By Staff
Friday, April 16, 2021 12:30 AM
ST. LOUIS—Wyoming’s approval of contemporary optometric procedures, including laser and excision authorities, goes down in history as the first time in a single year that two states accomplished the scope expansion, according to the
American Optometric Association (AOA). Optometry’s advocates secured historic progress in Wyoming as the state becomes the second this year to authorize certain surgical procedures, bolstering patients’ access to essential primary eye health care, AOA said in a post on its site. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon on April 2 signed into law
Wyoming HB 39, a comprehensive act amending the state’s optometric scope of practice to permit YAG laser capsulotomy, selective laser trabeculoplasty, laser iridotomy and lesions removal, as well as amending doctors’ of optometry drug prescribing authority and granting board authority. Significantly, Wyoming’s scope expansion not only affords patients greater accessibility to primary eye health care services, provided by their local doctors of optometry, but also represents the first time in optometry’s history that two states have approved scope expansions for advanced procedures in the same year, according to AOA.
By Staff
Friday, April 16, 2021 12:15 AM
PARSIPPANY, N.J.—
Katena Products, Inc., a leading global provider of premium ophthalmic instruments, biologics, and devices to hospitals, surgical centers, and ophthalmic and optometric offices announces the purchase of
ASICO, LLC. ASICO, based in Westmont, Ill., has been an industry leader for over 35 years, providing high-quality ophthalmic surgical instruments, with special focus on the design of new products and technologies. ASICO’s product range encompasses over 1,500 items including stainless steel and titanium instruments, single-use cannulas and blades, and selection of diamond knives.
By Staff
Thursday, April 15, 2021 12:30 AM
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. and RALEIGH, N.C.—The Pre-Optometry Club of the
Black Eyecare Perspective (BEPPOC) is celebrating the achievements of its members who have gained admittance into the Class of 2025 at a school or college of optometry. The virtual event will be held on the evening of April 27, and is being hosted in partnership with Johnson & Johnson Vision Care. Adam Ramsey, OD, a Florida private practitioner and co-founder of Black Eyecare Perspective, with Dr Darryl Glover, noted, "You may know and have heard that we need more Black doctors, but the reality is in order to have more Black doctors, we have to actively recruit them as well as create more opportunities to not only help them survive but thrive in their pursuit.
By Staff
Thursday, April 15, 2021 12:21 AM
NEW YORK—
The State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry community is gearing up to celebrate 50 years of study and service this year. A virtual celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the college's founding was held yesterday evening to kick off a year-long commemorative campaign stretching through June 2022.
By Staff
Wednesday, April 14, 2021 12:27 AM
BOULDER, Colo.—
Treehouse Eyes, the country’s first and only dedicated myopia management service company, announced a series of recent expansions. Dr. Gary Gerber, Treehouse Eyes co-founder said, “With the recent addition of 10 new locations, in just the last seven months we have doubled our national footprint to 40 locations."
By Staff
Monday, April 12, 2021 12:24 AM
ST. LOUIS—
EyeCare Partners LLC (ECP), a leading network of integrated ophthalmology and optometry providers serving patients across the entire vision care continuum, has announced 16 new partner practices that have been added to the organization since October 2020. Despite the enormous challenges of 2020, EyeCare Partners “adapted and continued to expand its footprint in the vision care field,” the announcement noted. Since the third quarter of last year, EyeCare Partners said it has added 95 offices, 11 ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and 165 doctors. The terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
By Staff
Tuesday, April 6, 2021 12:24 AM
DALLAS—
Eyemart Express is expanding its national footprint with the opening this week of its first store in Tennessee. The 3,500-square-foot store in Jackson marks the retailer's 230th location across 42 states. The value optical retailer was founded in 1990, and as of last October it is owned jointly by the investment groups
Leonard Green & Partners and FFL Partners, along with the founding Barnes family.
By Staff
Tuesday, April 6, 2021 12:18 AM
ST. LOUIS—The
American Optometric Association (AOA) is announcing today that it is partnering with
USA Surfing and Tokyo-bound pro surfer
Caroline Marks to launch Eye Deserve More, a national campaign to bring awareness to the critical role doctors of optometry play in the eyecare and overall health of Americans.
By Staff
Monday, April 5, 2021 12:30 AM
NEW YORK—After an almost complete shutdown of eyecare practices across the nation in the latter part of March 2020, it’s not unexpected that practices overall performed much better across many of the key office metrics in March 2021. However, in a few key areas—such as patients per day and profitably per patient—March 2021 performance trailed the results of March 2019, the most recent time that ECPs were not dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Staff
Monday, April 5, 2021 12:24 AM
ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The Vision Council and Reed Exhibitions, organizers of Vision Expo, today announced that the
Professional Opticians of Florida will join Vision Expo East 2021, taking place June 2-5 in Orlando, Florida, as an
official supporter.
By Andrew Karp
Friday, April 2, 2021 8:30 AM
As a journalist who covers vision technology, I’ve become fascinated with eye tracking and its many uses, which range from health care to virtual and augmented reality, sports training, gaming, retail, marketing, education and military applications. Eye tracking uses motion-detecting sensors embedded in special eyeglasses or behind a computer screen to detect and measure eye movement. As many
VMAIL readers know, it’s used for diagnosing and treating vision problems related to the eye-brain connection. “We use eye tracking on virtually every single one of our patients who are coming in with a visual processing issue,” said Charles Shidlofsky, OD, FCOVD, a vision development and vision rehabilitation specialist whose practice,
Neuro-Vision Associates of North Texas, is in Plano, Texas.
By Staff
Friday, April 2, 2021 12:21 AM
WASHINGTON—After a months-long suspension, the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) revised Contact Lens Rule and its paperwork requirements went back into effect Thursday, April 1.
By Staff
Thursday, April 1, 2021 12:24 AM
DUBLIN, Calif.—
Zeiss announced yesterday that it has completed construction of its new R&D, production, sales and customer service site in the San Francisco Bay area. Bringing together hundreds of Zeiss employees and key functions under one roof represents a major milestone in the company’s international innovation and growth strategy, the company said in a statement. “The new
Zeiss Innovation Center harnesses our technological, research and customer services strengths in one of the world’s premier technology innovation locations,” said Dr. Christian Muller, chief financial officer of the Zeiss Group.
By Staff
Thursday, April 1, 2021 12:21 AM
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—
The California Optometric Association (COA) announced Fred Dubick, OD, MBA, FAAO, has been named the “Optometrist of the Year.” Dr. Dubick is an optometrist and owner of
StudioEyes Optometry with locations in Burbank, Northridge and Sun Valley, Calif.