THE CONTACT REPORT. President s Message

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1 2012 Contact Lens Manufacturers Association Inside this issue: Change Can Be 2 GP Lens Practice Board of Directors 5 7 THE CONTACT REPORT President s Message I have to bring up that 6 letter word CHANGE. By now I am sure everyone has heard that Contamac has decided to withdraw its support of the CLMA. The entire Executive Committee personally lobbied Contamac, over several months, to keep them in the CLMA. Well that horse is out of the barn! April, 2012 Business Associate Contactlenses.org President s Adventure All of the other Associate Members have Al Vaske, President recommitted their companies to continue in the CLMA family. It is now time for Regular Members to show appreciation and support to them. It may also be time to resolve to help make the Association bigger and better. Can you volunteer to participate in a committee? Run for a Board seat in November? Clinical Excellence 13 The Board has been very busy along with a new GP Lens Committee. I look forward to our annual meeting to fully explain all the positive changes coming your way. Consider exhibiting and/or attending the GP Lens Institute sponsored regional seminar in Denver June 3 rd. The program is excellent and many great speakers to learn from. Christi is working very hard to market the seminar and get maximum attendance. Summer is almost here. Everyone have some fun!! **AV

2 Page 2 Change Can Be Changes are being made because CHANGE CAN BE GOOD. This CHANGE is good for all CLMA members, Practitioners and Patients who benefit from the expanded understanding and usage of new technology in Custom Contact Lenses. The GP Lens Institute (GPLI) was established to become the link to deliver the message of the CLMA. To educate new Practitioners, as well as established Practitioners, not only the basics of GP lenses but the specialty applications of Custom lenses. The recent availability of SiHi materials combined with the ongoing popularity of GP Scleral lenses presents an opportunity and responsibility to the CLMA. By acknowledging the need for understanding the proper use of all these modalities, GPs, Custom Soft and Scleral lenses, we expand the scope of the GPLI and strengthen the willingness of Practitioners to expand their usage of GP Lenses with specialty applications. Below are some of the changes the Committee has agreed to implement, it should be clarified the intentions and mission of our GPLI remains the same...to offer non-biased Educational Programs and Resources regarding the use of all Custom Contact Lenses. The majority of GP informational brochures distributed through the CLMA/GPLI currently are very dated. Dated in the appearance, many of them the content, and need revision. GP Lens Committee Update Keith Parker Chair The GPLI website is difficult to navigate and needs a more streamlined appearance and improved functionality. The scope of education of the GPLI will be expanded to include the basics concerning proper fitting, evaluation and utilization of Custom Soft and Scleral lens applications. The above changes are already in progress. A new cohesive look featuring new colors, images, and layouts is currently being developed for all modes of communication, including our website and educational literature. Look for these exciting changes to take shape over the next few months. Stay tuned.

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4 THE CONTACT REPORT Page 4 7:30 AM 8:30 AM Continental Breakfast 10:30 AM 10:45 AM Break 11:45 AM 12:45 PM Lunch 2:45 PM 3:00 PM Break 5:00 PM 6:00 PM Optional Sheraton West Denver (Lakewood) Colorado Register at Sunday, June 3, 2012

5 Page 5 GP Lens Practice...Today and Tomorrow The GPLI s Denver clinical symposium, GP Lens Practice...Today and Tomorrow, is just around the corner! The event will be hosted in Denver, Colorado, and offer up to seven hours of Continuing Education Credit, including COPE, NCLE and JCAHPO. Our distinguished lecturers include Denver-area GP lens experts such as Dr. Mindy Toabe, Dr. Shawna Vanderhoof and Dr. Perry Umlauf, as well as nationally known GP lens experts Dr. Tom Quinn and Dr. Christine Sindt. The GPLI s Executive Director, Dr. Ed Bennett, has put together a phenomenal program and will also be lecturing at this event. Christi Diehl Marketing Director Our press release to over 20 media outlets in March kicked off our marketing efforts. With mentions in both Vision Monday and Contact Lenses Today, we are receiving great industry exposure. We can also look forward to an article about our event in the May issue of CONTACT LENS SPECTRUM. Our massive marketing efforts to promote this event include the distribution of 2500 job stuffers (see pg. 3of this newsletter bottom) by the four local laboratories in the Denver area: Accu Lens, Inc., Advanced Vision Technologies, Essilor Contact Lens Division and Lens Dynamics, Inc. In addition, a courier service which visits 500 practitioners per day in Colorado will deliver a total of 2500 pamphlets (see pages 3 & 4 of this newsletter top) over the next few weeks, all promoting our event. Multiple blasts to our GPLI/CLMA database have already reached more than 4000 doctors, educators, residents and students and our direct mail campaign will include the delivery of more than 2000 oversized postcards to practitioners in Colorado and all the surrounding states. Early response to the event from practitioners has been very positive. A doctor is even securing a visa to travel from India to attend our event! The day s curriculum will offer the same unique structure as our clinical symposium held in Chicago in December. Attendees can select from multiple courses, including both fundamental and advanced GP lens education. The ability to completely customize each attendee s curriculum allows attendees to select the level of GP education which best fits with their practice needs. For the very first time, the GPLI will also offer a scleral course in which attendees have the opportunity to fit sclerals during the hands-on portion of the workshop. We are very proud of the GPLI s ability to offer innovative education delivered by nationally recognized GP lens experts to eye care practitioners. Register to have a table top exhibition display to market your lens designs and services to these ECPs. Registration is open for exhibiting only to CLMA member companies. Register at We look forward to many more successful events like this in the future.

6 Page 6 Kurtis Brown appointed to CLMA Board of Directors Kurtis Brown, Menicon America, Inc. has been appointed by CLMA President, Al Vaske, to join the Board of Directors. He will represent the CLMA Associate Membership along with current Board Members David Bland, Bausch + Lomb, Boston Products Group And Chris Pantle, DAC International, Inc. Full listing of CLMA Board of Directors on Page 7 of this newsletter.

7 Page 7 CLMA Board of Directors April 2012 Representing the Regular Membership Executive Committee Immediate Past President Mr. Chris Pantle DAC International, Inc. c_pantle@sbcglobal.net Mr. Josh Adams Valley Contax, Inc. josh@valleycontax.com Mr. Daniel Bell Corneal Design Corp. danbell12@aol.com President Mr. Al Vaske Lens Dynamics, Inc. vaske@lensdynamics.com Vice President Mr. Ken Leonhard Quality Contact Lens, Inc. kens@qualitycontactlens.com Secretary Treasurer Mr. Jan Svochak Tru Form Optics, Inc. jan_svochak@tfoptics.com Troy Miller Accu Lens, Inc. troy@acculens.com Mr. Daren Nygren Custom Craft Lens Service of Nevada, Inc. daren@customcraftlens.com Mr. Keith Parker Advanced Vision Technologies, Inc. keith@avtlens.com Representing the Associate Membership Mr. David Bland Boston Products Group, Bausch + Lomb, Inc. David.bland@bausch.com Mr. Kurtis Brown Menicon America, Inc. kurtis_brown@menicon.com

8 Page 8 CLMA Upcoming Board of Directors Webinar Can You Hear Me Now? The next CLMA Board of Directors webinar will take place on May 18, 2012 Time to be determined. Listen to your Board in action and participate in the directions and goals of the Contact Lens Manufacturers Association and the GP Lens Institute Business Associate contracts under HIPAA Dan Bell, Chair Government Affairs Committee A member company has reported being asked by an ECP account to sign a so-called Business Associate contract based on the HHS HIPAA regulations. This issue came up some years ago and was the subject of a previous newsletter notice. A guidance document issued by the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) which administers the HIPAA regulations, states: a physician is not required to have a business associate contract with a laboratory as a condition of disclosing protected health information for the treatment of an individual. THE CONTACT REPORT The same conclusion is stated in the AOA s HIPAA Privacy Compliance Manual ( Optical laboratories are not considered business associates, see Chart 20). We have again verified with HHS staff that these contracts do not apply to contact lens laboratories.

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11 Page 11 You are cordially invited Artesa Vineyards & Winery Saturday, November 10, :30 PM Reception 7:15 PM Winery tours 7:30 PM Dinner CLMA President s Adventure 51st Annual CLMA Meeting & Exhibition Like a fine wine, the CLMA gets better and better!

12 Page 12 Artesa Vineyards and Winery

13 Page 13 GP Clinical Excellence Awards 2012 The GP Lens Institute, supported by the member companies of the Contact Lens Manufacturers Association (CLMA) is once again pleased to provide the GP Contact Lens Clinical Excellence Award to one 4th year student from each of the optometric colleges and schools in North America. This award, selected by the faculty at each educational Institution, is bestowed upon the student that showed interest and enthusiasm in the fitting of GP contact lenses in their clinical environments. Thank you to the following CLMA member laboratories for sponsoring these awards for Advanced Vision Technologies, Inc. American Contact Lens Service, Inc. Art Optical Contact Lens Company Blanchard Contact Lens, Inc. Conforma Contact Lenses Custom Craft Lens Service of Nevada, Inc. THE CONTACT REPORT Firestone Optics, Inc. Lens Dynamics, Inc. Metro Optics of Austin, Inc. Tru Form Optics, Inc.

14 clma.net Contact Lens Manufacturers Association PO Box Lincoln, Nebraska USA Phone: Fax: T h e m i s s i o n o f t h e C L M A i s t o i n c r e a s e A w a r e n e s s a n d U t i l i z a t i o n o f c u s t o m m a n u f a c t u r e d c o n t a c t l e n s e s.