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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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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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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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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"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."

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 7:05 AM EDT
Updated: Tuesday, 5 October 2010 7:22 AM EDT
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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.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 7:00 AM EDT
Updated: Tuesday, 5 October 2010 7:16 AM EDT
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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.

Posted by ct3/opticalceu at 8:29 AM EDT
Updated: Monday, 4 October 2010 8:38 AM EDT
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