PINELLAS PARK, Fla., May, 2013 – Recognizing the continued trend in consumer-driven health care and the need to encourage employers to spend more time educating on the importance of eye health, Transitions Optical, Inc. has sponsored a Medical Director Roundtable among members of the National Association of Vision Care Plans (NAVCP). The event, held immediately preceding the National Association of Specialty Health Organizations (NASHO)/NAVCP 2013 Specialty Health Summit on April 29, addressed the challenge of “invigorating interest in the vision benefit,” and included representatives from NAVCP primary members Advantica, EyeMed Vision Care, Highmark Vision Holding Company, United HealthCare Specialty Benefits, VSP Vision Care and WellPoint.
“Despite the importance of proper vision care and vision wear to safeguard and promote employees’ health and productivity, many employers spend minimal time educating on it – and employees all too often fail to take advantage,” said Julian Roberts, executive director, NAVCP and NASHO, laying out the challenge for the medical directors during the roundtable. “As an industry, we need to recognize the importance of promoting education and challenging ourselves to continuously improve quality of care – because in the end, if the public doesn’t value what we do, none of our other efforts matter.”
The roundtable included several presentations to inspire discussion. Tim Fortner, event moderator and trade development manager for Transitions Optical, overviewed trends impacting consumer eye health prioritization. Two representatives from the American Dental Association, Kenneth Ohr, chief communications officer, and Sandra Eitel, director, marketing and brand management, shared secrets to success with the MouthHealthy™ education platform. Smith Wyckoff, key account manager, managed vision care/online, Transitions Optical, shared recent research from the Transitions Healthy Sight Working for You® program into health and productivity savings possible with today’s eyewear. Marge Axelrad, senior vice president for Jobson and conference presenter, also offered perspectives based on recent research and industry insights. The group engaged in lively debate on the most important key messages to reinforce through industry and employer communications, and identified a need for up-to-date and potentially “real-world” productivity research to add credibility to these messages.
A consensus paper based on the roundtable discussion will be posted to the NAVCP (NAVCP.org) and Transitions Healthy Sight Working for You (HealthySightWorkingforYou.org) websites over the summer.
“We applaud Transitions Optical for its support of the roundtable and believe this is an excellent example of how allied members and primary members can come together to support each other in working toward common goals,” said Richard Sanchez, interim chair, NAVCP. “With so much uncertainty on the horizon with healthcare reform and so many areas of potential disagreement without and outside our industry, it was very refreshing to see us all come together realizing that education is a common denominator and something we must all invest in.”
Also during the conference, Transitions Optical supported a presentation of “Real World Vision Benefit Promotion” to the NAVCP track of the 2013 NASHO & NAVCP Specialty Health Summit, concluding the summit’s education presentation series. The presentation was made by Fortner, joined by Transitions HR Visionary of the Year winner Maurice Evans, Jr., who was recently featured on the cover of Employee Benefit News. Evans shared steps he has taken to improve his vision coverage offering and enhance his employee education efforts, leading to a 30 percent boost in enrollment. Fortner shared how demographic trends – especially the aging population – are making vision care even more important for today’s workforce.
“Vision plans have an incredible opportunity to reach consumers during the time they are deciding how to allocate their stretched health care dollars, and then to encourage employers to make vision health an education priority throughout the year,” said Wyckoff. “Competition is tough for employees’ and employers’ attention, and we were pleased to have the opportunity to support the NAVCP during its annual summit in focusing plan attention on ways to break through and ‘invigorate vision’ to make it a higher priority, and help ensure more people get the eye care and eyewear they need to see, feel and perform at their best.”
About NAVCP
The National Association of Vision Care Plans (NAVCP) is a national association established in order to act as the unified voice representing the industry. The purpose of the association is to provide a forum of communication, with a commitment to improve quality in managed care and provide input and perspective concerning standards and credentials.
The NAVCP is dedicated to creating unity among vision care companies so they can speak with a collective voice in legislative and regulatory arenas, provide a forum for exchange of information, provide input in the development of standards and credentialing, work together to improve quality in the vision care industry and provide a centralized source of information for the public. For more information, visit NAVCP.org.
ABOUT TRANSITIONS OPTICAL
Since Transitions Optical, headquartered in Pinellas Park, Fla., was founded more than 20 years ago, the company has been driven by an innovative spirit and a commitment to partnership. As the leading provider of photochromics to optical manufacturers, Transitions Optical offers state-of-the-art light management technology in virtually every major lens design and material encompassing a family of everyday adaptive lenses and performance sun lenses.
Everyday lens options include Transitions® lenses, which provide indoor clarity and outdoor darkness; Transitions® XTRActive® lenses which provide more activation for extra protection; and the revolutionary Transitions® Vantage™ lenses, the first and only photochromic lenses to darken and polarize outdoors for even crisper, sharper vision.
The Transitions® adaptive sunglass line includes a range of products customized in partnership with other best-in-class brands. These products are all designed to provide a visual advantage by increasing contrast, sharpening colors, reducing glare and improving distance and depth perception. Transitions® Drivewear® sun lenses provide wearers a safer, more comfortable driving experience by combining polarization, color optimization and Transitions photochromic technology to block blinding glare and mange ever-changing daylight conditions both behind the wheel and outdoors.
Transitions Optical is dedicated to promoting healthy sight worldwide and to supporting its partners and optical professionals with tools, programs and resources to aid in their individual efforts and help strengthen industry growth. For more information, visit TransitionsPRO.com, or contact Transitions Optical Customer Service at (800) 848-1506 (United States) or (877) 254-2590 (Canada).