At Vision Specialists, we know you should be empowered to take control of your health. In order to do that, you need to know if you should be concerned about your eyes. The problem is you may see well which makes you feel unsure if you even need an exam. We believe you deserve to know if you’re at risk for potential issues and have them addressed proactively and at ease with today’s latest advancement in eye care technology. We truly care about maintaining your vision for the future which is why we only use today’s newest technology to alleviate any apprehension or vulnerability you may have for your next eye exam.
Here’s how we do it:
1) schedule an appointment
2) have a modern, state of the art exam by our team of experts and
3) take comfort in knowing you’re not taking your eyes for granted.
So, schedule your appointment today. And in the meantime, read below for how we’ve modernized your eye care experience. So you can stop being reactive and instead address issues before they affect your life.
We Modernize Your Eye Care Experience
Vision Specialists takes pride in that we offer the most cutting edge, up to date technology in the eye care industry in each of our four locations. Our motto is simple, modern eye care, and advancements in technology allow this to be possible from the very beginning. From scheduling your appointment, to your time in our office with the technicians, doctors, and vision consultants and beyond, we know your experience will be thorough and efficient. Here are some of the ways our technology can allow you to get the most out of your visit:
Better Communication
We understand the hassle of old-school communication. At Vision Specialists, we’ve upped our game by providing to you the latest in online communication. So we can accommodate you and your busy lifestyle in the best way possible.
As a medical office, we still require information about your prior ocular and medical history, as well as family history, current medications, and insurance information to provide a comprehensive patient profile. However, instead of taking the time to fill out tedious paperwork in office, or requiring you to print and complete paperwork at home, we text or email required forms. You can even take photos of your ID and insurance cards with this service, which helps our team reduce errors and ensure your benefits are verified in advance so there are no surprises on the day of your visit.
In this day and age, nobody enjoys the hassle of answering phone calls, especially if the number is not recognized. We use text messaging and email to better respect your time and avoid unnecessary phone calls. These emails and text messages are used to confirm or provide reminders for upcoming appointments and notify you that your glasses or contact lenses that have arrived.
Schedule an appointment with us now. So you can experience simple, modern eye care complete with today’s latest in patient communication. Convenient and efficient, just the way you need it.
Retinal Screening
One of the most dreaded aspects of a routine eye exam is dilation, where your pupil is enlarged so the doctor can use bright lights to evaluate for any concerning eye conditions. This is uncomfortable and time consuming, and we believe you shouldn’t have to suffer the negative effects of dilation. Enter Optomap ® retinal imaging, the latest in eye care technology.
While eye exams generally include evaluating for prescription changes and overall ocular health, a thorough screening of the retina is critical to rule out sight-threatening diseases. Signs of glaucoma, diabetes, macular degeneration, retinal detachments, and even cancer can be visible in the retina long before pain or any vision changes are noted, so early detection is key to preserve vision and prevent progression of ocular diseases.
Traditional ways of looking at the retina only show a small portion at one time. Our offices offer the optomap® Retinal Exam as a part of every comprehensive examination, which is a wide-field image of nearly the whole retina in one shot. It is quick, painless, and normally does not require dilation drops. Nothing touches your eye at any time and it is suitable for the whole family.
To obtain an optomap® image, the patient looks at a target within the machine one eye at a time, similar to looking through a keyhole in a door. Once the target is centered, the patient will see a light, like a camera flash, which indicates the photo is taken. Repeat with the other eye and that’s it! The image is stored in your electronic chart and available for immediate review during your exam.
The optomap® Retinal Exam gives your doctor a more detailed view of the retina than with any other means, and has the added advantage of creating a permanent record. This allows your doctor to access the photo at any time and perform a side-by-side comparison in the future to detect even the most subtle change over time.
Your care is simple: 1. Schedule your appointment today. 2. Obtain a thorough evaluation, complete with Optomap ® imaging. 3. Understand your eyes and your risk for potential systemic illness. Your eyes provide more than sight, they tell the story of your overall health.
No More Puff Of Air
At Vision Specialists, we understand the fear of having air blown into your eyes. We despise it too. That’s why we don’t do it, and instead, provide the latest in eye pressure measurement.
Ask anyone their least favorite part of an eye exam, and most will mention the “air puff test.” Although it doesn’t hurt, that small blast of air to your open eye, especially when you are anticipating it, is not pleasant. Eye pressure measurement is an important component of a comprehensive exam, as well as most follow up examinations, but now there is a much more comfortable manner of obtaining that measurement.
The iCare tonometer is a handheld device that uses a tiny disposable probe to briefly contact the cornea (the front part of the eye) and measure the intraocular pressure in just fractions of a second. The whole process is so quick and gentle that it doesn’t even require the use of eye drops; quick and easy without the flinching.
So, schedule an appointment today. So you don’t have to fear the worst of every eye exam and instead benefit from the latest in modern technology.
Imaging and Lipiflow® Treatments
We believe you deserve to know if you’re at risk for potential issues and have them addressed proactively and at ease with today’s latest eye care technology. This is why we screen for silent diseases such as dry eye disease at every routine exam and provide modern treatment recommendations.
The newest forms of technology available at all of our Vision Specialists locations are the Antares imaging system and Lipiflow. Together, these devices have allowed our office to become elite in diagnosing and managing ocular surface disease/dry eye disease.
The Antares provides multiple imaging options of the front surface of the eye, including keratometry, topography, meibography, and tear film analysis. Keratometry and topography aid in complex contact lens fitting and management of corneal disease by intricately measuring the corneal curvatures, creating several maps of the front surface of the eye. Meibography images the oil-producing Meibomian glands located within the upper and lower eyelids, and along with tear film analysis, gives a much more comprehensive view of the ocular surface, which allows your doctor to more appropriately diagnose and treat dry eyes and Meibomian gland dysfunction.
Lipiflow is a thermal pulsation system that removes obstructions from the oil glands that can lead to blockage and subsequent atrophy. In the past, home heating with warm compresses or masks were followed by physically squeezing or pushing on the lid to remove blockages, often a cumbersome task that could be painful, time consuming, or just difficult to remember and not always effective. The Lipiflow procedure uses this same idea, but delivers much better results with a simple, in-office procedure that feels more like a spa procedure. We even offer your choice of aromatherapy scents and sounds for the most relaxing experience.
Although very few providers in the Omaha metro area have access to the Lipiflow device, we are pleased to announce that all four Vision Specialists locations have the ability to perform Lipiflow if recommended by your doctor.
You deserve the latest technology in eye care at a competitive price. We can help. Visit us today so you can understand your eyes and be empowered with your health care comprehension.
Digital Prescription
At Vision Specialists, we understand the vulnerability of the traditional eye exam. That’s why we’ve turned your visit into a simple and modern experience free from any sort of apprehension.
“Which is better, one or two?” is a phrase synonymous with going to the eye doctor. Although a seemingly simple question, it is often a stressful one for the person in the hot seat. You may wonder what the “right” answer is supposed to be, and if you choose the “wrong” one, will your glasses or contact lens prescription be incorrect? It can end up being an endless cycle of back and forth to the point where it may be tempting to just start over. Thankfully, technological advances have allowed this process to be simplified.
During pre-testing, the technician performs an auto-refraction, which takes measurements of the corneal curvature and is able to detect how light is refracted, or focused, by the eye’s structures and when a clear image is formed on the retina. This helps give your doctor a much more accurate starting point for your prescription and reduces the amount of time it takes to refine that prescription.
The exam rooms at all Vision Specialists locations are outfitted with automated phoropters as well. After the auto-refraction measurements are obtained, they are recorded onto a chip card, much like a credit card. In the exam room, the card is plugged into the automated phoropter and the data is sent digitally in an instant. No more dialing knobs on the front of machines, now the whole process is controlled by a sleek touchscreen and can be transferred into your electronic health record with the touch of a button.
Schedule your next eye exam today. So you can bypass the ancient means of treating your eyesight and instead receive the modern care you deserve.
Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)
Understanding your eyes and risk for potential illness requires more than a simple evaluation with a 2D image. In our simple, modern approach, we can scan your eyes and create 3D representations to rule out ocular pathology beneath the eye’s surface. That’s the care you deserve.
Technology has allowed us to image the surface of multiple various tissues of the eye, but what about underneath the surface? Optical coherence tomography, or OCT is like an ultrasound for the eye, but uses light instead of sound waves to obtain high resolution images of the drainage angle, optic nerve and retina.
OCT uses a scanning laser to capture the image and then computer software can display the information in 3D, color-coded and even cross-sectional scans. It has quickly become a gold standard for early diagnosis and continued management of glaucoma, macular degeneration, retinal detachments, and diabetic retinopathy. The OCT can help to rule out serious nerve or macular conditions in cases of unexplained vision abnormalities. It is often frustrating as a doctor to only see the surface of the nerve or macula when it’s suspected that blood or fluid leakage, swelling, or detachments loom underneath. Until OCT, we were unable to do much more than conjecture a guess, or put the patient through a referral to a specialist to use injectable dyes and specialized camera equipment to more thoroughly image. OCT technology has now allowed us to obtain more detailed information in a manner that is of significantly less hassle to the patient.
Perhaps the best part is that an OCT scan does not require eye drops or even a flash of light when taking the picture. The images can be saved into your electronic health record for immediate viewing with your doctor, and be available for comparison at future visits.
You ought to understand your healthcare. Schedule an exam today, so you can understand your risk for disease and visually comprehend year after year if your eye health is changing via your individualized 3D analysis.
Visual Field Testing
At Vision Specialists, we believe you should understand the extent that your eyes can tell you about your overall health. That is why we can screen for loss of peripheral vision secondary to glaucoma, strokes, or even brain tumors with today’s most modern advanced technology.
Have you ever done the trick where you cover one eye and move a piece of paper with two horizontally separately shapes closer until one disappears? One of the objects is no longer visible once it enters your natural blind spot. The reason it only works when you close one eye is that each eye has its own blind spot, but together they fill in for each other so we don’t miss anything. Amazing!
While our eyes do a spectacular job of working synergistically, in eye care we often want to know how they work individually. This helps us point out potential areas of concern along the visual pathway. When light is collected by the retina inside the eye, it is then transferred via the optic nerve and then small fibers that run all throughout the brain toward the back of the head to the visual cortex. Any areas of damage in the visual field correlate specifically with a particular location within the optic pathway, like a perfect map.
So how do we test this? The technicians or doctors always perform a visual field screening test as part of a comprehensive exam, but if a more sophisticated assessment is required, an automated visual perimetry, or visual field test, may be used. This test is similar to the “flashing light” test at the DMV, checking awareness of lights in the side, or peripheral vision, just much more thorough. We describe the test like playing a video game, as a clicker is used to indicate when you see a small flicker of light. Once completed for each eye, your doctor will be able to assess whether you have any visual field loss and if so, if there is a pattern that indicates specific ocular disease. This is a test often used in glaucoma management, among others.
We believe you deserve to know if you’re at risk for potential issues and have them addressed proactively and at ease with today’s latest advancement in eye care technology. We truly care about maintaining your vision for the future which is why we’ve invested in today’s newest technology to alleviate any apprehension or vulnerability you may have for your next eye exam.
Your care is simple. Schedule an appointment today and have a modern, state of the art exam by our team of experts. Take comfort in knowing you’re being proactive with your health and not taking your eyes for granted.
