Excerpts From Delivering Comprehensive Eye Care: The Three Things Employers Need to Know About Integrating Benefits

In this episode of the Perspectives podcast, sponsored by the American Optometric Association and hosted on BenefitsPRO, we’ll hear highlights from the September 9th presentation titled, Comprehensive Eye Care: The Three Things Employers Need to Know About Integrating Benefits.

Vision is something employers don’t often think about when it comes to benefits planning, sticking with the same, traditional, voluntary vision plan each year. However, vision care is more than just correction and vision issues can be symptoms of much larger medical problems that may cost employers and their employees more in the long run. Because of this, more than 70% of employers with 100+ employees are actively integrating or considering integrating their vision benefits under their health and wellness programs in the next 5 years.

Kim Dwyer, Vice President at Inspera Health; Dr. Michael Dueñas, Chief Public Health Officer at American Optometric Association (AOA), and Dr. Steven P. Eiss, Senior Partner, Eyecare of the Valley deliver insights to make more informed choices regarding vision benefits, and why they ought to link with medical coverage.

The full on-demand webcast can be found here: https://www.benefitspro.com/2020/08/03/why-comprehensive-eye-care-should-be-included-in-health-benefits/

Kim Dwyer | Vice President | Inspera Health

Kim Dwyer serves as Vice President for Inspera Health, a health improvement company that focuses on managing cost and risk for claimants with multiple chronic conditions. Previously, she served as the Vice President of Benefit Services for Advocate Health Care, now known as Advocate Aurora Health Care, the largest health system in the Midwest. In that role, Kim developed innovative strategies for total benefits, wellness, and absence management. She also designed and implemented creative approaches for retirement security, population health, and improving productivity in the workforce. She has led several acquisitions and mergers. She is an ex officio executive board member and past chair of the Midwest Business Group on Health (MBGH) and has served as a client board advisor for Active Health, BCBS of Il, CVS Caremark, Health Media, MetLife, Institutional Investors, Fidelity, and ADP Benefit Services.

Michael Dueñas, OD | Chief Public Health Officer | American Optometric Association (AOA)

As a University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry graduate, Dr. Michael Dueñas has 20+ years’ experience in solo-private and hospital-based practice. His clinical services and interdisciplinary teaching led to appointments, by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As a health scientist he was responsible for integrating vision care among all CDC divisions and centers, developing and expanding CDC vision and eye health data sources through State Health Departments, initiating the CDC/NDEP/PPOD diabetes integrative practice model and testifying before the U.S. Congress on vision health issues. He is chair of the COVID-19 Subgroup of the Diabetes Advocacy Alliance and Immediate Past Chair of the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), Advisory Panel on Improving Healthcare Systems.

Steven P. Eiss, OD | Senior Partner | Eyecare of the Valley

Dr. Eiss is Senior Partner of Eyecare of the Valley, a three location optometry/ophthalmology practice in southeast Pennsylvania. Dr. Eiss is a currently the Chair of the Third Party Center Executive Committee of the American Optometric Association and a member of the Pennsylvania Optometric Association Third Party Center. He is a Past President of the Pennsylvania Optometric Association. Dr. Eiss currently serves as a representative to the Medicare Carrier Advisory Committee for Pennsylvania and served on the Pennsylvania Department of Health State Innovation Healthcare Model Workgroup in 2013.