By Staff
Thursday, January 16, 2020 12:21 AM
SAN RAMON, Calif.—
CooperVision, which is preparing for the March 2020 U.S. launch of
MiSight 1 day contact lenses, has kicked off the new year by announcing this week the details of its comprehensive myopia management approach. An initial group of eyecare professionals (ECPs) gathered in Miami on Jan. 7-8 to learn about the “Brilliant Futures Myopia Management Program” and to prepare to prescribe the MiSight 1 day lens to patients. CooperVision’s MiSight 1 day lens is the first and only product approved by the Food and Drug Administration for slowing the progression of myopia when initially prescribed for children 8-12 years old, as
VMAIL reported.
By Staff
Wednesday, January 15, 2020 12:18 AM
MASON, Ohio—
Pearle Vision has been ranked as the nation’s top eyecare franchise company on
Entrepreneur magazine’s highly competitive
Franchise 500 list, according to a Pearle Vision announcement.
By Staff
Wednesday, January 15, 2020 12:15 AM
ST. LOUIS—Optometry Cares–The
AOA Foundation is now accepting nominations for the Dr. W. David Sullins Jr.
InfantSEE Award, which recognizes an individual doctor of optometry who has made significant contributions to optometry or his/her community for outstanding public service involving the InfantSEE program, according to an announcement. The award honors the memory of Dr. W. David Sullins Jr., and the late optometrist's inspiring and passionate leadership as a driving force in the profession of optometry. A memorial fund was established after his passing in 2005 and led to the creation of the award.
By Staff
Tuesday, January 14, 2020 12:18 AM
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—The
California Optometric Association(COA) has noted that as part of the state’s “strong commitment to strengthening the Medi-Cal program” eyeglass benefits for Medi-Cal recipients have been restored, and the association also noted that it will continue in 2020 to advocate for a Medi-Cal reimbursement rate increase for optometrists practicing in the state. “California’s rate is among the lowest in the nation,” a COA official told
VMAIL. “We will be advocating for the rate increase again this year.”
By Staff
Friday, January 10, 2020 12:27 AM
CHICAGO and FLINT, Mich.—
Midwest Vision Partners, which is backed by
Alpine Investors, has announced a partnership with
Michigan Eye Institute (MEI), which represents MVP’s first partnership in the state of Michigan. Michigan Eye Institute is led by Dr. Gary Keoleian, Dr. Jeffrey Diskin and Dr. David Diskin and has a network of 12 providers. The practice employs approximately 110 support staff across six clinical locations, according to an announcement earlier this week. The terms of the partnership were not disclosed.
By Staff
Friday, January 10, 2020 12:15 AM
NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio—Beyond 20/20, the 4th Annual
International Sports Vision Association (ISVA)
conference, is scheduled for Feb. 6 to 8 at the Bahia Resort Hotel in San Diego, California. “Sports Vision, the science of helping athletes reach peak levels of performance through the enhancement of visual skills, is becoming more and more important in training individuals of many sports,” said ISVA president Alex Andrich, OD, FCOVD. “With this growth, more practitioners are recognizing that Sports Vision is an excellent specialty service that can become a valuable addition to their primary care practice.”
By Staff
Friday, January 3, 2020 12:24 AM
ST. LOUIS—The
American Optometric Association (AOA), in response to “information disseminated by various individuals and organizations regarding upcoming changes to coding and reimbursement” for evaluation and management services (E/M services), has provided an update about this topic for optometrists. Given the importance of E/M services in patient care, it's critical that all optometrists “are aware of these changes,” the association noted in the post on its website. According to the AOA post, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2018 proposed to reduce the payment variation for office/outpatient E/M visit levels by paying a single rate for office/outpatient E/M visit levels 2 through 4 (one rate for established patients and another rate for new patients), while maintaining the payment rate for office/outpatient E/M visit level 5.
By Staff
Friday, January 3, 2020 12:18 AM
DALLAS—
Eyemart Express, an optical retailer founded in 1990 by Dr. Doug H. Barnes and now a group of 218 office locations in 40 states nationwide, will celebrate more than just clear vision in 2020. The optical retailer turns 30, “a milestone in the retail and optical industries,” according to an announcement this week. Eyemart Express, which calls itself “the fastest provider of glasses in the industry” with its onsite labs, will launch a “2020 Glasses Giveaway” as part of its anniversary celebration. Customers who shop at Eyemart Express locations starting Jan. 1 will automatically be entered to win a $2020 gift card.A customer’s winning ticket will be selected each month this year, according to the announcement. (The gift card can be used to purchase any of the more than 2,000 frame options carried in every Eyemart Express, as well as sunglasses, lens treatments or accessories.)
By Staff
Monday, December 30, 2019 12:21 AM
SAN RAMON, Calif.—
CooperVision has announced the launch of its first-ever Best Practices Scholarship Program. The scholarship will be offered to outstanding third-year optometry students as an expansion of the company’s annual
Best Practices initiative, which recognizes practices that advance the optometry profession through innovation, leadership, and exceptional patient experience. This scholarship will provide recipients with an all-expenses paid trip to the 2020 Best Practices Summit, a three-day event where they will be able to meet and collaborate with the year’s honorees.
By Staff
Friday, December 27, 2019 12:30 AM
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif.—
VSP Ventures, a care-focused practice transition partner and a business unit of
VSP Global, announced Thursday the acquisition of
Brookside Optometric Group in Stockton, Calif. Founded in 1998 by the late Craig Hisaka, OD, Brookside Optometric Group was established after the five largest optometric practices in Stockton merged together, according to the announcement. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. VSP Ventures was launched in March 2019 as part of VSP Global’s expanded retail strategy, as
VMAIL reported.
By Staff
Thursday, December 26, 2019 12:24 AM
LAVAL, Quebec, and HEIDELBERG, Germany—
Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE/TSX: BHC) and
Bausch + Lomb, its leading global eye health business, and
Novaliq GmbH, a pharmaceutical company focused on ocular therapeutics, announced late last week a licensing agreement for an investigational dry eye treatment. Bausch Health has acquired an exclusive license for the sale and development in the U.S. and Canada of the investigational treatment NOV03 (perfluorohexyloctane), a first-in-class investigational drug with a novel mechanism of action to treat dry eye disease (DED) associated with Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), according to the joint announcement.
By Staff
Friday, December 20, 2019 12:15 AM
WATERLOO, Ontario—The
Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE) has published issue number 51 of its free online education magazine,
Contact Lens Update. For the first time, an entire edition has been dedicated to a single conference: the Canadian Dry Eye Summit, which was held in Toronto in mid-November. “Clinical management of dry eye disease is front of mind for many practitioners as they explore building and expanding their contemporary evidence-based practice,” Karen Walsh, CORE clinical scientist and Contact Lens Update editor, said in an announcement.
By Staff
Thursday, December 19, 2019 12:15 AM
BALTIMORE—
Versant Health, a leading national managed eye health and vision plan group, announced that it has designated December as Gift of Sight Month. The vision care company noted that it had decided to establish the “holiday” after a Vision Wellness Study found that just 51 percent of people saw an eye doctor regularly. The same study also noted that 39 percent of consumers cited cost and/or affordability as the reason why household members do not see an eye doctor as often as they would like to.