When it comes to maintaining eye health, there’s no substitute for quality care. That’s why one Duluth, Ga.-based healthcare technology company is
teaming up with a healthcare media company to offer free vision assessments via in-store kiosks.
SoloHealth, the maker of "EyeSite" brand vision testing kiosks, is working with
Eyemaginations to roll out self-service units to teach people about various eye conditions and encourage users to seek professional eye care services. EyeSite kiosks offer free vision assessments with the goal to send users to a local eye care professional for a complete exam.
EyeSite kiosks, pictured below, are not designed to replace comprehensive eye exams, but to teach consumers about eye diseases and conditions and demonstrate the importance of overall eye health. Users answer a series of lifestyle questions via a touch screen monitor and take a vision test using various-sized letters to determine near and far distance acuity. They then receive a printout with their results and are encouraged to schedule a full exam with a local eye care provider.
The EyeSite system advises selected eye care practice to follow up with users, or consumers have the option to contact the practice directly, SoloHealth said.
"Our goal is to get people to think about their eyes when they think about their overall health, and to take the appropriate steps to minimize their eye health risks," said Bart Foster, CEO and founder of SoloHealth, in a statement.
The company earns revenue, in part, from doctors who pay to have their practices listed on the EyeSite referral directory. Transitions Optical, a lens-maker also pays a fee to have its product listed in the directory.
Since September, SoloHealth's EyeSite kiosks have been used by more than 125,000 people, the company said. More than 45 percent of the people that have used the EyeSite kiosk report a family history of eye disease, but 25 percent have never had an eye exam, SoloHealth said.
About 20 EyeSite kiosks operate in Atlanta and Birmingham, Ala. retail outlets, including Walgreens, Kroger and shopping malls. Additional kiosks will
hit other markets this summer, including St. Louis and could include grocery stores, drug stores, and hospitals, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Eyesite kiosks are part of a growing do-it-yourself healthcare market. Drugstores and supermarkets for years have given consumers the chance to check their blood pressure while shopping or waiting for a prescription.
A recent report from market research firm
Frost & Sullivan, which focuses on the role of modern communication technologies in healthcare, said that while mobile technology is valuable to healthcare professionals
security threats in these technologies is a concern. As HealthTechZone reported, WiFi and wireless technologies are among the widely deployed technologies in the healthcare sector. But these solutions still have limitations, such as the range covered and the clarity of messages communicated. Also, the technologies are prone to hacking as the security is still in its infancy.
