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Why the Ohio Amblyope is Important to You and Your Patients

The Ohio Amblyope Registry is the first statewide registry in the United States for children with amblyopia and their families. The Ohio Amblyope Registry is designed to remind your patients to keep their appointments with you and to ensure that the patients follow through on your treatment regimen. If they move into your area of Ohio, the web site page “Find An Eye Doctor” will allow the parents to easily find you in that part of the state. If you have a patient who registers with the Ohio Amblyope Registry you will be informed of the patients registration (new in 2009). The goal of the Ohio Amblyope Registry is to serve the needs of Ohio’s children with amblyopia, their families and their eye doctors.

The Ohio Amblyope Registry is funded through the Save Our Sight program for children, which obtains voluntary donations through a dollar check-off box on Ohio license plate renewal forms. The Ohio Department of Health manages the Save Our Sight fund. All services provided by the Ohio Amblyope Registry are free of charge.

We would like your help and participation in making the Ohio Amblyope Registry a success. Below, under Summary of Services, is a description of the literature that will be sent to parents who register their children with the Ohio Amblyope Registry as well as the timing of the postcard reminders and phone calls, if the parents sign-up for our Premier Services.

If your practice includes children and you would like to participate in the Ohio Amblyope Registry, please register to become a participating eye doctor and you’ll receive the following:

  • Free listing of your practice(s) on the web site OhioAmblyopeRegistry.com, under Find “Find An Eye Doctor”
  • 20 Ohio Amblyope Registry Registration Forms
  • Two Form Holders
  • Patients will receive those benefits as outlined under Summary of Services.
  • If you become one of our top 20 eye doctors who refer patients to the Ohio Amblyope registry, your practice will by be highlighted on the Top 20 Referring Eye Doctors page on the web site.

All that we ask is that you make the Ohio Amblyope Registry registration forms available to the parents of children with amblyopia. If you would like the parents to receive periodic letters to remind them that it is important to keep their appointments with you, please ask them to sign-up for the Premier Services portion of the Registry.

Ohio Amblyope Registry Summary of Services

What parents or legal guardians in Ohio receive for free once the child with amblyopia is registered:

  1. Brochures and Booklet
    • Amblyopia and Strabismus booklet
    • Play it Safe brochure
    • Signs of Possible Eye trouble in children brochure
    • Save Our Sight program brochure
    • Free prescription goggles brochure/application form (OOS)
    • OAR newsletter
  2. If the child is being patched for amblyopia, they will receive 3 free boxes of eye patches, a $45.00 value! The patches can be decorated with animal and other figures (included with the patches) and these are special patches that cannot be bought from a regular store. The patches are reusable and not the typical tan eye patches bought from stores.
  3. If the child is being patched for amblyopia and wears glasses, they will also receive two (2) free cloth patches available upon request and with the approval of the child’s eye doctor.
  4. The newsletter, Lazy eye News, offers tips and techniques for promoting compliance with patching and professional advice from optometrists, ophthalmologists and orthoptists as well as other important information about amblyopia.
  5. Parents can also receive additional patches by contacting us.  They can receive up to 9 additional free boxes of eye patches. By requesting additional free patches, the parent will automatically be registered for our Premier Services program.

If parents sign-up for Premier Services, they will receive:

  • Periodic newsletters from the Ohio Amblyope Registry, including articles about amblyopia, hints for effective patching, research reports and other useful information. The newsletters also contain information about the free patches program and information from the Ohio Department of Health. Families enrolled in our Premier Services will also receive periodic (at least quarterly) phone calls and/or e-mails and/or written letters about the importance of keeping their eye doctor appointments with you.

If the parents need financial assistance:

Parents are asked to talk with their eye doctor about any financial assistance that might be available. Parents can also seek financial assistance through the Combined Programs Application available from the local Department of Job and Family Services. Call 1-800-324-8680 (voice) or 1-800-292-3572 (TDD) for further information about the Combined Programs Application.