Landmark Lancet Global Health Commission Report Outlines the Essential Role Vision Care Plays

NEW YORK—A landmark report was published this week in The Lancet, the prestigious British medical journal, outlining The Lancet Global Health Commission: Global Eye Health: Vision Beyond 2020, which outlines and corroborates the fact that while 1.1 billion people live with blindness or impairment to distant or near vision, over 90 percent of cases can be prevented or treated with existing cost-effective interventions. The Lancet Global Health Commission website also details the report, related papers and content that addresses Read more.

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SightMD Announces Strategic Partnership With Two-Location Ophthalmology Practice of Norman Saffra, MD

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y.—SightMD, a leading multi-specialty ophthalmology platform, has announced a strategic partnership with Norman Saffra, MD, a Nassau County and Brooklyn based ophthalmologist. Through this strategic partnership, Dr. Saffra’s practices in Brooklyn and Hewlett will expand SightMD’s presence by adding two locations and six providers. It also increases SightMD’s footprint to 40 locations and more than 85 providers across the New York Tristate Area. SightMD is a portfolio company of Chicago Pacific Founders. The Read more.

IDOC Connection 2021 Successfully Draws More Than 1,100 Attendees, With 85 Sessions Featured via Interactive Virtual Meeting Platform

NORWALK Conn.—IDOC's Connection 2021, the alliance’s annual national conference, took place for the first time this year via a virtual platform that featured general sessions, exhibitor booths, nightly entertainment, and networking opportunities for the more than 1,100 attendees. The three-day online event included live chat rooms, continuing education and a roster of noteworthy keynote speakers, who were selected for their relevance to the current environment and the industry’s need for innovation and adaptability. Read more.

Neurolens Reports Strong Growth and Demand in 2020, a Year When More People Worked from Home and Increased Their Screen Time

COSTA MESA, Calif.—Neurolens, an eyeglass lens company dedicated to providing pain-relieving comfort for hardworking eyes, has announced that it experienced “meaningful growth” in 2020 with the onboarding of more than 130 new practices. With consumers shifting their lifestyles to include increased screen time in response to work-from-home demands, optometrists have reported record numbers of patients suffering from symptoms such as headaches, eye strain, dry eye and shoulder and neck pain associated with eye Read more.

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Retail Sector Preps for Recovery as Online Commerce Grows in 2021

Fighting Blindness Canada Challenges You to Turn Off Your Screens for 24 hours on March 20

The Vision Council Releases Results of January 2021 Eyecare Provider Insights Survey

VM's Conversations With HEA’s Justin Manning, OD: Eyecare Professionals Adapt and Prosper Through a Year of the Coronavirus Pandemic

Seven-Day Average of Daily COVID-19 Cases Drops on a Global Scale

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Now Incorporating VMail ProductWatch and VMail Technology

Kenmark Intros Spring Campaign and Collection from Original Penguin

Quick Take: Kenmark Eyewear is introducing the Spring 2021 optical collection and campaign from Original Penguin. Original Penguin also released sun styles for the season.
Specifics: The new optical styles are The Ferguson, The Park and The Locke. The Ferguson is a modified square frame with a pop of color on the brows and a stainless steel bridge, available in gunmetal, silver and gold. The Park is a modified round combination style with laminated
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Altair Eyewear Launches Cole Haan Spring 2021 Collection

Quick Take: Altair Eyewear is introducing the Spring 2021 Cole Haan collection.
Specifics: Cole Haan’s spring collection debuts six new optical and four new sun styles, all from the brand’s ZERØGRAND collection, which takes cues from Cole Haan’s iconic footwear designs. Each frame in the collection is engineered with flexible memory metal, lightweight materials and custom color combinations derived from the brand’s footwear palettes.
Selling Point: Cole Haan’s Spring 2021 collection is built for all-day wear,
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ABB Verify Enhances Insurance Verification System

Product: ABB Verify, a vision care benefits optimization platform from ABB Optical Group.
Top Line: ABB Verify is launching a product enhancement feature that allows ECPs who utilize ABB Verify to retrieve medical plan information in addition to the current vision insurance search offering. This will provide ECPs with a centralized location to review both vision and medical eligibility and benefits information.
Close Up: Part of the ABB Business Solutions suite, ABB Verify provides
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The U.S. economy abruptly plunged into a recession roughly a year ago, as the rapid spread of the coronavirus and ensuing shutdowns and stay-at-home orders dealt a devastating blow to many businesses and industries. This put in motion a dramatic spike in unemployment between March and April of 2020, which was unprecedented in the post-World War II era—peaking at 14.8 percent in April (seasonally adjusted).

The unemployment rate has come down significantly since last spring, falling to 6.3 percent in January 2021. But labor market disruption remains a hallmark of the COVID-19 recession.

A new Pew Research Center survey finds that about half of U.S. adults who are currently unemployed, furloughed or temporarily laid off and are looking for a job are pessimistic about their prospects for future employment, and most say they’ve seriously considered changing fields or occupations since they’ve been unemployed. Many say they’ve experienced more emotional or mental health issues during the time they’ve been out of work. Read more.

About This Post: Winter storms and power outages continue across Texas, leaving many more people without power, heat or water. Earlier in the week, Texas Monthly compiled a list of ways to help—whether you're a Texan in trouble or from somewhere else, hoping to help. 

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Health Care Gets a New Look

There are times in life when we get caught up in places where we can’t see the forest for the trees. Chalk it up to outside distractions, a fixation on a single issue or, perhaps more likely in the current climate, a preoccupation with a global pandemic. But while many of us have been admiring the trees, some noteworthy things have come about in the ecosystem of health care. We like to call this space “retail health,” which is certainly not all that new. But certainly, it’s been an active space over the past few months. Here are a few “retail health” developments worth watching. Read More

Women In Optometry: California Optometric Association Applauds Decision to Allow Optometrists to Administer COVID-19 Vaccine

SACRAMENTO—In a move to address the state’s shortage of health care providers available to administer COVID-19 vaccines, the California Department of Consumer Affairs approved a public health emergency waiver that will allow doctors of optometry to administer COVID-19 vaccines to persons 16 years of age or older. Governor Newsom has created a massive outreach effort to meet the challenge of vaccinating 40 million Californians. The faster and more completely we can vaccinate the population, the less chance of more deadly virus mutations. Optometrists can immediately help with surge capacity at mass vaccination sites once more vaccine is available. Read More

For the Safilo Group, Growth Also Means Sustainability

In this interview, Camilla Costaguta, the Group’s chief marketing officer, describes her company’s responsible approach to protecting the environment and improving people’s lives. Read more.