Oct. 21, 2015
Opternative plans to expand its online refraction service to include 41-to 65-year-olds, a major segment of the vision correction market. Co-founder and CEO Aaron Dallek told ROB sister publication, Vision Monday’s VMail that the Chicago-based company is developing a test for presbyopia, an age-related visual condition that causes a loss of accommodation, and will introduce it in early 2016.
The news, which Opternative announced at the Health 2.0 conference this week, and was first reported by MedCityNews.com, represents a significant expansion of the company’s target market, which currently consists of healthy 18-to 40-year-olds.
Dallek says Opternative has made substantial progress since launching its online refraction service in July, 2015. Over 17,000 people have signed up to take the company’s visual acuity test since then, Dallek notes. “Since we launched, 98 percent of patients who have taken our test said they are satisfied with their prescriptions,” says Dallek, who spoke at the 2014 VM Global Leadership Summit. “The test is now available in 32 states, which is five more than when we launched.”
According to VisionWatch, the large-scale continuous study conducted by The Vision Council, 86 percent of consumers aged 45 to 54 use some form of vision correction, as do 91 percent of consumers over age 55.
