Glaucoma in Spit
Seonix Bio, a leader in the development of genetic testing for glaucoma, has launched SightScore, the first commercially available clinical polygenic risk score test for primary open-angle glaucoma. Now available for clinicians in the U.S., SightScore is a saliva test that looks at millions of genetic variants in a patient’s genome to create a personalized polygenic risk score for glaucoma. The test estimates the patient’s risk of developing glaucoma in the future or, if they already have it, assesses the risk it might get worse. SightScore can be referred online by an appropriate health professional and involves a simple saliva collection process, followed by genetic analysis, and receipt of a clinical report. seonixbio.com
MVC Plans Still Going Strong
The Vision Council’s new report, Focused inSights 2025: Managed Vision Care, looks at how individuals enroll in managed vision care (MVC) plans, their satisfaction with current providers, levels of coverage for products and services, and how coverage informs consumer choices. Key findings include overall satisfaction increased across all plan types between 2023 and 2024, with individual plans experiencing a 13% gain. Respondents reporting their intention to keep vision coverage has increased the most among individual and Medicaid plan members. Medicare members are most likely to switch their current vision insurance provider in 2024. Eight out of 10 providers report accepting EyeMed and VSP, making them the most accepted plans. The full report is available for members of The Vision Council, with a paid option for non-members. invisionmag.com/042502
Driving Online CL Searches
New research from the Contact Lens Institute (CLI) indicates that purchase factors are the primary driver of consumer online contact lens-related searches in the U.S. and Canada, representing 65% of top 20 query volumes. Among the top 20 CL-related searches on Google, 10 were purchase oriented (65% of total volume). Of those, five pertained to specific contact lens retailers and four pertained to price. That implies that practices may benefit from proactively discussing purchase dynamics ahead of and during exams, not just when a patient reaches the optical. This includes price-performance alternatives and total cost — elements that prior CLI research found were important to current wearers. contactlensinstitute.org
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