Topic: Contact Lenses

« | October 2010 | » | ||||
![]() |
||||||
S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
1 | 2 | |||||
3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
31 |
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.
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.
There has been an eyewear-related crime spree of late:
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.
"According to recent research by VSP Vision Care, 33 percent of eye doctors reported that nearly one-third or more of their patients suffer from symptoms of computer vision syndrome or digital device-related vision problems. The most common symptoms, according to the study, include eye strain (82 percent), dry or irritated eyes (74 percent), fatigue (70 percent), and headaches (61 percent)," according to RiskandInsurance.
"Computer vision syndrome...is a serious condition that can have a major impact on employees' well-being, work productivity and learning capacity. According to a study by VSP Vision Care, eye-related strain can set in with as little as four hours spent in front of a digital device. American workers, however, spend an average of six hours each day in front of a digital device, which adds up to more than 200 billion hours a year."
In another deal, HMX Group signed "a worldwide licensing agreement with Signature Eyewear for its Hickey Freeman, Bobby Jones and Monarchy brands. Signature currently holds the license for Hart Shaffner Marx eyewear," according to WWD.
During the next seven years, government subsidies to Medicare Advantage will disappear. Experts say that as subsidies decline and insurers pick up preventive care, the latter mandated by the new health care law, insurers may cut other benefits, such as dental and vision. That's the word from the NYTimes.
You might find some of your patients confused as well. The article notes that when patients sign up for Medicare during the next few months, they will have to deal with a variety of changes.
Finally does it seem like you filling more Medicaid orders? You probably are. On average, Medicaid covers one in six Americans because of the economic downturn. "Enrollment in the program, which provides comprehensive coverage to the low-income uninsured, grew by 8.2 percent from December 2008 to December 2009, the second-largest rate of increase in the 10 years that Kaiser has conducted the survey. There were 48.5 million people on Medicaid at the end of 2009, or about one of every six Americans," according to another NYTimes article.