(Top, L to R) Howard Fried, OD, Brent Rasmussen, Lee Kuczewski and Greg Lechner. (Bottom, L to R) Michael Duenas, OD, Rupe Hansra, OD, Sukumar Pandit, OD, Jonathan Rosin, MD and OD, and
Daniel Stanton.

NEW YORK—The rapid rise of telehealth and its growing impact on vision care will be the focus of a special session at the Vision Monday Global Leadership Summit, “Tackling Disruption: The Telehealth Frontier.” The session, which will feature telehealth experts, leading providers, eyecare professionals and optical retailers, will help Summit attendees increase their understanding of telehealth and examine the decision making process surrounding it. It will also illustrate how health care and business leaders are grappling with a complex and challenging trend that is reshaping relationships between doctors and patients and fundamentally changing the delivery of health care services and diagnoses.

The session will be organized into three parts. The first, as reported last week in VMAIL, will feature three experts in the telehealth field: Latoya Thomas, director, State Policy Resource Center, American Telemedicine Association; Daniel Cody, attorney, Jones and Day; and Wallace Lovejoy, founder, Lovejoy Eyecare Consulting.

The second part of the telehealth session will feature executives from four optical telehealth providers: Howard Fried, OD, the founder of DigitalOptometrics, a new company offering comprehensive eye exams using automated technology; Brent Rasmussen, chief executive officer of Opernative, which offers online vision testing; Lee Kuczewski, director of operations, Smart Vision Labs, which has developed a proprietary, smartphone-based telemedicine platform; and Greg Lechner, director, marketing and communications chief for 2020 Now, which provides in-store remote eye exams using teleophthalmology.

The third portion of the program will examine how eyecare professionals and optical retailers are weighing decisions surrounding telemedicine implementation and sharing first-hand experiences with the technology. It will feature a panel consisting of Michael Duenas OD, chief public health officer, AOA; Rupe Hansra, OD, vice president, professional relations, For Eyes; Sukumar Pandit, OD, director of optometry, Philadelphia Eyeglass Labs; Jonathan Rosin, MD, owner, co-president, medical director of Rosin Eyecare; and Daniel Stanton, founder of Stanton Optical and My Eyelab.

These speakers will join previously announced ‘workSMART’ speakers:

Robert Safian, founder of The Flux Group, and Fast Company’s award-winning editor, author and business observer, will share his observations about leadership, innovation and agility in the closing keynote presentation.

Erin Byrne, CEO of GreyHealth Group, who will address the intersecting dynamics of technology and health care and the flexibility required by industry leaders.

Jason Dorsey, a leading Millennials and Gen Z researcher and speaker, will be the 2018 VM Summit keynote speaker, talking about solving tough generational challenges for organizations and leaders.

Retail futurist Melissa Gonzalez founded the The Lion'esque Group in 2009. Her firm includes retail strategists and pop-up architects and she is the author of ‘The Pop-Up Paradigm.’

Michael Dorf, founder and CEO of City Winery. A fast-growing and unique operation, City Winery combines culinary and cultural in venues in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston and, soon, Washington D.C.

The VM Summit attracts senior industry executives, optical retailers, leading eyecare professionals, suppliers and key opinion leaders from the worldwide optical industry. It has become the place for face-to-face networking, a dynamic exchange of ideas and thought-provoking discussion.

Seating is limited at the event; registration information is posted here.

The 2018 VM Summit Premier Sponsors are Essilor, Europa Eyewear and Luxottica. Signature Sponsors include ABS Smart Mirror, Alcon and VisionWeb. Supporting Sponsors are VSP Global and CareCredit.