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 With
events in the world so uncertain, it’s reassuring to know
that you can always count on some important
things at home. In East Texas, people count on EyeCare Associates
when it comes to caring for their vision.
With a dozen physicians and over 150 Years of
proven eyecare experience plus one-hundred, caring professional
employees, we continue to be the eyecare choice
for thousands of East Texans. You can always count on EyeCare Associates
to be here when you need us.
Happy New Year from from all of us at EyeCare
Associates.
 As
we bring you this issue of our newsletter, we introduce one of our
founding partners of EyeCare Associates and outstanding members
of the East Texas medical community, Dr. Jerry Parrish.
A native of East Texas, Dr. Parrish grew up in Kaufman
as the youngest of six children. After graduation from Texas Tech
University in 1964 with a major in pre-med, he entered and completed
his medical school training at the University of Texas Medical Branch,
Galveston, obtaining his M.D. in 1968. Then entering the Air Force
he completed a rotating internship at Wilford Hall USAF Medical
Center at San Antonio in 1969.
After a year’s tour of duty as a flight surgeon
at Williams AFB in Arizona, he returned to Wilford Hall USAF Medical
Center to complete his residency training in Ophthalmology in 1973.
He then served another year as staff ophthalmologist at Wilford
Hall until leaving to enter private practice in Tyler in July, 1974,
joining with Dr. William Burch, who was the first residency-trained
ophthalmologist in East Texas. Dr. Parrish remained in his own practice
until he joined EyeCare Associates as one of the original founding
partners in 1998.
In January, 1968, Dr. Parrish married his lovely wife,
Alice, who in her own right has made significant contributions to
the medical alliance and to the community through numerous civic
projects. They have been blessed with children who are very accomplished:
Graydon, an outstanding artist; and Anna Katherine, with an advanced
degree in linguistics.
While enjoying country and western music, Dr. Parrish
is an avid reader with a strong and growing fascination with American
Indian history and World War II. In addition to his abiding interest
in and collecting of art, he has found time for a growing collection
of Indian arrowheads and artifacts.
Well respected in the entire medical community, Dr.
Parrish has served as president of the Smith County Medical Society
as well as president of the staff of East Texas Medical Center Hospital
and has also served on numerous committees on both Tyler hospitals.
He is Board Certified in Ophthalmology and is a Fellow of the American
Academy of Ophthalmology, the American College of Surgeons and the
Texas Society of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, as well as several
other ophthalmic associations.
Dr. Parrish’s wealth of experience in medicine
and established expertise in anterior segment ocular and cataract
surgery, as well as his compassionate and ethical approach to medical
care have been major contributions to establishing EyeCare Associates
as a premier provider of ophthalmic medical care in East Texas.
During this new century, one thing is for certain…we
are all busier and nothing gets easier. Looking for simplicity in
life’s issues myself, I often exam EyeCare procedures
for patient friendliness and efficiency for all those involved.
One procedure that
needed improvement was our daily interaction with our patients over
the telephone.
I would like to familiarize each of you with our new
policy that we have implemented
regarding your incoming calls for prescription refills, vision problems,
or any questions relating to your EyeCare! When you call in, our
switchboard operators ask you just enough questions to get your
chart pulled to send back to the Doctor's area. Your call is then
directed immediately to the voice mailbox in your Doctor's area.
After the recorded message and beep, please leave your name, call
back phone number, and the nature of your call on the voice mailbox.
We want to return your calls in the most efficient
manner and with the most convenience to you. If there is a better
time to return the call
to you, please leave that information on the voice mailbox. The
technician will return
your call after she receives your chart and will be more prepared
to handle your issue
when returning your call. This will hopefully reduce unnecessary
multiple calls.
All this is about making sure you know that we do
care as our motto describes. We do care about your time, as time
is precious to everyone!
—June Cheatham
Quality without compromise is a byword at EyeCare.
In that spirit, EyeCare has recently purchased the latest in technology
for helping our cataract patients see their best post operatively.
The process of implanting an intraocular lens (IOL) has become safer
and faster each year, but successful implantation is only half the
battle. To achieve a truly excellent outcome, we need to select
an IOL that’s as close as possible to the ideal lens for each
patient’s specific needs. For most people, achieving good
distance vision without glasses is the goal when picking an implant.
For others, seeing to read is preferred and accepting distance glasses
works best.
So what enables us to determine the correct IOL power
for your eye? It’s called the IOL Master manufactured by Zeiss
Humphrey Systems and recently approved by the FDA. Prior to the
IOL Master, we used ultrasound, which is still good technology,
but has been surpassed by the laser light technology of the IOL
Master. Both of these technologies measure the length of the eye,
which, combined with the measurement of the eye’s front surface
curvature, allow the computer calculation of IOL power for each
patient. The advantages are several fold from both the doctor’s
and patient’s point of view. Since the IOL Master uses laser
light, it can perform the measurement of eye length without touching
the eye, as required with ultrasound. It can therefore be done without
numbing drops and it achieves more accurate results. It also can
be done in about a minute, instead of 15 minutes as with the ultrasound.
This makes your visit shorter and easier for you.
At EyeCare, we intend to give our patients the best
that is available to achieve the best results we can. We are performing
nearly 2500 cataracts per year at the Cataract Center and we think
the IOL Master will make having cataract surgery even better than
it already is. We think you will as well. For upcoming EyeCare advances
in your care, keep your eyes open for the next newsletter and discussion
of wavefront technology and it’s integration into LASIK treatments
in the near future.
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Another New year, another year of meeting deductibles,
and for many of you, another year of changing insurance companies,
deductibles, and or benefits. Our billing department does the best
they can with the information that we can obtain. We do not have
the plan booklet available to us that you as a subscriber have access
to. We know that the option and benefits packages are infinite and
complex. We want to know your plan, but it is in your best interest
to know the details of your own plan. Check to see whether you need
a PCP referral or not. Ultimately the financial responsibility is
yours. However, we would like to assist you and accommodate you
to the best of your ability. You will need to find out if you have
a vision plan or medical coverage only. You can obtain the information
by calling the customer service number on the back of your insurance
card. For further assistance feel free to call us in the billing
department.
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