Welcome to the April 2021 edition of the Health Care Alliance for Patient Safety (APS)’s monthly newsletter!

AOA On Capitol Hill

APS will be participating in the upcoming Virtual AOA on Capitol Hill, scheduled for May 23-25. AOA on Capitol Hill is optometry’s single-largest annual advocacy event and the centerpiece of AOA’s federal advocacy efforts. APS members are participating, and they will advocate for optometry’s most pressing issues - including patient safety and the doctor-patient relationship - alongside doctors, optometry students, and other paraoptometric staff.

We look forward to reporting back on conversations APS members have with their elected officials about patient safety and other vision health topics in June!

Healthy Vision Month

May is Healthy Vision Month, a great reminder that eye health and overall health are connected, especially as many chose or were forced to forego important annual eye exams due to the pandemic in 2020. During the month of May, APS will be sharing healthy vision tips and emphasizing how crucial a comprehensive eye exam is for health. 

Visit the CDC’s website for more information and stay tuned for more updates.

FTC Eyeglass Rule Update

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that it will be recommencing the review process of the Eyeglass Rule. The next step in the process is for the Commission to publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. FTC has indicated they anticipate releasing the Proposed Rule in Summer/Early Fall. As is typical for the Proposed Rule process, a comment period would follow the release of the Proposed Rule. The comment period would likely be 60 days. FTC would then consider comments and release a Final Rule. 

Learn more about the Eyeglass Rule.

Thank you for being an advocate. We look forward to continuing to work together to advance patient safety.