Bella Vision

Janet Wilson, OD, owner of Bella Vision, owes much of her practice’s success to her quality team. The staff at Bella Vision prioritizes its patients over everything else, going out of their way to build meaningful connections with everyone who walks through their doors. Providing eye care education to its patients—and those outside of eye care—is one of the biggest ways that Bella Vision contributes to its community. In fact, Dr. Wilson has been known to speak at local schools and colleges, participate in local symposiums, and has even spoken to the state’s athletic trainer’s association on brain injury and its impact on the vision system. Bella Vision offers a wide range of eye care services, but focuses primarily on two specialty areas: vision therapy and dry eye treatment.

Cornea and Contact Lens Institute of Minnesota

The Cornea & Contact Lens Institute of Minnesota is a practice dedicated to specialty contact lenses. Practice owner Zachary Holland, OD, purchased the clinic in 2020, offering services beyond comprehensive eye care, including contact lenses and specialty contact lenses, dry eye management, myopia control, and clinical research. Each patient is seen as a unique puzzle for which the staff uses all the tools at its disposal to create custom lenses that achieve the best visual results for each of its patients. Whether it’s a simple eye exam or treating a condition that requires in-depth diagnosis, the team at Cornea & Contact Lens Institute of Minnesota provides undivided attention to each of its patients and are dedicated to providing the highest level of eye care.

InVision Eye Care

InVision Eye Care’s Tara Kempfer, OD, knows that a practice is only as strong as its team, and attributes much of her practice’s success to her staff. The entire staff shares a mutual commitment to advance the practice, profession, and industry as a whole—which is evidenced by the team’s eagerness and willingness to continue to learn and improve. Recently, some of the staff have come together to start their own leadership course in an effort to enhance the practice’s strategic plans across multiple areas, including myopia management, vision therapy, and contact lenses. The Best Practices recognition for industry advancement is only one of many honors for InVision Eye Care. Last year, the practice was recognized by its community and patients as the “Best Optometrist in Ottertail County,” “Best Place to Work in Ottertail County,” and was also awarded with the prestigious “Best of the Best Award in Healthcare.”

Urban Optics

At Urban Optics, the team approaches eye care with a one-on-one approach to customize each patient experience. Patients are greeted by a host who checks them in before visiting with the office’s concierge, who helps to facilitate the rest of the patient’s flow throughout the office. “Super technicians” are trained to refract, diagnose and prescribe, which has eliminated the need to “hand off” a patient, and ultimately, enhances the practice’s personalized customer service experience. This unique approach to customized care earned Urban Optics its Best Practices recognition for excellence in patient experience. While practice owner Matthew Greene, OD, specializes in contact lenses and dry eye management, the practice offers everything from pre- and post-operative care, emergency exams, glaucoma testing, cataract management, myopia management, and more.

Mountain View Vision

Since opening its doors in 2007, Mountain View Vision has stood by its mission to provide its patients with the best possible eye care services. Practice owners Melissa Tada, OD, and Stacy McMullen, OD, know that to achieve this goal, they must first invest in their team. The staff meets on a weekly basis, and is encouraged to discuss practice goals, ideas, and potential improvements that can be implemented. As a result of these efforts and more, Mountain View Vision was recognized as a Best Practice for its excellence in team building. What started as a two-person practice has grown to a 12-person business, specializing in comprehensive eye care, dry eye, myopia management, vision therapy, pediatrics and medical eye care.

Clements Vision Care

Jeffrey Clements, OD, of Clements Vision Care believes that in order for the optometry profession to continue to advance and remain relevant, advocacy is essential. When businesses shut down due to the pandemic in early 2020, Dr. Clements worked alongside his local legislature to ensure optometrists were recognized as essential workers so they could continue providing eye care to patients. Clements Vision Care offers comprehensive eye care, including eye exams, contact lenses and specialty contact lenses, dry eye and glaucoma management, myopia management, laser procedures, emergency care and more. The practice’s commitment to investing in the latest, cutting-edge technologies—like an IPL, Yag and SLT laser—has become a major differentiator, enabling the practice to provide unique services that patients are unable to access elsewhere in the area. Clements Vision Care’s unwavering commitment to enhance its practice and the profession resulted in its Best Practices recognition across several categories, including industry advancement, community impact, specialty services and team building.

Bright Eyes Family Vision Care

Founded in 2006 in Tampa, Fl., Bright Eyes Family Vision Care aims to provide the best in friendly, professional, and individualized eye care. For his staff, owner Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD, has built a culture of support and continuously strives to provide a better experience for patients. In 2014, the practice opened a second location, Bright Eye Kids, to focus exclusively on pediatric patients. And in 2019, Dr. Bonilla-Warford expanded the primary office to provide additional services and amenities. The team understands that eye care is not one-size-fits-all. The practice invests in cutting-edge technology and offers specialty care such as myopia management and vision therapy. When many offices were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bright Eyes adapted to provide vision therapy services through a virtual platform. Because the practice specializes in children’s vision care, using technology to educate patients and parents has been essential. The team has been successful with a Bright Eyes podcast and social media, including TikTok. The doctors and opticians regularly lecture at professional meetings and look for other ways to share their knowledge with others. For example, Dr. Bonilla-Warford created and moderates the Pediatric Optometry Facebook group, which now includes more than 5,000 ECPs from around the world.

Broad View Eye Center

At Broad View Eye Center in Broadview Heights, Ohio, Nicolette Scott, OD, recognizes that providing an exceptional patient experience cannot be accomplished with a cookie-cutter approach. Instead, the staff of this four-location practice is trained on how to use the DISC model to read different personality types and how best to communicate with each of them. Based on the team’s initial assessment, each patient’s experience at Broad View is customized to ensure they get what they want at every step. While the practice is a business that is expected to make a profit, the practice’s primary focus is on adhering to its core values: caring, cutting-edge, community, trust, teamwork, and fun. Every decision made—including the products and services offered, the people hired, and the technology and systems implemented—is made within the framework of these values. Broad View Eye Center also appreciates the value of change. During COVID, the practice had to make changes overnight that normally would have taken weeks or months to implement. But because they were nimble during such a challenging time, Broad View has managed to not only survive, but thrive.

Professional Eye Care Center

The doctors and staff at Professional Eye Care Center in Niles, Ill. strive to provide a patient-centric experience wherein each patient not only feels valued, but leaves their exam knowing more about their eyes and ocular health than they did prior to their arrival at the practice. Each visit ends with “Is there anything we didn’t discuss that you were wondering about?” This simple, open-ended question has been key to delivering a stellar patient experience. Professional Eye Care Center sees every patient encounter as an opportunity to change a life, and as a primary care provider, see it as their obligation to partner with their patients to take a “team approach” to improve their outcomes. When Pamela Lowe, OD, founded the practice in 1992, she quickly realized the importance of advocacy for patient access and optometric scope of practice. After years of involvement in the American Optometric Association and the Illinois Optometric Association (IOA), Dr. Lowe served as IOA President. During her years in that role, there were several victories in scope of practice battles, and Illinois became one of the first states to mandate a comprehensive eye exam for all children entering kindergarten.

Socialite Vision

When it comes to improving his practice, Adam Ramsey, OD, looks to set trends instead of following them, and he does so by looking outside of eye care for inspiration. He attends non-optometry conferences and discovers new ideas in industries such as automobiles, real estate, sports, and fashion. Because at Socialite Vision in Palm Beach Gardens, Fl., going above and beyond for patients is at the core of the experience—and exceeding expectations is the standard. The practice is 100% paper free, as it utilizes fully digital resources. Dr. Ramsey has found that this is not only beneficial for the environment, but impressive to patients, too. Every patient visit is carefully curated to the wants and needs of the individual; no two patients receive the same exam or same product offerings. Over the past few years, Dr. Ramsey has made it his mission to help with the issue of diversity and inclusion in the eye care space. In 2019, he co-founded Black Eyecare Perspective, a nonprofit organization designed to cultivate lifelong relationships between African Americans and the eye care industry. Last year, the organization hosted an event at which it exposed hundreds of students to the profession who may not otherwise have considered it an option.

Bet­ter Vision Opto­met­ric Cen­ter, P.A.

Choose joy: That’s the goal at Bet­ter Vision Opto­met­ric Cen­ter, P.A. in Fayet­teville, N.C., where the team hopes that their pos­i­tive mind­set is con­ta­gious to patients.

Last year, part­ners Brit­tani Carv­er-Schemper, OD, and Chris Hol­land, OD, updat­ed the prac­tice to rad­i­cal­ly improve the patient expe­ri­ence. In their new space, the icon­ic ​“check-in” desk was elim­i­nat­ed in favor of a wel­come cen­ter, and calls are now received behind the scenes so vis­i­tors to the prac­tice have the undi­vid­ed atten­tion of the staff.

When Dr. Carv­er-Schemper and Dr. Hol­land took own­er­ship of Bet­ter Vision Opto­met­ric Cen­ter in 2012, they saw the oppor­tu­ni­ty to imple­ment bet­ter man­age­ment sys­tems and ulti­mate­ly, grow the prac­tice. Since then, they have added an advanced dry eye clin­ic, new instru­men­ta­tion for their thriv­ing glau­co­ma prac­tice, and expand­ed con­tact lens options to meet all vision needs.

The doc­tors are pas­sion­ate about optom­e­try-to-optom­e­try refer­rals and have start­ed a move­ment to encour­age area optometrists to refer to each oth­er for spe­cial­ty ser­vices. Inspired by 2017 Best Prac­tices Hon­oree Dr. Shau­na Thorn­hill, Bet­ter Vision Opto­met­ric Cen­ter estab­lished its annu­al ​“Good Eyes for School Sup­plies” Out­reach Day to ben­e­fit its community.

Eye Cen­ter of Houston

At the Eye Cen­ter of Hous­ton, 85% of patients qual­i­fy for gov­ern­ment assis­tance and only 10 – 15% have com­mer­cial vision plans. Instead of view­ing this as a hur­dle, Faheem Inay­atali, OD, strives to give his com­mu­ni­ty — who face many chal­lenges — an unortho­dox expe­ri­ence at his practice.

A lux­u­ri­ous opti­cal with the lat­est med­ical tech­nol­o­gy sets the prac­tice apart from oth­ers in the area. Patients fill out intake forms on iPads and are frame styled accord­ing to their facial struc­ture. Patients are even able to have their A1c mea­sured at their vis­its, as Dr. Inay­atali rec­og­nizes that dia­betes often goes unde­tect­ed in his patient population.

The Eye Cen­ter of Hous­ton has made a con­cert­ed effort to cre­ate and sus­tain rela­tion­ships with urgent care clin­ics and nurs­ing homes through­out Hous­ton. It also ser­vices more than 10 nurs­ing homes and adult day care cen­ters, where Dr. Inay­atali and two tech­ni­cians refract and diag­nose ocu­lar con­di­tions and pro­vide glass­es. Through his prac­tice, Dr. Inay­atali devel­oped a non­prof­it in 2017 called Eye Give Sight. A per­cent­age of every eye­wear pur­chase at the Eye Cen­ter of Hous­ton is donat­ed to the orga­ni­za­tion, which pro­vides patients in need with eye exams, diag­nos­tic med­ical test­ing, and glasses.

Kap­per­man, White, and McGarvey

When Mark Kap­per­man, OD, opened his prac­tice in 1988, he sought to deliv­er the high­est lev­el of care with a patient-cen­tric approach and cut­ting-edge tech­nol­o­gy — all while elic­it­ing the feel of a small-town doc­tor. Since then, Kap­per­man, White and McGar­vey Vision Source (KWM Eye­care) has grown sub­stan­tial­ly with Troy White, OD, and Robert McGar­vey, OD, as part­ners and Megan Kor­tum, OD, as an asso­ciate. But the practice’s core val­ues — which are key to its cul­ture — have remained consistent.

Each of KWM Eyecare’s four doc­tors fills a dif­fer­ent niche that enables the prac­tice to pro­vide pri­ma­ry eye care for all ages, and the prac­tice uti­lizes lead­ing busi­ness devel­op­ment experts for con­tin­u­ous improve­ment. Sched­ul­ing is unique, as the prac­tice is closed on Sat­ur­days and Sun­days, and each team mem­ber works a four-day sched­ule to award them an extra day off each week. KWM Eyecare’s doc­tors have served in lead­er­ship capac­i­ties for local, state, and nation­al orga­ni­za­tions, and advo­cate for the inde­pen­dent prac­tice mod­el. The doc­tors have par­tic­i­pat­ed in mul­ti­ple inter­na­tion­al vision mis­sion trips, and at home, the prac­tice pro­vides eye care for its local Vol­un­teers in Med­i­cine clin­ic, which serves unin­sured and under­in­sured populations.

Athens Eye Care

According to Athens Eye Care , there are several factors to creating an exceptional patient experience—and it starts with its staff. The practice has focused on building a collaborative atmosphere by including the full staff on all practice-related decisions.

This approach has proven to be a motivational tool that benefits the doctors and patients alike. Another piece is education. By incentivizing its staff to further their education—through courses and conferences, among other opportunities—the team is positioned to hone their craft and become experts in the field. From there, the practice turns its attention to technology. The doctors embrace the latest contact lens designs, and discuss the benefits of daily disposable contact lenses with their patients, resulting in nearly 70 percent of their contact lens patients wearing daily disposables.

Through this unique combination of motivated staff, ongoing education, and advanced technology, the practice is able to deliver a superior level of care, treating each patient as if they were a friendly neighbor—which they are, given the small-town vibe of Athens, Ohio. The neighborly relationship it has built within the community extends beyond patient care, as the staff volunteers within local schools, for civic organizations, and on non-profit boards.

Lakeline Vision Source

The patient experience is the driving force behind Lakeline Vision Source's approach to optometry. The practice's mission is to "wow" patients.

Music is an important part of life in Cedar Park, Texas, and the team at Lakeline Vision Source has made a point of embracing the city’s eclectic sounds. As patients move about the office—from the relaxing lounge to the clinical “spa” and into the retail center—they receive doses of ambient music, along with Motown and Austin Blues. The “wow” factor isn’t limited to music, of course.Patients benefit from state-of-the-art equipment, including devices still in beta testing, all of which position Lakeline Vision Source as a leader in optometry. That’s not to mention the expertise of the practice’s seven doctors, all of whom are members of the Texas Optometric Association and the American Optometric Association.

It’s the balance between these three qualities—the atmosphere, the technology, and the expertise— that Laurie Sorrenson, OD, FAAO, has worked hard to maintain since she opened the practice in 1995. She’s even made a point of sharing her approach whenever possible, whether through her position as a board member of Optometry Giving Sight or with the practice’s interns from the University of Houston.

Vancouver Vision Clinic

Raj Patel, OD, and Derek McTyier, OD, believe a positive attitude can brighten up someone’s day. And at Vancouver Vision Clinic, they are determined to be the best part of their patients’ day by providing an uplifting atmosphere and building genuine relationships with them.

It may sound simple, but it has worked for the practice since 1952. Currently, Vancouver Vision Clinic has six doctors on board, one of whom specializes in scleral lenses and another who holds both Doctor of Optometry and Master of Education degrees, giving her a unique background to provide pediatric care and vision therapy. But what makes the practice truly special is the team and its longevity. While many aspects of the practice have certainly evolved over the past 60 years, several staff members have been part of the team for nearly two decades.

Vision Source of Farr West

Vision Source of Farr West has made a point of refining its processes to accommodate the evolving needs of patients. The Utah-based practice delivers an exceptional patient experience by following the “golden rule”—treating everyone the way they wish to be treated in return.

In addition to their personal approach, Ian Whipple, OD—who purchased the practice in 2013—regularly meets with industry leaders and representatives to stay up-to-date on the latest technological advancements for the benefit of his patients. By embracing technology such as the Optomap wide-field imaging system, the staff has been able to detect diabetes, macular degeneration, brain tumors, retinal detachments, and in one life-saving case, a stroke that was occurring right in the office. While the lessons learned through experience are invaluable for the staff, education is not limited to the office; the team at Vision Source of Farr West is encouraged and enabled to participate in substantial professional development, and both doctors complete three times the required amount of continuing education credits each year. The entire staff attends the annual Utah Optometric Association meeting, and they share ideas and success stories with other practices whenever possible. Dr. Whipple has also made a point of connecting the practice to the community, including providing free eye examinations to low-income students in downtown Ogden.

Shoreline Optometry

Dr. Seger’s father, Charles Seger, OD, always said “Take care of the patients, and the patients will take care of you”—an adage that Dr. Seger and Dr. Webb keep in their hearts and minds as they run their practice. For the owners of Shoreline Optometry, it’s more than an eye care practice—it’s literally a family. Ron Seger, OD, FAAO, and his daughter, Jenifer Webb, OD, have been partners in practice since 2008. The family ties go back even further; after graduating from optometry school in 1974, Dr. Seger was in practice with his father and brother in San Luis Obispo. Then, after working in contact lens design, contact lens solution, and ophthalmic solution research and development for 13 years, he established Shoreline Optometry in 1989.

The “family” feeling extends to patients, too; the doctors and staff at Shoreline Optometry strive to make every one of them feel like they are the most important patient in the office. They take the time to learn patients’ individual eye care concerns and needs, then tailor treatment plans to address them. The doctors routinely evaluate new technology and products introduced to the marketplace to determine the potential benefits to their patients and practice. The practice was early to adopt daily disposable contact lenses and continues to recommend this modality to the majority of their patients today

Dr. Seger is the current President of the California Optometric Association, in which Dr. Webb is also active. In addition, the doctors are involved in local and national optometric organizations and are dedicated to the advancement of the profession. After all, optometry is in their blood. Charles Seger’s passion for eye care lives on not only in Dr. Seger and Dr. Webb, but in another son, another granddaughter, and a great-nephew—all of whom have also chosen to practice optometry.

J. Micetich, OD & Associates Family Eye Care Center

Caring for the community with honest, capable eye care using the latest technology. That’s what Best Practices Honoree J. Micetich, OD & Associates Family Eye Care Center wants to be known for. Jonathan Micetich, OD, believes in the value of thoroughly incorporating technology into the exam process, noting that it makes a great educational tool for patients. To that end, the practice has invested in the most advanced technology to deliver the best possible patient experience. Patients are presented with rooms that are filled with computer screens. Information is conveyed electronically whenever possible. The practice’s imaging equipment is linked together through the cloud, so when a patient has imaging done, they can be shown the results on iPads within moments. “We show them visuals so that they can see the conditions/effects. Obviously, we think glasses, contacts, and refractive surgery are important, but a patient’s overall health is just as important,” said Dr. Micetich.

They also makes sure the practice brings this mentality to every patient interaction, which has led to a steadfast reputation and a continuous flow of new patients. Located in a small rural town in north central Illinois, Family Eye Care Center operates on the premise that all patients deserve comprehensive, high-quality, honest eye care. Since opening over 15 years ago, Family Eye Care Center has also established itself in the area’s medical community. Dr. Micetich reached out immediately to the clinics and specialists in the area to help develop a network of healthcare professionals.

A major philosophy of the practice is that if you’re not learning, you’re not growing. The doctors and staff often attend conferences and seminars, sharing ideas for improving the practice. The doctors of Family Eye Care Center continuously encourage their staff to train and stay current whether by webinars, individual training, online certificates, or live events. They believe education is not only the key to understanding the latest technology, but also to understanding the ever-changing needs and demands of their patients.

Growth has been a constant for Family Eye Care Center, which recently welcomed another optometrist, Jennifer Chu, OD, to the practice. “Dr. Chu has been a wonderful addition to the practice. She embodies all the characteristics of our practice: Personable, knowledgeable and understanding,” said Dr. Micetich.

Personal Eyecare

What makes Personal Eyecare a Best Practice? Numerous factors play toward the answer, but if you ask Roxanna Potter, OD, she’ll tell you that it’s because of the practice’s ability to excel at innovation and enhance the patient experience—two core pillars of the Best Practices program.

Each and every day, Dr. Potter puts a heavy focus on these core principles. She and her team want the community to know that they truly care about their vision needs and eye health of patients over one’s lifetime. For that reason, the Personal Eyecare team strives to provide superior primary care to patients of all ages, while staying up to date on the latest industry innovations. This mission of innovation is what led the practice to expand on several of its patient specialties, develop standalone programs like dry eye clinics and myopia control, and invest in the latest technology.

"I have to lead by example, and in order to do that, I have to stay motivated and engaged. If I’m excited, my staff will take note and follow suit. One of the things I do to keep my staff engaged is educate them on the importance of our service offerings. It helps them understand why we are doing things the way we are." Roxanna Potter, OD

Dr. Potter feels being in the field of optometry is an ongoing learning experience. She relies on her staff to collaborate with her and continue to grow and evolve the practice. Investing in people is her number one priority, and she believes the most valuable thing she can give her patients is her time, listening to their concerns and addressing them accordingly. While having the latest technology and continually innovating the patient experience to provide a more accessible and convenient path to eye care is critical, she firmly believes that listening and providing each patient with an individualized experience is what sets her practice apart.

Dr. Potter’s team looks up to her—and given her extensive resume, it’s no wonder as to why. She is an involved member of the optometry field, including memberships in the American Optometric Association, Ohio Optometric Association and the Toledo Area Optometric Society. She’s also a fellow in the American Academy of Optometry and a Diplomate of the American Board of Optometry. Beyond that, she enjoys lecturing and writing articles on eye care, having been published in both the U.S. and internationally to share her insights and help grow the industry as a whole. She is also on the advisory board of the Gas Permeable Lens Institute and the editorial board of the Indian journal, Optometry Today.

Dr. Potter is particularly interested in the areas of specialty contact lenses, glaucoma, dry eye and myopia control. She is a leader and dedicated to helping fellow practices learn and grow as she does, contributing valuable observations to encourage her colleagues to continually improve. It’s that never-ending journey to improve that helps make Personal Eyecare a 2018 Best Practice.

Specialty Eyecare Group

Dr. David Kading, and Dr. Kristi Kading, founded Specialty Eyecare Group to enrich people’s lives through prevention and wellness. They do this with their own patients but also through the education of their referring practitioners. Their primary care and referral based practice specializes in anterior and posterior segment diseases, dry eye, binocular vision, pediatrics and specialty contact lens fittings. They work to detect early-stage disease, slow its progression, and bring wellness to their patients in the Pacific Northwest.

Since 2007, Specialty Eyecare Group’s doctors have committed to providing innovation in eyecare, health and wellness by delivering personalized care for each patient in unison with the most advanced technologies. The practice’s four doctors are well known internationally for their contributions in anterior segment disease, dry eye, specialty contact lenses, athletic safety, infant Specialty Eyecare Group healthcare, neurological challenges, and children’s visual and learning development. Their research department and writing have helped to reveal innovative practices and insights across the globe. As prolific presenters, the doctors have shared with thousands of practitioners innovative ways to both care for patients and progress towards wellness and prevention. Their specialty binocular vision and pediatric practices serve as a beacon to struggling parents and patients who feel they have no more hope.

Specialty Eyecare Group’s doctors are among the top 50 most influential optometrists of all time, recognized among the top 250 innovators in eyecare, and have been awarded the nation’s top honor for pediatric eyecare (David Sullen’s InfantSee award.) Dr. Kading’s passion to enrich lives, bring about wellness, and educate others has helped make Specialty Eyecare Group a 2017 Best Practice.

Complete Eye Care of Medina

With a dedication to lifelong ocular health for every patient—and a focus on hiring and training exceptional staff—the team at Complete Eye Care of Medina is focused on helping patients from first greeting to follow-through and retention.

Complete Eye Care of Medina is committed to giving back to the community by providing community education to early childhood groups, elementary schools, Lions Clubs, and local business groups. The practice sponsors a local high school scholarship every year, awarding $500 to a graduating senior entering the medical field. And they actively promote and participate in Infant- SEE (a no-cost public health program developed to provide professional eye care for infants) by donating a days’ worth of eye exam revenues to Optometry Giving Sight each year. As an active member of the American Optometric Association and a fellow in the American Academy of Optometry, Dr. Gina Wesley not only leads Complete Eye Care of Medina, but also contributes regularly to Optometric Management, Review of Optometric Business, and Optometric Office. She also consults and advises for several major ophthalmic companies and is a regular participant in contact lens research.

The team at Complete Eye Care of Medina continually re-evaluates what they are doing and how they are doing it in order to grow and excel in delivering exceptional patient experiences. For these reasons and more, Complete Eye Care of Medina is a 2017 Best Practice.

Coan Eye Care

Dr. Roxanne Achong-Coan considers herself a true contact lens specialist, with patients—including those with harder-to-fit irregular corneas—who travel far and wide to meet with her thanks to her expertise. She has earned the respect of many patients and colleagues across the eye care industry, helping to make Coan Eye Care a successful practice for the past 15 years.

Coan Eye Care is committed to educating patients about the importance of eye health while providing the latest technology and quality care. They strive to treat every patient—from ages six months to 100 years old—like family, from the very first call through each appointment, because to Dr. Achong-Coan and her staff, great patients are the reason the practice exists.

As proud supporters of their community through work with Optometry for Giving Sight, the Lions Club, and advocacy for arts and athletics in local schools, Coan Eye Care is giving back in many ways. In the near future, Dr. Achong-Coan hopes to extend that giving to include her passions for working with veterans and providing low-cost eye care to the underserved. She is currently working on a grant that would help secure additional office space, helping bring that dream a step closer, allow the practice to expand, and continue the work that has made Coan Eye Care a 2016 Best Practice.

Wilson Eye Center

Growing up with parents who owned a retail toy store, Dr. Steven Wilson learned a critical business lesson—customer service is the key to success. And although eye care is quite different than selling toys, that experience has helped personal attention and quality care become a foundation for success at Wilson Eye Center.

For patients of Dr. Wilson and the practice’s other doctors, this commitment means that over 95% of them are seen within 15 minutes of their scheduled appointment time. The staff works hard to deliver efficient and accurate distribution of products and services through an onsite lab. And technology plays a role as well, with patient access to a portal for registration, insurance registration, and digital appointment reminders. Under Dr. Wilson’s leadership, Wilson Eye Center launched the “EyePod”—the first office-based system in the US for home delivery of optical goods, which led to recognition by Vision Monday. His vision and passion for delivering the “ultimate patient experience” has eye care professionals—in Georgia and increasingly, throughout the country—taking notice of Dr. Wilson’s efforts to ensure that all private practices enjoy the right to provide the best inventory along with quality care. For the last 13 years, Wilson Eye Center has been named the Best Eye Care Office in South Georgia. Now, as a 2016 Best Practice, they are recognized as one of the best in the industry.