The American Optometric Association, CooperVision and Johnson & Johnson have joined forces to create the Healthcare Alliance for Patient Safety, a strategic alliance designed to advocate for maintaining the integrity of the doctor-patient relationship throughout the U.S.
The Health Care Alliance for Patient Safety (APS) was founded in 2018 to advocate for patient safety and protect and defend the doctor-patient relationship – the essential foundation of personalized health care decision making.
Our members come together from across the country to raise awareness and protect public health. Advancing policy and collaboration between leading health care advocates, vision innovators and treatment specialists is essential to push patient care and vision protection forward.
Michele Andrews, OD, Senior Director, North American Professional and Academic Affairs at CooperVision, recently spoke with Vision Monday about the importance of APS’ advocacy efforts. “The relationship between well-informed patients and their eyecare professionals is essential to successful contact lens wear,” said Dr. Andrews. “The Alliance provides CooperVision with a valuable opportunity to partner with the American Optometric Association and others to help ensure eye health is at the forefront of discussions that affect our industry.”
In a recent news release about the Alliance’s mission and activities, the AOA estimated that eye diseases, vision loss, and eye disorders cost the U.S. economy $139 billion annually and that millions of Americans suffer from untreated or undiagnosed vision impairments. They further reported that one of the APS’s first activities will be to advocate at the Federal Trade Commission's public workshop on March 7 in Washington, DC. Topics that day will include contact lens marketplace competition, consumer access, prescription release and portability, and other contact lens-related subjects.
For more information on the Healthcare Alliance for Patient Safety, visit their web site at www.patientsafetytoday.com and sign up for updates and for opportunities to help support their efforts yourself.