NAVCP forms strategic partnerships with health care providers in the United States and Puerto Rico to provide vision care services to nearly 170 million Americans. Guided by its mission of providing a forum that promotes collaboration among industry leaders, NAVCP hosted the recently concluded Vision Health Summit.
Vision Health Summit 2019 gathered vision care professionals, health care service providers, and federal and state health care policymakers at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas, April 22-24. Attendees discussed industry trends and shared insights into the innovative approaches that are needed to simplify health care management and increase Americans’ access to managed vision care plans. More specifically, the participants tackled the costs and benefits of digital technologies, such as telemedicine, blockchain, online refraction, and artificial intelligence, that are disrupting the industry.
One of the event’s sessions discussed the spread of myopia in the United States, with guest speakers including the founders of vision care center Treehouse Eyes and a visiting scholar from UC Berkeley School of Optometry. Since 1971, the population of Americans affected with nearsightedness has increased from 25 percent to 41.6 percent and is expected to continue to grow. The speakers presented some of the solutions that can reverse or stop the prevalence of myopia.