Physician review of Opternative, gives online eye prescriptions for glasses and contacts

I find myself agreeing with both organizations in some way, as many people do confuse ocular health with visual acuity, and having the ability to simply check your vision online and get an adequate pair of glasses (or contacts) might falsely lead patients to believe that their eyes are healthy. Opternative, to their credit, seems to over-emphasize this point, that their site is for refractive/vision purposes only, and does not substitute for a complete ophthalmic exam. This seems to be the major sticking point for the optometric society, with the AOA president, Steven Loomis, O.D. quoted as saying, “We are concerned consumers will mistakenly believe that a refractive eye test is a comprehensive eye health examination, which can uncover diseases such as diabetes. Consumers can be lulled into a false sense of security.” In fact, they have measures in place so prescriptions are not provided without a previous eye exam, or back-to-back several years in a row, and you really wouldn’t be able to obtain a script from their site based on how they operate their service, without having had an eye exam by an eye care professional within the past couple of years.

The founders of Opternative seem very excited about the possibilities of their software going forward and the implications it could have on providing prescriptions for patients in underdeveloped or inaccessible areas throughout the world. This may very well be a life-changing mechanism for improving visual acuity and patients’ quality of life in the future, although it can never replace a formal ophthalmic exam to ensure a patient’s eyes are indeed healthy.

Photo Essay

After creating a login, and proceeding with starting the test, the first page asks about your health history. Remember, only patients from 18-40 are eligible and certain medical conditions or history will preclude you from taking the test… Unless you answer the questions less than honestly, that is.

Next, the requirements – and make sure your location is accurate. Not sure what would happen if you lied about that as well…

Then, watch the tutorial if you would like…

Finally, connect up your cell before the real test, er… more training for the test, begins…

Text received and, Voila! Connected and ready to roll…

Calibrate your computer…

Your phone is the device that you’ll use to respond to questions that the program will ask you while determining your refractive error. Note that the upper right corner of our phone displays the approximate amount of time remaining to complete the exam, which is a nice addition:

Now the real testing portion begins, where you will be asked to step away from the computer and get down to business. In your socks, by the way, after a brief color vision check:

After a few rounds of different tests, similar to what is shown above, the software attempts to refine the refraction with the participant moving closer to the computer again:

Once you’ve made it through this battery of refractive tests, you’re finished. A generic assessment of your vision is provided and then you continue on to make your final purchase. All in all, it’s a very easy and well-made piece of software. Extremely user friendly and I’ve yet to encounter a glitch or connection difficulties during the entire process. You are never told what the software measured in terms of your refraction – your next message from Opternative will be a request for records (if they can’t get yours, as in my case initially) or the finalized prescription.

Editors Note: As mentioned, there have been recent actions taken against Opternative. This includes a cease and desist order in the state of Michigan from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs in March of this year, which was led in part by a complaint filed by the Michigan Optometry Association in August 2015. Also, a more recent complaint has been filed earlier this month by the American Optometric Association to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to stop the marketing and use of the software until reviewed by the FDA. Please note that the outcome of these actions are yet to be determined, but the reader should be aware of these proceedings against Opternative.