PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALEECE SOPHIA PHOTOGRAPHY

George O. Waring, IV, MD, FACS, founder and medical director of the Waring Vision Institute in Mount Pleasant, SC, has curated a home for dry eye disease (DED) wellness within his Destination for Vision Correction. These dry eye services help the practice to take a holistic approach to vision care that ensures the best possible outcomes for vision correction procedures.

Ellesse Boiwka, OD, spearheads the practice’s Health, Wellness & Dry Eye Clinic. Specializing in perioperative care, she works hand in hand with Dr. Waring to gracefully incorporate dry eye needs before and after surgery for optimal results.

In this article, doctors and members of the Waring Vision Institute team discuss the practice’s approach to DED care, including how it is integrated into customized plans of vision correction care.

 

 

A holistic approach to eye care

“We take a comprehensive approach to evaluating the visual system and ocular health of each client,” explains Dr. Boiwka. “We emphasize with an all-hands-on-deck approach. This starts with the First Impressions Team, which triages clients’ needs and guides them on their journey to health, wellness, and visual freedom, which is the opportunity to become independent or less dependent on glasses and contacts through vision correction procedures. Essentially, it means to enjoy your vision without limits.”

Jessica Stubing, COT, clinical director, notes, “Our practice mission is to provide vision for a lifetime, being that WVI offers vision solutions for any and every client, no matter what stage of life you’re in, your hobbies, your eye health, etc. It’s vision for all. This starts with the overall health of the eye. In this day and age, addressing dry eye prior to surgery is a proactive take on care that we are proud of.”

This holistic approach to vision is something that also sets Waring Vision Institute apart when talking to referring optometrists. Carolina Guarachi, the practice’s outreach coordinator, says that she is frequently building relationships with referring optometrists who appreciate that the practice can handle their clients’ DED ahead of visual correction.

There is no better spokesperson to share the good news of health and wellness to the optometrists than Ms. Guarachi herself. She has been a long-time sufferer of chronic dry eye and found relief through customized care with WVI that allowed her to finally explore correcting her vision.

“Vision correction changed my life, in many ways,” she says. “Dr. Waring developed a customized plan of care to get my eyes healthy after years of contacts, and he also corrected my vision in one fell swoop. I’m seeing better than I ever imagined!”

The technician’s role

“We know that DED can affect vision correction outcomes, so we are serious about making a plan as to how we can optimize each client’s overall eye health,” Ms. Stubing says. “As techs, we are sometimes the first ones to pick up on symptoms that the client may not realize are DED-related. This allows us to start early education and get the ball rolling so that when the doctor speaks to them, they already have some understanding.”

Gabrielle VanDeWater, ophthalmic technician, adds that the larger amount of time the tech gets to spend with the client puts them in the unique position to get a feel for how much the client already knows or understands. She says it’s not uncommon for clients to misunderstand how much DED can impact vision. “As techs, we play an important role in helping clients to understand that doing something about their DED will have an impact on the results of their surgery,” Ms. VanDeWater explains. “I think it’s something that can get overlooked if it’s not handled in-house, which is why I’m so glad we truly look at all aspects of the client’s visual outcome.”

DED evaluation and treatment

According to Dr. Boiwka, clients undergo an advanced vision analysis customized to their needs. This may include a DED questionnaire, slit lamp examination, and more. This is all completed with a “client-centric approach.” For example, in the diagnostic work-up, clients are shown the findings so that they can better understand their condition.

Waring Vision offers a multitude of treatment options tailored to each unique need: drops, plugs, HydroEye omega supplements (ScienceBased Health), and LipiFlow treatment (Johnson & Johnson Vision) all aid in the client’s dry eye issues.

“We focus on tailoring the solution to each individual,” Ms. VanDeWater adds.

Ms. Stubing agrees. “We approach each client with an open mind — and consider their lifestyle, too,” she explains. “While drops might seem like the best fit for a client, if it doesn’t fit into their regimen, they aren’t going to be compliant. So, we are also looking at how we can treat the condition in a way that suits their lifestyle.”

It’s important that clients understand that dry eye solutions are not a “quick fix.”

“From a health and wellness perspective, this is an ongoing and long-term effort,” says Dr. Waring. “Clients have to understand that maintaining their eye health is generally a long-term solution.”

Dr. Boiwka adds that client education is vital to the success of any treatment path.

“Taking the time to educate clients on the significance of DED is really important,” she says. “I am a big advocate for client education and believe it is pivotal to their compliance with treatments and also ensuring the best visual outcome.”

It helps, says Dr. Boiwka, that the main reason clients are seeking care is “visual freedom.” That already makes them motivated to find the best solution for any issues related to dry eye.

The value of training and client education

Keeping up with regular and effective training has also been instrumental to the success of dry eye services at Waring Vision Institute. All clinical staff members are trained by the certified ophthalmic technicians (COTs). Dr. Boiwka also oversees monthly staff training with more involved medical education on various conditions and new therapies.

“Keeping everyone up to date on what’s new is critical, as this is an evolving area,” Dr. Boiwka says. “We also have the therapeutic and surgical representatives provide educational sessions for this purpose.”

Ms. Stubing points out that keeping everyone on the same page is important in delivering consistent messaging.

“Because we do believe so strongly in client education, there is already a lot of information that we’re giving to clients,” she says. “It can be overwhelming, and clients often ask questions for clarity. It’s so important that we are delivering the same information across the board.”

Dr. Waring adds that it’s critical that the whole team is included in this comprehensive approach to client education. While there is a lot of information delivered, it’s more digestible by having the education be part of each step.

“Our team goes through intensive training on our educational process — which starts with the client arrival and continues throughout their visit,” he describes. “By educating clients as they go, it does help them to better understand the big picture. Clients come to us for vision correction, and many are surprised to hear about dryness. We do have a lot of clients who don’t realize they have DED, so there’s a lot involved in setting expectations.”

It’s all part of a holistic approach to optimal vision, says Dr. Waring.

“As a surgical vision correction destination, we can’t just overlook the impact that DED has on our outcomes,” he sums up. “Dry eye services have been a natural extension of our goal to provide clients with their best vision at all stages of life.” OP