A Clearer View

Latest treatment options and news about cataracts, dry eye syndrome and other eye care topics.

Gainesville Eye Physicians Appearing on “Health Connections”

by dwasylow 15 April 2014 01:10 AM

A few months ago, we were approached by the team at Gainesville Television Network (GTN) with a concept they called “Health Connections.” They were producing a TV show highlighting the best healthcare professionals in the Gainesville area, and we gladly agreed to take part.

What we like about the concept is it gives members of our community the opportunity to learn more about healthcare options available to them, from audiology to dentistry to weight management and, of course, eye care. At Gainesville Eye Physicians and Optical, we believe an informed patient is a happy patient, so we take every opportunity to educate people about eye health and vision care.

In Gainesville, you can watch “Health Connections” Sundays at 9:00am on WNBW NBC9 and at 11:30am on WGFL CBS4. In this clip from the show, Dr. Snodgrass explains Gainesville Eye Physicians’ unique approach to patient care and delivering results.

Transcript

Host: The eyes are considered to be the windows to a person’s soul. So, to project healthy eyes to the world, you’ll want to work with an eye care practice with modern facilities, cutting-edge technology and a highly-skilled and friendly staff. In the greater Gainesville area, that practice is Gainesville Eye Physicians.

Dr. Snodgrass: Gainesville Eye Physicians is very comprehensive, from general eye exams to cataract surgery to everything in between, treatment of glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetes, from pediatrics to people who are 102-years old.

Our society is in a preventative mode. As the healthcare industry changes, we’re all talking about prevention. What can I do to prevent problems? One of the things we can do is to get an eye exam. Even if you think you’re doing okay, you may have a problem that’s undiagnosed that we could treat ahead of time and prevent problems down the road.

Host: With over 20,000 cataract surgeries performed, and an additional 1000 eye surgeries under his belt, Dr. Snodgrass is one of the area’s premier eye surgeons.

Dr. Snodgrass: When a patient comes to us with cataracts, many times they also where glasses and we’re able to offer that patient not only removal of the cataract, but spectacle freedom, not having to wear glasses after the surgery.

There are various implants that we have. When we take the cloudy cataract out, we implant a new artificial lens into their eye that will be in their eye for the rest of their life. Depending on what type of eye that patient has, whether they’re near-sighted, far-sighted, astigmatism, the need to wear glasses for reading, we can solve those problems at the same time we do the cataract surgery.

Once the patient is ready for surgery, we take them to our laser outpatient surgery center, where we have staff that are totally focused and dedicated to providing cataract care to these patients. Typically, the experience is two to two-and-a-half-hour experience. The surgery itself takes 10-15 minutes. The patients many times see better on the way home.

We are now basically going to be doing what we call laser-assisted cataract surgery. We are acquiring the LenSx femtosecond laser. This will allow us to take cataract surgery to a new level. Everybody’s eyes are a little different. Just like our fingerprints are different, everyone’s eyes are different, and we’re able to get a real-time image of the patient’s eye and to customize a bladeless surgical procedure to that patient.

Patient: As I got older, my vision started getting blurry and just not as clear and not as crisp, and so when I met with Dr. Snodgrass and he told me I had cataracts, and after having the surgery, everything was so bright and clear and, honestly, for the first time since I was a small child, I could see everything clear and crisp and it’s amazing. I feel like I have brand new eyes, like I was a new baby being born. It was great.

Host: One of the best reasons to come to Gainesville Eye Physicians are their convenient on-site optical centers with hundreds of name brand glasses to choose from, like this beautiful pair right here from Judith Leiber. What do you think?

Dr. Snodgrass: We take great pride in being able to offer patients a prescription for glasses that they can have filled right in our optical shops connected with our practice so they don’t have to go elsewhere. We now have two optical centers affiliated with our practice, where we can send patients and know that when they go there, they’re going to get great customer service, they’re going to get a great product and they can leave with a pair of glasses they can be proud of and see really well out of.

Brands that we have are Dita, Fred, Tag Heuer. We have Maui Jim sunglasses. We have Costa Del Mar sunglasses. So, we have all price points available for our patients.

Licensed opticians are part of our practice and part of our opticals, and it’s very difficult to become licensed. That’s why they are not in every installation out there. So, our opticians are very well trained. Sometimes patients go to outside opticals and they don’t understand that they may not be working with somebody who’s not licensed, and there’s expertise involved in fitting a pair of glasses on patients.

Host: For total eye care for you and your family, be sure to visit Dr. Snodgrass at Gainesville Eye Physicians. Contact them today at GainesvilleEyeDocs.com.

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