Eighty percent of learning is visual, yet one in four students in the United States has an undiagnosed vision problem significant enough to impair their academic performance. This is why Verizon is partnering with vision care and education leaders to launch the Mobile Vision Care Program, designed to impact academic achievement by providing free vision screenings and care to students.

The program and affiliated research study is a partnership with Verizon, along with grants awarded to OneSight, Smart Vision Labs, a New York City-based health tech startup, and the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry.

SUNY College of Optometry will serve as the research partner evaluating the program’s impact based on comprehensive data collected during the study.

OneSight will train school nurses and health coordinators, as part of the Mobile Vision Care Program, to incorporate the SVOne mobile autorefractor developed by Smart Vision Labs into their vision screening process.

Currently, Smart Vision Labs SVOne technology is used primarily by optometrists. The Mobile Vision Care Program will examine the potential benefits of training school nurses and health coordinators to incorporate this innovative, user-friendly technology to improve the efficiency and accuracy of student vision screenings.

Providing school-based access to follow-up vision care is an important program priority. Students with failed vision screenings will have the opportunity to receive a comprehensive eye exam and glasses provided at OneSight Vision Care Clinics held at participating school districts.

The program launched last week at the OneSight Vision Care Clinic in Omaha, Nebraska, where 600+ Omaha Public School students will receive free vision screenings, comprehensive eye exams and glasses.

The clinic is part of a long-term strategic partnership between OneSight, Building Healthy Future and Omaha Public Schools to establish two permanent school-based vision centers serving Omaha Public School students year-round.