by Dr. M | Mar 12, 2018 | Education, Exam, Eye Protection, Glasses, Medical Eye Care, Patient Care, Procedure
Dr. Tang is a Low-Vision Expert.
Bianca Tang, O.D. Joins Moran Eye Associates
Dr. Mark Moran is pleased to announce the addition of Bianca Tang, O.D. to the staff of Moran Eye Associates, P.C. Dr. Tang, a native of the Lehigh Valley, joined the practice on March 1, 2018.
“Since we opened Moran Eye Associates in April of 2017, we have experienced steady growth,” Dr. Moran explains. “We’ve seen the need for additional services for low-vision patients. When I met Dr. Tang, it was clear that she shared our vision of providing excellent service and care to our patients. Dr. Tangs’s impressive resume and work experience made her the right choice for this practice.”
Dr. Tang is a Summa cum laude graduate of Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University. She earned her undergraduate degree, also Summa cum laude, in Biological Sciences and Health Professions at Penn State University. She was part of the Schreyer Honors College and was Phi Beta Kappa there.
Her clinical experience includes working with patients with low vision, prescribing low vision devices and rehabilitation techniques. She was part of a team of occupational therapists and social workers providing device training, orientation and mobility training, as well as daily living services at The Eye Institute in Philadelphia. While working there, she developed a special interest in working with visually impaired children with special needs. She interned at the VA Medical Center in New Jersey, and Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia.
“I am thrilled to be joining the talented team led by Dr. Moran. I look forward to caring for the eye health of the community where I grew up. I am excited to bring my passions for low vision and medical optometry close to home.”
At Moran Eye Associates, Dr. Tang will focus on low-vision patients, as well as specialty lens fittings for contact lens patients. She looks forward to working with pediatric patients as well.
To schedule an appointment with Dr. Tang, please call or text our office at 610-628-2022. To learn more about the care and services offered at our office in Bethlehem, visit our website at www.MoranEyeAssociates.com
by Dr. M | Feb 28, 2018 | Exam, Experience, Medical Eye Care, Office, Patient Care
Our new exam room features state-of-the-art equipment.
We are GROWING.
We’ve just added a new exam room with State-of-the-Art features…but that’s not the whole story!
More news to come…check back for details.
by Dr. M | Feb 7, 2018 | Dry Eye, Education, Exam, Mark Moran, Medical Eye Care, Office, Patient Care, Referral
If you are one of the many people who suffer from dry eye, winter can be the worst of times. Discomfort from dry eye goes up as the temperature goes down!
Dry winter weather can lead to dry eyes.
With cold, windy weather outside and dry heat inside, winter can be the most challenging season for patients with dry eye.
While we recommended that you come in to see Dr. Moran for a medical evaluation of your dry eye, there are some things that you can do to help improve your comfort during the dry winter months.
Winter Survival Tips for Dry Eye
Turn on the Humidfier
Turn on the Humidifier: Humidifiers improve air quality, making it more comfortable in your home or office. Environmental factors can play a big role in the comfort of your eyes. Adding a humidifier in your work or sleep areas can provide some relief.
Use Lubricating Eye Drops (Artificial Tears): Lubricating eye drops provide instant relief for dry eyes. They can be used as often as needed. Using artificial tears not only improves the comfort of your eyes, it improves your vision as well. Contact lens wearers should use these drops to make their lenses more comfortable. Supplementing your tear film is beneficial to the health of your eye. Dr. Moran recommends using lubricating eye drops all year round! Stay away from the drops that “get the red out!” They contain vasoconstrictors that can cause long-term issues with your eyes.
Cold and flu medications can make your eyes even drier
Understand Medication Side Effects: If you are taking antihistamines to help combat a cold or flu, the medicine that dries up your sinuses, makes your eyes dry as well. When you pick up cold medicine at the pharmacy, make sure to pick up lubricating eye drops as well!
Drink Plenty of Fluids: Dehydration happens when your body does not have enough fluids. Water is needed for the proper functioning of your organs, including your eyes, to function properly. For most people, eight 8oz glasses of water are recommended daily. If you are dehydrated from medication or exercise, staying hydrated will keep you healthier from head to toe.
WASH YOUR HANDS! Staying healthy will help you to avoid added eye issues. Not only will hand washing help against the spread of winter colds and flu, it will also help to protect you from the spread of eye infections, like pink eye. If you are using drops, make sure your hands are clean before you put in your drops!
While our winter survival tips above will help make you more comfortable through the winter, they won’t cure your dry eye. There is no substitute for a medical eye exam when you are having problems with your eyes. Don’t suffer, there are medications and procedures that can give you relief.
Schedule an appointment with Dr. Moran to fully explore the options for dry eye treatment that are right for you. Call or text us at 610-628-2022.
Click to read more about Heat Therapy for Dry Eye
by Dr. M | Jan 30, 2018 | Cataracts, Education, Exam, Experience, Floaters, Glasses, Glaucoma, LASIK, Mark Moran, Medical Eye Care, Office, Patient Care, Surgery
Dr. Moran explains about dry eye and tear film.
New Patient Education Screens in the Exam Rooms.
Dr. Moran knows that an informed patient makes the best health care choices, which is why we take the time to make sure that you have all the information you need to make the right choices for you and your family.
As part of our commitment to patient education, we have recently installed education screens in our exam rooms. Dr. Moran’s goal has always been to give patients the information they need to maintain healthy vision. The addition of these screens takes us to the next level in increasing patient understanding.
Patient education at our fingertips!
It’s best to Show & Tell!
Now during your exam, not only can we explain what is happening with your vision, we can show you too! We can choose images and videos to help better explain treatment options. The best part is that these boards are interactive! Dr. Moran can draw and write notes on them to help you better understand your eye health and safety.
Educational topics include:
- Dry Eye
- LASIK & PRK
- Cataracts
- Glaucoma
- Macular Degeneration
- Understanding Vision: Myopia, Hyperopia, Astigmatism & Presbyopia.
And we are doing our part to save trees, too!
With this new technology, we can take the information from the screen and email it directly to you! We also have the ability to print directly from the screen as well.
As always, if you have any questions about caring for your eyes, please ask our staff. We are happy that we can now SHOW & Tell! To schedule your next appointment call or text 610-628-2022.
by Dr. M | Jan 15, 2018 | Education, LASIK, Medical Eye Care, Patient Care, Procedure, Surgery
To help maintain your great vision after LASIK, the use of eye drops is key. A patient recently shared a smartphone alarm app with us that reminds you to use your eye drops regularly!
LASIK surgery is a high-tech procedure that improves your vision in about 20 minutes. The laser application itself takes just seconds.
The Eye Drop Alarm keeps you on track with your medications.
But LASIK is much more than just a quick LASER treatment to the eye. Pre-Operatively, there are multiple exams, measurements, interviews, and calculations.
The Post-Operative period is also important to a successful, stable outcome. We consider the postoperative period to be ONE YEAR.
During this year, Dr. Moran highly recommends that patients use a rigorous schedule of artificial tears. Patients who follow this post-op protocol, do better, heal faster, and have less chance of their vision changing for the worse.
Using eye drops after surgery does a number of things:
- Prevents Infection
- Decreases Inflammation
- Provides Added Moisture
- Aids in Healing
Remembering to take your drops the first week is easy.
Seeing without glasses or contacts is an amazing change. Patients are enthusiastic and stay on top of their drop schedule. As more time passes, patients may not think about their new vision as much. Although the newness of the better vision wears off, the need for drops doesn’t!
Studies have shone that your eyes may need supplemental moisture for more than three months after the surgery. Even though the eyes don’t feel dry, they need the added moisture to maintain quality tear film and to provide the best visual result.
The Eye Drop Alarm smartphone app is a great way to help you keep up with your drop schedule:
Eye Drop Alarm
A patient recently showed us an iPhone app he downloaded (iPhone only at this point, sorry Android users.) The app is free for download, well written, easy to use and comprehensive.
The full description can be found at http://www.eyedropalarm.com/ The app is free and requires no login or personal information. It has a full database of eye drops, even those used for other eye problems like glaucoma.
Special instructions too!
The features are useful and extensive. As seen in the illustration, this app also indicates if the drops need any special instructions, for example, the FML should be shaken before use. Using multiple drops requires you to wait five minutes between each different drop so that the eye can absorb each medicine…the app automatically schedules each drop 5 minutes apart!
If you have an iPhone and have to take drops, we highly recommend EyeDropAlarm. You can download the app by scanning this QR code or through iTunes.
by Dr. M | Jan 8, 2018 | Cost, Education, Exam, LASIK, Mark Moran, Medical Eye Care, Patient Care, Surgery
Dr. Mark Moran has been doing LASIK for almost 20 Years.
I’ve been doing LASIK surgery since the turn of this century, so I keep up on LASIK news. I hadn’t seen deeply discounted LASIK at unbelievable prices in quite a while. But recently, I have started to get emails offering me LASIK at $299 per eye.
As a physician practicing in today’s environment, I have a responsibility to ensure my patients are getting a fair price. When an EpiPen can cost $500, and drug prices can increase from $7.50 to $750 overnight, I must make sure that I consider price options when making recommendations for my patients.
In the past, knowing what it costs to operate a LASER and the cost of performing a safe and accurate LASIK procedure, it was evident that there weren’t many LASIK surgeries being performed at the advertised price of $299. It costs far more than $299 for the doctor to perform LASIK, not to mention the equipment costs for accurate testing and measurements.
I had been told by patients who had investigated the $299 LASIK offer, that the $299 LASIK wasn’t available for them. It seems as though $299 was just the starting price. The cost escalated soon after the consult started. This was second-hand information so I never really got the specific facts until now…
Recently I got an email offer which finally included the “fine print.” I’m going to break it down.
Following is a breakdown of the disclaimer on their low-cost offer:
“Prices based on prescription: up to -1.00 $299,”
The first phrase in the disclaimer is the main reason why so few $299 LASIK procedures are done. A -1.00 prescription is probably about 20/40 vision. You would still be able to drive an automobile both during the day and night. (There are stronger restrictions for nighttime driving.)
The pricing detail continues:
“…-1.25 to -2.0: $1099;
…-2.25 and up as well as all hyperopic and/or greater than -0.50 diopter of astigmatism: $1799.”
Then the other shoe drops. If you have a half of diopter of astigmatism that raises the price to $1799, which is now approaching a reasonable price for a standard LASIK procedure. Seventy percent of all prescriptions written in America have some astigmatism. Which means if there if there is a significant enough prescription that needs correction and one is given, three-quarters of the time it’s going to have astigmatism. The price has now hit the $1800 per eye mark.
“Individual results will vary.”
I got a chuckle from this portion of the disclaimer. Pretty obvious observation.
“Candidacy determined by an independent doctor located within or adjacent to the LASIK Vision Institute’s (LVI) facility. All procedures performed by an independent surgeon. Punctal plugs, assurance plans and other technologies available at additional cost. This offer may not be combined with other offers. Other conditions may apply.”
And then there’s the “additional cost” disclaimer. So even with the maximum quoted price of $1799 there are still add-on charges to consider.
The take-home message: you’re not likely to get LASIK (or do you need LASIK) at $299. There may be small variations in price for LASIK surgery by area doctors, but the costs for procedure tend to be similar.
The smart consumer considering LASIK surgery should be looking for other factors in making their decision. Choose your surgeon based on:
- Level of Experience,
- Successful Patient Outcomes,
- Equipment and Technology Used,
- Patient Satisfaction & Reviews,
- Overall Quality of Care.
caveat emptor.
