The American Optometric Association (AOA) Partners With Lyft To Offer Free Rides To Get A Comprehensive Eye Exam

Take a Lyft to your eye appointment! During 'Save Your Vision' month, the AOA's new campaign encourages Americans to make eye health and vision care a priority in 2020 and beyond

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American Optometric Association

Mar 02, 2020, 07:00 ET

NEW YORK, March 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Optometric Association (AOA), the leading authority on quality care and an advocate for our nation's health, representing more than 30,000 doctors of optometry, announced today that it is working with Lyft, the transportation network, to offer free rides to people in select cities in an effort to make it easier to get their #2020EyeExam with a doctor of optometry.

For a limited time only, the AOA is offering a free round-trip ride (up to $25) with rideshare partner Lyft to anyone traveling to the optometrist beginning March 2, while supplies last. Rides will be offered in 10 select cities: Charleston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Memphis, Miami, New York City, St. Louis, and Seattle. To access your local code, go to AOA.org/Lyft.

"We want to ensure people are able to attend their annual comprehensive eye exams and understand the importance of protecting not only their vision, but their overall health," said Barbara L. Horn, O.D., AOA president. "By partnering with Lyft, we are able to help more people overcome a significant barrier and allow them to see an AOA doctor of optometry."

According to AOA's annual Eye-Q Survey, more than a quarter of Americans say getting their comprehensive eye exam is challenging because it's hard to get to the location. The survey also found that 61% of millennials would use rideshare to get to an exam.

"Enabling better access to healthcare through reliable transportation is something that Lyft cares deeply about," said Megan Callahan, VP of Healthcare at Lyft. "We know that rideshare plays a critical role in helping patients get the care they need, so we're excited about the opportunity to broaden our impact in local communities through this initiative with the AOA, a leading authority in optometry."

The AOA recently announced the launch of its 'Start with Eye' campaign to make eye health and vision care a national priority in 2020. The public awareness campaign underscores the importance of receiving an in-person comprehensive eye examination with an AOA doctor of optometry as part of their annual health care routine.

While 95% of Americans say having good vision is important to their job, 58% of Americans have not gotten a comprehensive eye exam in the past two years, according to the survey.

Because eye health and vision problems may develop without any obvious signs or symptoms, in-person, annual comprehensive eye exams with doctors of optometry are important to detect early signs of visual system diseases such as glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness. In addition, eye exams safeguard overall health by enabling the doctor of optometry to detect more than 270 serious health conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure, autoimmune diseases and cancers.

As with many systemic diseases, most eye diseases, if detected early, may be treated before detrimental effects on the health and vision can take place. If a problem is detected, doctors of optometry help patients and their families navigate to the right prevention plans or the next steps in official diagnosis and treatment. In 2018, for instance, doctors of optometry identified signs of diabetes in more than 301,000 patients who did not know they had it, leading to earlier management of the disease.

For more information on the 'Start with Eye' initiative, please visit AOA.org/StartWithEye.

About the American Optometric Association (AOA)
The American Optometric Association (AOA) is the leading authority on and advocate for quality eye health care, representing more than 44,000 doctors of optometry, optometry students and optometric professionals. As the sole primary eye care provider in many communities across America, doctors of optometry are often a patient's first entry point into the health care system, and have extensive, ongoing training to examine, diagnose, treat, and manage disorders, diseases, and injuries that affect the eye and visual system. Through a nationwide public health initiative, AOA's 2020 Campaign is fostering awareness of the importance of eye health and vision care and the overall health benefits of in-person, comprehensive eye examinations with AOA doctors of optometry for all Americans.

About Lyft
Lyft was founded in 2012 and provides millions of rides daily as one of the largest and fastest-growing transportation networks in the United States and Canada. As the world shifts away from car ownership to transportation-as-a-service, Lyft is at the forefront of this massive societal change. Our transportation network brings together rideshare, bikes, scooters, car rentals and transit all in one app. We are singularly driven by our mission: to improve people's lives with the world's best transportation.

SOURCE American Optometric Association