pay for medical expenses incurred on behalf of a child through the end of the year in which the child turns 26," according to a great story posted on the website for the San Francisco Chronicle. Therefore, most of the products and services of the eyecare industry will be covered under the new regulations for FSA accounts.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 6:02 AM EDT
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Thursday, 7 October 2010

Bioplastic Eyewear
Topic: Eyewear
The Katherine E Hamnett will launch an eyewear line made of entirely of heat-resistant bioplastic manufactured by Teijin Limited. The Katharine E Hammett, in which the "E" stands for ethically and environmentally sound production, was launched in 2004 by English designer Katherine Hamnett. YabushitaT Group Inc. will market the eyewear, seeling it in Hamnett and other retail stores throughout Japan starting in early December. Yabushita will exhibit the eyeglasses at the International Optical Fair Tokyo (IOFT 2010) from October 18 to 20.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 7:41 AM EDT
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Drawing a Connection between Eye Health and Academics
Topic: Eye Care
"Davis Vision has launched its Focus on America® program's national literacy initiative at Queens Library in New York to raise awareness of the connection between healthy vision and reading and school success," says a press release from Davis. "As part of the campaign, uninsured and underinsured children in communities across the nation will receive free vision services, free books and education on proper eye care."

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 7:27 AM EDT
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Giving Sight to 50,000
Topic: Eye Care

Nearly 50,000 people will be given free eye checks, consultancy and surgery in the largest charity vision program on Oct. 14, World Sight Day, in Ha Noi, Viet Nam. For two weeks, teams of eye doctors will travel to outlying districts and schools to provide eye examinations and cataract operations.

The program was organized by the Ha Noi Eye Hospital and the Australian charity, ,the Fred Hollow Foundation. Last year doctors working through the foundation performed 195,406 eye operations and treatments, and since its founding, its doctors have examined more than 1.7 million people living in some of the world's poorest regions.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 7:23 AM EDT
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Your Customers Don't Understand Their Flex Plans
Topic: Insurance
According to a WageWorks survey, most Americans don't understand the concepts behind their own flexible spending account (FSA). Eighty-six percent of survey respondents had at least one misconception about FSAs, and 20 percent thought contributions were taxable. Additionally, more than half admitted to understanding the least about FSAs compared to other benefits in their workplace.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 7:13 AM EDT
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Tuesday, 5 October 2010

Eyeglasses Nab Suspect in Girl's Attack--After Six Years/Eyewear Held for Ransome
Topic: Optical--Sort Of

There has been an eyewear-related crime spree of late:

"Prosecutors say DNA from a pair of telltale eyeglasses has led them to a suspect in a vicious attack on a New York City teenager six years ago...Authorities found the attacker's glasses and took a DNA sample. But prosecutors say it went unidentified until the attacker's DNA was entered into a state database in September, after his burglary conviction," according to a post on WCAX's website.
NPR radio reported that during a party at London's famed Serpentine Club, a man snatched the glasses off the face of famed American writer Jonathan Franzen. The culprit left a ransome note demanding $100,000...."Partygoers chased after the thief, who jumped into the Serpentine, a small lake that divides Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens...[The police] called in a helicopter, concerned the culprit could drown....The prankster was 'eventually coaxed out of some bushes,' and some 30 minutes later, 'a very nice police officer' returned the glasses, which the author describes as 'heavy, brown, horn-rimmish sort of things.'"

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 8:41 PM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, 6 October 2010 6:41 AM EDT
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The Toric Alternative
Topic: Contact Lenses
OptometryToday noted that "recent industry data shows that although almost half of all UK contact lens wearers (43%) have some level of astigmatism, fewer than one in five (18%) are fitted with a toric lens. Only half of astigmats have heard about toric contact lenses as a corrective option. This gives eye care professionals a huge opportunity to offer their patients the right contact lenses to meet their vision needs." The same is probably true for Americans.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 8:36 PM EDT
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CLs for the Brain Injured
Topic: Contact Lenses

ContactLenses.co.uk has posted the following:

An industry prize has been won by a hydrating contact lens for showing innovation in the eyecare field. The $10,000 (£6,200) grand prize in the BMEStart competition was awarded to North Carolina State University for their HydrEYE CorneOasis Contact Lens...."The product description states that the device is meant for patients with traumatic brain injury, presumably to make it easier for nurses to care [for] the eyes of comatose patients. We could also see it being useful for patients with facial nerve disorders," Med Gadget reported.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 8:30 PM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, 6 October 2010 6:04 AM EDT
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An Alternative to Eyewear and LASIK
AcuFocus, Inc., Irving, CA, will launch its KAMRA corneal inlay and the AcuTarget system, which the company describes "as a revolutionary treatment option for near vision loss, or presbyopia." The corneal inlay reportedly creates a small aperture effect for the eye, allowing patients to see near and intermediate objects more clearly. The patented AcuTarget system is used to guide surgeons on proper surgical placement of the inlay. Presbyopia affects more than 1.5 billion people globally. Until now patients could only treat presbyopia or near vision loss with reading glasses, contact lenses or LASIK. The KAMRA inlay offers patients an alternative, which is said to significantly reduce dependence on reading glasses while maintaining a full range of vision.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 8:20 PM EDT
Updated: Tuesday, 5 October 2010 8:22 PM EDT
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Helping Parents Decide if CLs Are Right for Their Child
Topic: Contact Lenses
Parents and children don't always see eye to eye when it comes to vision correction. Children often feel they are ready for contact lenses before their parents do, and parents often don't know if their child is ready. To help, HealthyWomen is offering a free educational resource, Fast F acts for Your Health: Contact Lenses for Children. HealthyWomen created the publication with the assistance of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (Vistakon). You could provide the link to parents who are uncertain.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 8:12 PM EDT
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Men Suffer More Eye Injuries
Topic: Eye Care
Men suffer "nearly three times as many eye injuries as women," according to a public release about a survey conducted by the American Academy of Ophthalmology (Academy) and the American Society of Ocular Trauma (ASOT). "The annual Eye Injury Snapshot, a clinical survey of eye injuries across the U.S., conducted from May 16 to May 23 this year, found that men suffered the majority (73.5 percent) of the eye injuries. Annually, 2.5 million Americans suffer eye injuries and more than 52 percent of all injuries are taking place at home," the release also noted.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 7:19 AM EDT
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