Company News September 2015

What people are saying about SPECTRALIS

Alisdair Buchanon

"We went to Optrafair looking to purchase an OCT and tried them all. We trialled the SPECTRALIS and were blown away. There was only one comment: Wow!?

There is no comparison in the quality of the images, compared to everything else we saw and it is so quick and easy to use. We were utterly blown away by the technology. After 18 months in practice it has more than paid for itself, moreover, it has helped us to position ourselves as one of the best practices in the UK.

We charge appropriately for the scans and, with proper pre-marketing, this is not an issue with patients. Most of our patients are over the age of 40 but come from all walks of life and even those on NHS tests pay when they understand the benefits of screening. They like the reassurance of knowing, exactly, the condition of their eyes, particularly with conditions such as macular degeneration and glaucoma.

Recently we had a 17 year old lad who was losing his vision. He had been seen by his GP, other optometrists, and had been to the hospital eye department twice. We carried out a posterior pole scan and saw he was losing his retinal nerve fibre layer, so we referred him for further testing for syphilis and MS.
Heidelberg is an excellent company to deal with. One of the key factors in buying the SPECTRALIS is that it will never become obsolete, as it is updated continuously. If you are serious about optometry you have to have a SPECTRALIS. lt is like having a Rolls Royce or a Bentley rather than a Vauxhall."

Alisdair Buchanan, Optometrist, Practice Owner


John-Everett

"The SPECTRALIS is just fantastic! lt features the highest definition and is so easy and quick to use. l like the definition and the tracking. lf someone complains of blurred or distorted vision we can refer them appropriately.

We had a patient recently who presented with blurred vision and she was concerned that it was Wet AMD, which her husband had recently been diagnosed with, so she recognised the symptoms. Very soon we were able to reassure her that it was a small macular hole, secondary to vitreomacular traction and she was referred to the eye clinic. The patient was delighted that she didn't have any signs of AMD. The patients really like the reassurance that OCT brings.

We knew that we needed to use the SPECTRALIS on five patients a day to break even, but sometimes we are screening ten patients a day."

John Everett, Norville, Gloucester


O-Kane

"Without OCT we can only rely on symptoms, but with an OCT it is quite different. We know when to refer and when not to refer so it takes away a lot of worry. I particularly like the SPECTRALIS because the eye tracker ensures that inadvertent mistakes cannot be made. In the six years we have had the SPECTRALIS we have grown to rely on it and can best describe it as like having air conditioning in a car: before you have it you don't know that you need it, but when you have it you cannot manage without it ... an essential element of a car in winter and summer.

Thanks to the SPECTRALIS we were the first in the country to establish COMMUNITY AGE RELATED MACULAR SERVICES, for which we won an Excellence in Ophthalmology Award. Now there are three practices in Kent providing this service via Maidstone Hospital.

As practitioners we encourage our patients to opt for the best and we strive to do the same and lead by example. That is why we chose to work with Heidelberg Engineering. The investment is sensible from a business perspective: I offer enhanced services in the Medway towns of Kent and most patients see the value.<br/ > We are one of the first practices in the country to invest in the new Glaucoma Premium Edition for SPECTRALIS, offering screening to those most at risk. Patients like to know why they are not seeing, and the SPECTRALIS offers an answer and the first step to a solution for many."

Niall O'Kane, Ophthalmic Optometrist, Strood, Kent