Michael Guyette, president and CEO, VSP Vision.
NEW YORK—To better reflect its position as a leading health-centric vision care company, VSP Global announced earlier this month that it had rebranded to VSP Vision, as VMAIL  reported. The move reinforces the central component of the company’s expansive, multi-tiered approach to vision care and emphasizes the singular focus of “unifying” the many elements in its business mix. In a wide-ranging, exclusive interview with VMAIL just ahead of the announcement, Michael Guyette, president and CEO of the group for the past four years, spoke about the company’s near-term objectives and its intent “to connect better with our doctors, members, our clients and the industry, to open the lines of communication. We have a responsibility given who we are, to help people understand our strategy.”

Pointing to VSP Vision’s three strategic pillars—its insurance business, its provider network and its supply chain—Guyette said his goal is to present an “integrated, unified strategy.” Regarding the rebranding, Guyette stated, “VSP Vision reaffirms our long-standing commitment to care, our passion to empower, and our promise to reinvest for all of our stakeholders.”

He also shared some specific numbers about the Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based not-for-profit organization that plays such a large role in the U.S. eyecare market. VSP Vision serves more than 85 million members, provides coverage for more than 63,000 clients, with a network of more than 41,000 doctors, a group of more than 13,000 employees and revenues which are expected to approach $8 billion by the end of this year.

Guyette, who joined VSP in February 2018, pointed out that membership has grown on several fronts, including through VSP Vision client companies and direct-to-consumer coverage. With the rise of an aging population and underpenetrated markets, the company has worked to expand access by taking part in new areas of the health care benefits market.

In November 2021, for example, VSP Vision Care acquired iCare Health Solutions, an integrated specialty network and administrator of comprehensive ocular care services, which specializes in comprehensive eyecare management, combining routine eyecare, medical eyecare, and surgical care through partnerships with health plans and multi-specialty clinics. The company serves nearly three million members through a network of optometrists and ophthalmologists.

Said VSP at the time, “This is a way for VSP to connect even better with the health care system and provide that health care connection through Medicare. This is a growing market and it offers new ways for us to further advance the value of eyecare to overall health.”

This broader view toward VSP’s three pillars reflects Guyette’s background, comprising 25 years in managed patient care, most recently as CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, as well as other not-for-profit companies. “Most of my career has been in that environment—with a few years at a for-profit, which gave me great insights—but I liked the purpose driven, mission driven element of the not-for-profit stakeholder, which is the member and doctor first. I knew and worked with many of the hospital systems in the country, whether Cleveland Clinic, Mayo or Northwell with whom we had working relationships.”

During the pandemic, after VSP employees began to work safely remotely, those health care relationships helped Guyette gain a realistic national perspective about what was happening, about crowded emergency rooms, getting involved and advocating among other eyecare leaders for eyecare to be considered “essential” by the CDC and various U.S. states. At the same time, providers across the country were also forced to handle patients by appointment, rely on technology to conduct virtual visits and consults, and so forth. “We all had to increase access during the pandemic,” Guyette recalled, adding, “and as the population ages, the issue of access is only going to be more important.”

One example: After seeing the positive impact expanding medical eyecare services had on VSP members during the pandemic, this past December (2021), VSP Vision Care included what it calls “Essential Medical Eye Care ”as standard coverage on full-service plans for commercial clients. Essential Medical Eye Care provides coverage for members to see their VSP network doctor as many times as medically necessary throughout the year for their total eyecare needs.

It offers added coverage beyond routine eyecare to treat immediate issues from pink eye to sudden changes in vision or to monitor ongoing conditions such as dry eye, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, and more. It also includes covered-in-full retinal screening for VSP members with diabetes who do not have diabetic eye disease. “By incorporating Essential Medical Eyecare as standard coverage, this is an example of our health-focused approach,” Guyette pointed out.

As part of VSP’s moves to further integrate its business and relationships to the betterment of the patent and the provider, Guyette points to the group’s Premier program. “The number of Premier Program practices has nearly doubled since 2018—we’re now at 7,200 locations and growing,” he said. “Doctors see the value of the investments we’re making and the patient volume the program is driving.

"Premier has driven 60 million patient visits to these practices since we started the program and 17 million of those were new patients. As we evolve the Premier Program, we’re focused on increasing value to our network and through our network for our clients and members. The launch of our benefit enhancement, VSP PremierMax, is the latest example of how Premier is creating a high-value experience for all our stakeholders.”

VSP PremierMax, which launched in December 2021, is a new patient benefit enhancement, available to VSP clients designed to create “a high-value member experience and help support patient flow to Premier Program practices.” VSP PremierMax is currently available to 1.2 million VSP members when they visit a VSP Premier practice.

"The PremierMax program enables client companies to design a vision plan that maximizes their employees’ coverage and offer customizable benefits that are on top of their standard covered benefits. Clients can select features such as $0 copay on WellVision Exams and covered-in-full retinal screenings, covered lens enhancements and higher frame allowances,” the company explained.

Guyette pointed to another initiative reflecting learnings from clients and members during the pandemic, responding to the trend of patients and consumers wanting a more digitally enhanced experience “as a part of the eyecare journey.” In fact,” Guyette added, “we’re excited to debut Eyefinity’s next-generation, cloud-based practice management platform this summer, which is designed to simplify and elevate the patient and staff experience from start to finish.”

He reported, “We’ve been testing the platform in 80 Visionworks stores and have heard excellent feedback so far. Patients can schedule online appointments and are then taken through an efficient, tablet-guided experience by our staff in store—from check-in, to exam, to eyewear selection and check-out. The system creates price transparency where the patient’s vision benefits are immediately calculated to show instant, out-of-pocket costs. Members can then track their eyewear order online as it’s being filled in the lab.”

Another enhanced patient experience is the expansion of VSP’s nationwide doctor-remote exam capabilities in 2021, which followed a 2020 proof-of-concept with both Visionworks and private practices. Today, VSP Premier practices have access to discounts for doctor-remote technology solutions from Zeiss, DigitalOptometrics and Topcon.

VSP’s move into the retail side and practice venture side of the provider business is part of the connectivity and “expansion of member access” changes that Guyette has overseen. VSP has seen an evolving network composition for a while now.

With the rise of private equity-backed consolidation in the U.S., it launched its VSP Ventures business in March 2019, described by Guyette at the time as “a well-defined network strategy, which allows us to provide a variety of options for doctors at every career stage and in every kind of practice setting—from privately owned, to dispensary-managed, to VSP-owned and operated.” VSP Ventures is in nearly 80 practices today.

Later in 2019 the company reported it was acquiring Visionworks, at that time a national optical retailer owned by Highmark, Inc. Today that retail group consists of 720 locations.

While he emphasizes VSP’s commitment to private practice, Guyette describes these expansions of the provider network as necessary, VSP “is responding to market drivers, based on what it hears from its clients, the ways the health care and benefits worlds have been impacted through the pandemic, and more.”

In addition to Eyefinity, Marchon Eyewear and VSP Optics are core elements of the organization's supply chain, helping deliver differentiated products for VSP network doctors, and bringing more value to insurance clients and members, Guyette said.

Taking the broad view of all of those components, Guyette told VMAIL, “All elements of our business are growing and we should be on track for revenues, as a group, of close to $8 billion by the end of this year.”

He emphasized, “As the industry evolves, VSP Vision continues to grow purposefully and reinvest to support the profession as a vital connector between our clients, members and network doctors.”