News from the AOA's Blog

Spring can be a difficult time for the one in five individuals affected by seasonal eye allergies. For many vision corrected individuals, eye allergy symptoms such as itchy, watery, or red eyes often keep them from enjoying daily activities, affect their appearance, and impact their performance at work, at school, and during sports, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive® on behalf of Vistakon® Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Read the rest of this entry ?

The HOYA Free-Form Company
Purpose, Pride, Passion, People

The HOYA Free-Form Company has a purpose. Leadership. Leaders blaze difficult trails and endure the unknown. While others sit back, watch and wait for the hard work to be done, and then enjoy safe passage, the leader is off to blaze the next trail. Read the rest of this entry ?

Shamir’s newest Freeform® product – Shamir FirstPAL classified as an introductory Freeform design is specifically designed for new progressive wearers.

“Shamir FirstPAL™ is the ideal solution for new presbyopes, ages 40-45,” according to the company. A low addition progressive solution, it offers clear and wide far vision, a comfortable reading zone and an easy transition between the two. Read the rest of this entry ?

Allergan offers and pursues innovative products to help improve patient care.

With over 60 years of successfully discovering and developing new therapeutic agents to help protect and preserve vision, the Allergan heritage offers eye care professionals and patients a broad range of products to treat a variety of eye conditions. As a result of dedicated R&D efforts and close relationships with eye care professionals, Allergan has established itself as a global leader in eye care. Read the rest of this entry ?

Dave Plogmann, senior vice president of executive optical partnerships for Luxottica, speaks at the Ophthalmic Council meeting.

With the economy gaining steam, ophthalmic industry leaders had health care reform on their minds as the Ophthalmic Council™ met in New York in March.

Formed in 1998, the Ophthalmic Council™ serves as an informal forum for leaders of the ophthalmic industry and the AOA to take an active role in addressing key issues and communicating respective ideas and concerns while enhancing and advancing the ophthalmic industry to better serve patients and consumers.

The guest speaker, Dan Crippen, Ph.D., is the executive director of the National Governors Association, the only bipartisan organization of the nation’s governors.

“The only meaningful way to get costs down is to keep people out of institutions – hospitals and nursing homes,” he said. “Everything else is just tinkering at the margins.”

He cited children’s asthma attacks as an example where care could be delivered more cost-effectively. Read the rest of this entry ?

Missouri proclamation

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared the week of May 6-12 InfantSEE® Week for the state.

The state  hopes the week will raise awareness of the opportunity for parents to have their babies’ eyes examined without charge and to ascertain the prevalence of infant vision issues.

It is also an opportunity to investigate the connection between socioeconomic levels and early risk factors and to determine if there is a link between the vision history of the mother and risk factors of the baby.

For more information, visit www.infantsee.org.

Transitions Optical, Inc. has announced its 2012 Diversity Advisory Board members – nine eye health and cultural experts who will help guide the Transitions Cultural Connections™ initiative. Formed in March 2010, the board represents expertise in the largest and fastest-growing minority demographic groups in the United States, including Hispanics, blacks and those of Asian heritage. Read the rest of this entry ?

Transitions Optical, Inc. introduced a new resource – MyMulticulturalToolkit.com – to serve as an eye care professional’s guide to meeting the needs of today’s growing minority populations. Compiling the popular tools and education offered to eye care professionals through the Transitions Cultural Connections™ program, the new online resource explains the reasons to focus on culturally diverse patients and provides a step-by-step guide to success, linking to helpful resources along the way. The toolkit also gives eye care professionals the opportunity to save specific links and resources to their own personalized “My Dashboard” for easy, future use. Read the rest of this entry ?