2010 has been a big year for me. As I think about the start of the new year, I’m reminded about the importance of setting goals and following dreams. Here are some of my resolutions for the upcoming year:
Appreciate the little things - I’m very blessed that I get to focus on playing basketball every day. It’s something I love to do. Sometimes we get going so fast, we don’t stop to appreciate the life we’ve been blessed with.
Good health - We all have health issues we deal with occasionally. My goal is to stay as healthy as possible in 2011.
Play hard - It takes a lot of dedication and hard work to play sports at this level. I’ve made a commitment to this game and will continue to give my best every single day.
Spend time with family - Family is important, and I plan to spend as much time with mine as I can in 2011.
And, of course, I will also be getting my annual eye exam to start the year off right. Vision is a very important part of my life, and I plan to take care of my eyes by visiting my VSP doctor. Make sure that’s something you include on your list of things to do in the new year.
Guest Blogger: Judy Malm, program manager for VSP’s Individual Plan.
Having access to vision insurance isn’t only through employers. VSP Vision Care offers individuals access to comprehensive vision coverage through it’s Individual Plan. Anyone in the U.S. can sign up to receive benefits that cover a comprehensive eye exam and glasses or contacts! Through the Individual Plan, you get to select from over 22,000 VSP doctors nationwide that’s right for you.
Don’t take our word for it, here’s what our Individual Plan members have to say:
“This plan is easy to use, convenient and quite affordable for my family,” said Dorothy Grubbs. “It’s the best eyecare plan we’ve ever had. My husband had VSP with a previous employer and we were so happy when it was available for individuals,” she added.
The plan was simple to use and a great reminder for my spouse and I to get an annual eye exam as part of our benefit, said Linda Farley. “It’s a great deal when we get the best care for our aging eyes, and we save money on the exam and new glasses every year,” she added.
With all the changes the economy has made to our lives, here is one thing we can hold on to. Go to www.vspforyou.com to find out more about the plan.
Jill N. is a member of the VSP Global Public Relations team.
In February we asked our VSP doctors to submit names for the new VSP/Transitions mobile clinic. Thanks to the great response from our providers, we received over 600 names, and selected five for the general public to vote on: Eyenstein, LuSee, SeeAna, SeeBert and SeeCil. After a two week voting period, Eyenstein received the top number of votes and has become the official name for the third mobile clinic in the VSP Mobile Eyes® fleet!
Amanda S. from Dr. Churchill’s practice, Cedarville Eye, in MA, submitted the winning name: “I had originally come up with several other names, and while I was submitting them, the name ‘Eyenstein’ just popped in my head. The play on the name made me laugh a little, so I submitted it. I thought it was clever because as an opticianry apprentice, I know that healthy vision is smart!”
VSP’s first EyeFiles video “Do 3-D movies cause motion sickness?” starring Bill Nye the Science Guy has gone viral. Bill Nye has been teaching us all things science since the 90′s and it looks like his popularity hasn’t been lost.
3-D is a topic that carries across all generations and genres and here’s are just a few of the bloggers from various focuses that found this video and topic worth sharing:
BlogHer: Bill Nye the Science Guy is becoming a Mythbuster (sort of)
Cinematical: Get Seasick in 3-D movies? Bill Nye is Here to Help
Crunch Gear: Bill Nye the Science Guy (!) Explains why 3-D movies can make you sick
The Movie Blog: Bill Nye the Science Guy talks 3D Disorientation!
Pulse 2: Bill Nye is Back and He’s Doing a YouTube Channel for VSP Vision
Check back with us every week as Bill Nye, along with VSP provider Dr. Phelps, continue to debunk common eye health myths in VSP’s EyeFiles webisode series. In the meantime, check out the Today Show clip on 3-D and overall eye health.
Be sure to visit VSP’s Facebook - Contest tab for your chance to win a FREE pair of Glasses/Sunglasses through the Eyewear Makeover Contest.
Jill N. is a member of the VSP Global Public Relations team.
Recently VSP announced the launch of VSP Eye on Diabetes, a five state campaign created in response to the increasing spread of diabetes across the U.S. A lot of people (did you know?) are unaware that diabetes can be detected through an annual eye exam, sometimes as much as five years earlier than through a Fasting Blood Glucose (Blood Sugar) test!
It’s been found that 61% of Americans with vision coverage go in for their annual eye exams vs. just 21% who get an annual physical! This provides an opportunity for optometrists to be the first to detect a variety of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, in a patient. With new information pertaining to diabetes continuing to be introduced, it is important to realize that your VSP private practice eye doctor is being provided the most recent information available pertaining to diabetes and eyecare and is a key component to a patients diabetes-care team. You can find more information at the VSP Diabetes Discovery Center.
Check out the video of the day of outreach in Little Rock, narrated by the Mayor of Little Rock, Mark Stodola.
Was Bugs Bunny right? Do carrots really improve your eye sight? Well, not exactly. Eating carrots won’t make you see better than you already do, but Bugs’ favorite snack is packed with important vitamins and nutrients that can help protect vision. This is just one example of a common eye myth that has led to confusion about vision health and proper eyecare habits.
To help educate Americans on eye health and debunk common myths, VSP has created a series of webisodes called VSP EyeFiles featuring the iconic Bill Nye the Science Guy and Dr, Roger Phelps, a VSP provider.
As part of this initiative, VSP Vision Care sent an online survey to VSP doctors across the country, asking them for the most common vision-related myths they hear from their patients on a regular basis.
The VSP doctor myth research survey revealed that:
Myth: Working many hours in front of a computer screen will harm your eyes.
Fact: 31 percent of doctors say they hear this myth on a daily basis. Although using computers will not damage vision, fatigue, headaches, neck pain or eye strain may occur with use overextended periods of time. This overuse can result in a serious condition called Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS). To help prevent CVS remember the 20-20-20 rule; every 20 minutes, spend 20 seconds looking at something 20 feet away.
Without further ado… here’s the first official EyeFiles video featuring the one and only Bill Nye the Science Guy! In this video, Bill examines the claim that 3-D movies can make you feel sick or dizzy. Is it true….?
In observance of Healthy Vision Month, VSP Vision Care wants to remind you to make eye health a priority by scheduling an eye exam with your VSP eye doctor. Eye exams not only check vision, they can also detect signs of related health conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, just to name a few.
The National Eye Institute (NEI) proclaimed May as Healthy Vision Month in 2003 to elevate vision as a health priority for the nation. This year’s theme is “Your Eyes Are The Windows To Your Health.” There are millions of people living in the U.S. with undetected vision problems, eye diseases and related health conditions that can be detected and/or resolved with a visit to an eye doctor. We hope you join us in preserving the sense of sight and maintaining high quality eye health for all Americans.
As many of you know, VSP Global is part of the Think About Your Eyes Coalition, with Essilor and Luxottica, and are helping remind Americans about the important of receiving an annual eye exam. Be sure to keep an eye out in New York City next week, as the Coalition will be putting on an ”eye-catching” event on Tuesday, May 25th. You can find the latest news on this upcoming event and the Coalition’s activities on their social media channels onFacebook and Twitter.
Lori F. is a Disaster Response Team Member and Marketing Coordinator with VSP in Rancho Cordova, CA. When Tennessee was devastated with heavy rain and flooding, Lori immediately reached out to VSP Network Doctors in the area to see what her team could do. The following are just a few responses from them that shed some light on the damage caused to their professional and personal lives.
Doctor David J. Shen sat in his practice while a foot of water was being pumped out of his first floor office. Fortunately for him, most of his inventory was not significantly affected. He knew Downtown Franklin, TN and surrounding areas were overflown with flood waters so he immediately began to clean up his practice and was determined to provide patients with some level of vision care and quickly as possible.
Photo Source: Reuters
When VSP’s Disaster Response Team reaches out to our providers, more times than not, their personal lives are also affected. This is the case for Doctor John Anderson. His practice didn’t incur any damage from the flood but his home basement wasn’t so lucky. When he bought his home three years ago he didn’t think he needed to purchase flood insurance because he lived outside the flood zone. However, Dr. Anderson was thankful that we were reaching out to his community and was amazed by the quick response time.
Photo Source: Reuters
Disaster relief services are still available for those who have lost or damaged their glasses from the Tennessee flooding or any type of natural disaster. Find out how to get help.
VSP’s Disaster Response Team was formed in 2007, and since then, we’ve responded to 56 natural disasters throughout the country. We’re currently reaching out to Doctors in Oklahoma and Kansas affected by the tornadoes. My heart goes out to communities affected by natural disasters but it feels good knowing we can provide assistance when they need it most.
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