Why Dr. Richard Prince Trusts Eye-Tech When Adopting New Instruments in His Practice
Meet Dr. Richard Prince, MD
Richard Prince, MD, is an ophthalmologist and cataract surgeon at Tri-Century Eye Care, a medical eye care practice with five locations outside of Philadelphia. After more than 20 years working with Drew Tucker and purchasing a variety of equipment from Eye-Tech over that time, including the OPD-Scan III, the EPIC Refraction System, both from Marco Ophthalmic, and the HAAG-STREIT Lenstar 900, Dr. Prince chooses Eye-Tech as the first call he makes when he needs a new instrument in one of his offices.
We caught up with him to talk about why his relationship with Drew and Eye-Tech has been such reliable source of guidance and support for him.
Meet Dr. Richard Prince, MD
Richard Prince, MD, is an ophthalmologist and cataract surgeon at Tri-Century Eye Care, a medical eye care practice with five locations outside of Philadelphia. After more than 20 years working with Drew Tucker and purchasing a variety of equipment from Eye-Tech over that time, including the OPD-Scan III, the EPIC Refraction System, both from Marco Ophthalmic, and the HAAG-STREIT Lenstar 900, Dr. Prince chooses Eye-Tech as the first call he makes when he needs a new instrument in one of his offices.
We caught up with him to talk about why his relationship with Drew and Eye-Tech has been such reliable source of guidance and support for him.
Q: Let’s start off with how you initially came across Eye-Tech and your relationship. How long have you been doing business with them?
Dr. Prince: Well, I’ve known Drew Tucker for as long as I’ve been in practice — well over 20 years. Drew is a very smart guy. He understands the equipment, he understands sales, he understands support and installation, so when Drew has a new or recommended product, I give him the first chance to present it to me to see if it would fit into the workflow of our practice. I’ve known Drew for a long time and he’s a great rep — he’s not just the sales guy, he’s an engineer. He understands what he’s selling on a different level than most other reps.
Q: Which was the first product that you purchased from Eye-Tech?
Dr. Prince: We’ve purchased many products over the years, such as lensometers and autorefractors, but as the equipment became more sophisticated and integrated into EHR systems, we purchased larger equipment like the EPIC refraction system. We’ve ended up with five EPIC systems — three in our main office and two in another office — in addition to some of the newer autorefractors and along with our cataract surgery biometry workflow, we’ve purchased two of the Lenstar biometers from Drew as well. Once the new equipment is integrated into the workflow in one office it naturally follows into other office locations.
Q: Let’s talk about the EPIC. How have you seen your practice change by incorporating this workstation?
Dr. Prince: Well, it makes for a more efficient workflow for two categories of patients: the routine vision care examination and for the postoperative refractions after cataract surgery. In those two particular workflows, the epic system has been invaluable to enhance efficiency and accuracy.
Q: How have your outcomes changed?
Dr. Prince: More efficient patient throughput and more accurate refractions. I wouldn’t say we’re seeing more patients per hour as a result, but it definitely eases the burden on the physician.
Q: Could you tell me a little bit more about your experience and your staff experience with Marco instruments in particular?
Dr. Prince: Marco has an invaluable set of training manuals as well as tutorials and support. Mayah, who supports the OPD III that Drew sold us, is a great practice resource and knowledge base. She knows the equipment and software and utilization of the OPD-III better than anyone and she’s very accessible through Drew — he can arrange it anytime — so it’s been very good Marco really supports their sales and service with instruction. And Drew can help facilitate that — he has a very tight relationship with Marco.
Q: So now moving onto your adoption of Lenstar 900, you now have three in three different locations — walk me through your process of deciding to purchase the Lenstar. What was it about this specific tool that made you decide to take that step?
Dr. Prince: The price, the support, built-in IOL calculation formulas, the fact that Warren Hill is behind it, and the fact that it’s not Zeiss — they’re a little tougher to deal with in terms of implementation and integration with various EHD software platforms and viewer software. Drew gave us multiple copies of the EyeSuite software — it’s just simpler.
Q: Can you give me one reason why a cataract surgeon should have the Lenstar in their practice?
Dr. Prince: Sure! I would say that the Lenstar biometer provides excellent and accurate results, which ultimately provides better outcomes and happier patients who are 20/Happy!
Q: Great. Last question — how has your experience been working with Eye-Tech over the past two decades?
Dr. Prince: Drew Tucker has turned Eye-Tech into a state-of-the-art source for new equipment in both sales, service, and implementation. Drew is easily accessible and competitive with pricing and support!
Q: Which was the first product that you purchased from Eye-Tech?
Dr. Prince: We’ve purchased many products over the years, like lensometers and autorefractors, but as the equipment became more sophisticated, we purchased larger equipment like the EPIC refraction system. We’ve ended up with five of them — three in our main office and two in another office — in addition to some of the newer autorefractors and along with our cataract surgery workflow, we’ve purchased two of the Lenstar from Drew as well. Once the workflow works and the equipment is reliable, it’s like ‘great, we gotta have it in more than one location.’
Q: Let’s talk about the EPIC. How have you seen your practice change by incorporating this workstation?
Dr. Prince: Well, it makes for a more efficient workflow for two categories of patients: the routine examination and for the postoperative refractions after cataract surgery. In those two particular workflows, the epic system has been invaluable.
Q: How have your outcomes changed?
Dr. Prince: Just better patient throughput and more accurate refractions. I wouldn’t say we’re seeing more patients per hour as a result, but it definitely eases the burden on the physician.
Q: Could you tell me a little bit more about your experience and your staff experience with Marco instruments in particular?
Dr. Prince: Yeah. Marco has a fantastic set of training manuals and tutorials and support. Mayah, who supports the OPD III that Drew sold us, is really great. She knows the equipment and software and utilization of it better than anyone and she’s very accessible through Drew — he can arrange it anytime — so it’s been very good Marco really supports their sales and service with instruction. And Drew can help facilitate that — he has a very tight relationship with Marco
Q: So now moving onto your adoption of Lenstar 900, you now have three in three different locations — walk me through your process of deciding to purchase the Lenstar. What was it about this specific tool that made you decide to take that step?
Dr. Price: The price, the support, built-in IOL calculation formulas, the fact that Warren Hill is behind it, and the fact that it’s not Zeiss — they’re a little tougher to deal with in terms of implementation and integration with software platforms. Drew gave us multiple copies of the EyeSuite software — it’s just simpler.
Q: Can you give me one reason why a cataract surgeon should have the Lenstar in their practice?
Dr. Prince: Sure! I would say that the Lenstar provides excellent and accurate biometry, which ultimately provides better outcomes and happier patients
Q: Great. Last question — how has your experience been working with Eye-Tech over the past two decades?
Dr. Prince: Drew Tucker has turned Eye-Tech into a state-of-the-art source for new equipment in both sales, service, and implementation and he never lets us down.
