Vision Screening Claims for Young Children in the United States

Vision screening plays a pivotal role in the early detection and management of visual impairments among young children, which if undiagnosed can significantly affect their overall development.¹  In this issue of Pediatrics, Oke et al²  describe trends in vision screening among young children with private insurance in the United States between 2010 and 2019 using administrative claims data from the IBM MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters Database.

According to the study, the percentage of children with claims for vision screening increased 165%, from 16.7% in 2010 to 44.3% in 2019. The increased use of instrument-based screening for children under the age of 3 was primarily responsible for this change.²  The study also points out a worrying decline in payments over time for instrument-based screening, raising concerns about adoption and use of vision screening technology.

The findings of this study demonstrate that vision screening in the primary...