Posts Tagged ‘eye diseases’

VSP Mobile Eyes Provides Outreach to Louisiana Babies!

Posted on August 4th, 2009 by Jill N

Jill N. is a member of VSP's Corporate Public Relations Team

Jill N. is a member of VSP's Corporate Public Relations Team

VSP believes everyone deserves to see well. We actively seek opportunities to give back to the community, such as partnering with the AOA InfantSEE program.

As VSP’s mission is to increase Americans’ access to quality eyecare and promote awareness about the importance of eye health, the InfantSEE program partnership is a natural and important extension of this mission. This is the second time this year we have partnered with InfantSEE, providing them with a much needed extension to bring access to eyecare to those in need who aren’t able to go to a doctor’s office.

In May, more than 275 West Virginia infants were seen for an eye assessment during a two week period of traveling across the state. One out of every five infants had an abnormal exam or a cause for concern. Findings included: hyperopia, astigmatism, myopia, amblyopia, strabismus, mild refractive error and tear duct issues. During the next few weeks we hope to reach even more infants during our time in Louisiana!

Check out these videos of our first day of outreach in New Orleans yesterday. InfantSEE staff member Emily Zar, with VSP Dr. Heitmeier’s office, is conducting a vision test with a New Orleans baby and his mother and VSP Dr.’s Cary Vincent and Jeff Anastasio are doing a vision assessment of another little New Orleans baby. It’s amazing to see how un-invasive these assessments are and how much fun the babies have doing it!

Check out the VSP event calendar to see where the VSP Mobile Clinics will be next!

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Message is Clear – Get Annual Eye Exams

Posted on May 15th, 2007 by Rob L.

Every so often a story makes the news that hits home and causes us to pay attention. If you’re a basketball fan like me, you probably heard about the struggle Utah Jazz Guard Derek Fisher’s young 10-month-old daughter faces with retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer, in her left eye. The disease causes a tumor in the retina and affects between 200 and 300 children in the U.S. each year, typically age 5 and under.

Thankfully, the tumor was detected early through a comprehensive eye exam. Even so, once diagnosed, the NBA star and his family had 30 minutes to make a difficult choice — remove the eye and try to get all the cancer, or treat it with a combination of surgery and chemotherapy, and hope that she can keep her eye. They chose the latter, and she is recovering from a successful treatment. In the next few weeks, doctors will repeat the procedure or attempt to remove the tumor.

Immediately following the initial procedure, Fisher made a dramatic entrance to the second half of Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals and gave a stellar performance. After winning the game he had a clear and heart-felt message for the media and his fans. Fisher pleaded with all parents to make sure their kids receive a comprehensive eye exam every year. He said if they had waited any longer, his daughter could have lost her left eye, or much worse her life.

For each story like this in the media, there are hundreds, if not thousands out of the public eye. I hope you are all paying attention and spreading the word about the importance of annual eye exams.

–Rob

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Greater Access Means Better Vision

Posted on April 2nd, 2007 by Rob L.

A recent study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 61 million Americans are at high risk for vision loss from conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma. Sadly, more than half of this at-risk population fails to get an annual dilated eye exam, and some five million cannot afford the vision correction that they need.

Having vision insurance significantly increases the likelihood of getting an annual eye exam— a 2007 VSP Vision Care study reveals that 61% of Americans with vision coverage received an eye exam within the last year, while only 44% of those without coverage had an exam. But where does this leave millions of retirees, the self-employed, and those who no longer have vision coverage due to a change in employment?

I’m proud to announce that VSP is taking an important new step to expand access to proactive eyecare for all Americans. On March 30th, 2007 VSP launched the first-ever insured vision plan directly to consumers nationwide*. By offering VSP’s Signature Choice Plan directly to individuals and families, we are making quality eyecare accessible and affordable. This also addresses another current healthcare concern – making insurance coverage portable. Since consumers purchase the plan directly, they can maintain their VSP coverage and continuity of care through career shifts and life changes.

I believe that VSP’s new direct-to-consumer vision coverage will open up access to eyecare for millions of Americans for the first time. In doing so, VSP will move another step closer to our goal of delivering quality eyecare to all segments of the population. Expanding access to eyecare can deliver key healthcare savings, as shown in VSP’s work with the State of California, and I think that this step will further demonstrate the value of proactive, preventive healthcare. Really, it’s not just about the cost savings – it’s also the right thing to do for patients and their families. I look forward to your thoughts on VSP’s new direct-to-consumer eyecare coverage.

Rob

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Your Window to Wellness

Posted on March 5th, 2007 by Rob L.

I recently wrote about how VSP’s Eye Health Management® program helped the State of California generate significant healthcare cost savings (Million Dollar Service). This program focuses on VSP doctors identifying their patients’ symptoms of serious diseases such as diabetes. Then VSP shares HIPAA-compliant data with the patients’ health plan or disease manager to help ensure that they can proactively manage their disease.

A key reason for the importance of annual eye exams is that the eyes are the only part of your body that provides an unobstructed view of your blood vessels.  During a comprehensive eye exam your eye doctor can observe abnormalities in these tiny blood vessels that may indicate symptoms of eye disease or systemic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. VSP network doctors have received advanced training and certification to diagnose symptoms of many medical conditions and treat some medical eye conditions.

Preventative care offers a path to early detection of serious health conditions -a key factor in managing disease, achieving the best outcomes, and ultimately reducing healthcare costs. Combined research from VSP, the U.S. Census, and the National Center for Health Statistics clearly demonstrates the important role of eye exams in preventative care. While 54 percent of the U.S. adult population has an eye exam each year, only 16 percent of the population visits a physician for preventative care. Since eye exams are three times more prevalent than physical exams, they represent an important opportunity for early detection and are a critical component in preventative care.

The eyes are truly windows into your health and a comprehensive eye exam involves a lot more than vision correction and picking the right glasses or contact lenses. As a nation looking to save every dollar we can on healthcare expenses, an annual eye exam for every person seems a reasonable and cost-effective way to make sure that we’re proactively addressing diseases before they result in major costs. Even more important than these cost savings are the lives we can make better along the way.

Eye Health Management® offers a tremendous opportunity to uncover a number of life-threatening conditions and I’m proud to say that VSP is the only eyecare provider that’s tackling this issue head on. I’ll look forward to your thoughts on how we can get more people connected to a comprehensive annual eye exam and identify other ways to generate healthcare savings in America.

Rob

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A link between untreated poor vision and dementia?

Posted on November 30th, -0001 by Jessica G.

seniorsFor some seniors and their loved ones, dementia is a very real and very scary condition. Personally speaking, it was heartbreaking to watch a formerly spirited, astute and witty family member lose touch with her surroundings.

While there is no clear path to prevention, a recent study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found a potential link between untreated poor vision and increased odds of suffering from dementia in various forms, including Alzheimer’s disease.

I recommend you read this Reuters Health story for additional details on the findings of the study. Also, check out information on Senior eyecare on our Eyecare Discovery Center. If you are a senior, or are close to a senior, please make sure an annual eye exam is part of the healthcare routine—not only to help eyesight, but maybe also to improve the risk for dementia.

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