Website for HR Professionals, Brokers Has Eye Care Resources

October 2008 Edition

      The new Healthy Sight Working for You initiative, from Transitions Optical Inc., promotes the value of healthy sight with education for employees, HR managers, and brokers. Launched last month, the initiative reinforces how vision care and vision wear options available through a vision benefit can help protect employees’ healthy sight and enhance overall wellness and productivity. The company cites studies demonstrating that vision coverage can gain businesses as much as $7 for every $1 spent. 
      Found at www.HealthySightWorkingForYou.org, the initiative’s website features eye health information tailored for consumers/employees, HR professionals, brokers, and vision plan providers. The site explores how comprehensive eye exams can provide not only vision correction but also early detection of eye and systemic disease which can lead to significant health care savings for both employees and employers.  
     The site also includes information about how lens technologies provide visual comfort and long-term eye protection, such as transition lenses that block harmful rays and antireflective coating that reduces glare from office lighting, minimizing the effects of computer vision syndrome, which the company claims is experienced by 90 percent of computer users.¹
     In addition to offering eye health information for consumers, the site includes content for HR managers and brokers about how healthy sight increases employee productivity, as even slightly miscorrected vision can reduce productivity by 20%,² and it provides guidance about what consumers are looking for in a comprehensive vision plan. 
     Downloadable from the “tools” section of the Healthy Sight Working for You website and available on CD, a toolkit provides:

• Eye Health 101 flyer about the value of vision care and vision wear,

• Employee newsletters,

• A poster for display in the workplace,

• An envelope stuffer about UV protection and Computer Vision Syndrome for paychecks or enrollment materials.

      Phil Haberstro, executive director for the National Association for Health and Fitness, will share the advantages of offering a quality vision benefit with HR and wellness professionals. He will walk attendees through the materials found in the toolkit and discuss ways to incorporate the vision story into employee communications during an enrollment period or on a regular basis. For more information, email Info[at]HealthySightWorkingForYou.org.

      Transitions Optical provides photochromics to optical manufacturers, offering a wide selection of lens designs and materials. Lenses are marketed as Activated by Transitions. www.transitions.com