THE ultimate eye care clinic in Mindanao has finally opened in Davao City.
Eyecare Deluxe, owned by Dr. Lareen Dawn Tan O.D., officially opened on December 15, 2020.
Dr. Tan is the only one in Davao City who finished six years of Doctor of Optometry from the best Optometry School in the Philippines and the whole Asia, Centro Escolar University, Manila. She was the board topnotcher in the 2015 National Optometry Licensure Exam, and an awarded researcher.
Eyecare Deluxe offers world-class services with its state-of-the-art ophthalmic equipment and facilities.
The world-class eye clinic, which is located on the second-floor Expansion Wing of Abreeza Ayala Malls, is now ready to serve patients with any of the various types of eye diseases as it also raises the standards of eye care in Davao City.
Eyecare Deluxe is an eyecare clinic that is not limited to giving eyeglasses only.
Dr. Tan revealed that what makes Eyecare Deluxe differ greatly from other eye clinics is that it is the only eye center that specializes in non-surgical eye treatments like vision therapy, orthokeratology, low vision rehabilitation, RGP and scleral lenses.
These kinds of eye treatments are not usually done by general practice optometrists nor ophthalmologists in the country, which is why most patients have very limited awareness about these specialty eyecare services.
Eyecare Deluxe is now pioneering these game-changing and very effective non-surgical specialty eye treatments here in Mindanao.
Dr. Tan is very passionate about providing the ultimate eyecare experience that she invested so much in getting all the state-of-the-art ophthalmic facilities for Eyecare Deluxe. As a matter of fact, if she did not pour her resources into getting all the facilities, she could have opened four new opticals.
Dr. Tan disclosed that many of her colleagues do not understand why she invested in more specialized diagnostic ophthalmic facilities other than building more branches which is the usual practice in the industry.
Here are some of the ophthalmic facilities she mentioned.
Electroretinogram - It provides diagnosis and management guidance, especially for neurovision problems by examining the whole visual pathway from the eyes to the brain. It is also helpful in predicting surgical outcomes as abnormal ERG results could mean that even if an eye surgery was performed, there will be no guarantee for vision improvement.
Retinal Imaging Scan - It takes pictures of the inside of the eye including the optic disc, the macula, and retinal blood vessels. It helps detect eye health conditions like diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and macular degeneration.
Binocular Photorefractometer – is a non-invasive, child-friendly test to detect vision disorders, media opacities, strabismus, and amblyopia in patients, especially children.
"The Binocular Photorefractometer that I use is 54x more accurate than all its counterparts. This reduces the need for diagnostic eyedrops during pediatric vision tests," the pediatric eyecare specialist shared.
In addition, Eyecare Deluxe also has a Corneal topographer. It is also known as photokeratoscopy or videokeratographer, which maps the surface curvature of the cornea, the outer structure of the eye.
"The cornea is responsible for 70 percent of our vision. Its topography is very critical in determining vision and eye health. Most topographers only measure 70 percent of the cornea, mine can measure 100 percent of the cornea's topography. Some RGP and scleral lenses are not well-fitted because the topographer that was used for them was not very accurate. Mine can accurately measure astigmatism, detect keratoconus, and other corneal abnormalities," Dr. Tan revealed.
Results from this test are also useful for cataract surgery, Lasik, PRK, cross-linking, and orthokeratology.
Ocular Ultrasound, also known as ocular echography, or a B-scan. - It is a quick, non-invasive test used to assess the structural integrity of the eye and is very useful in patients with eye diseases that obstruct the direct visualization of the retina (e.g., large corneal opacities, dense cataracts, or vitreous hemorrhage).
“The facilities that I just mentioned are just a few of the machines that you will encounter when you visit Eyecare Deluxe. Aside from having the most complete state-of-the-art ophthalmic facilities, Eyecare Deluxe also has the most thorough 21-Step Deluxe Eye Exam,” Dr. Tan added.
Aside from catering to adult and pediatric patients, Eyecare Deluxe has specialty treatments like vision therapy, orthokeratology, color blindness correction, low vision rehabilitation, RGP and scleral lenses performed by licensed eye specialists and not just by an ophthalmic assistant.
"I wanted Eyecare Deluxe to be the place of hope for patients with very unique or very complicated eye and vision problems who are unable to get help from other opticals or eye centers. Eyecare Deluxe is here to provide patients with the best choice when it comes to their eye care needs. It is here for patients who want the most complete and the most advanced ophthalmic facilities," Dr. Tan said.
Eyecare Deluxe is actually combining the facilities and services one can get from a hospital-based eye center and the convenience of a mall-based optical.
"Ironically, we are an eye center that does not perform surgeries and we are an optical that does not purely sell eyeglasses. We really treat eyeglasses as medical devices and we only ask patients to try on frames after they get an eye exam," Dr. Tan revealed.
Eye doctors at Eyecare Deluxe will check first whether a patient needs eyeglasses before they ask him/her to choose which frames s/he likes and will look good on her/ him. With this said, they do not train their staff to sales talk patients into buying eyeglasses. Instead, they educate patients about the importance of a comprehensive eye exam.
"In Eyecare Deluxe, we prescribe eyeglasses based on the patient's eye condition, not simply based on fashion or price. Most of our eyeglasses frames are from designer brands. Our frames are made of very high-quality materials like titanium, cotton acetate, stainless steel, and TR90. When it comes to lenses, Zeiss lenses from Germany are our preferred brand," Dr. Tan revealed.
She shared that an eye care clinic must not be about selling eyeglasses, surgery referrals, or anything profit-centered. It must be about prescribing what the patient really needs and giving them the correct management.
She added that the clinic must not be limited to just measuring the patient's eye grade but understanding the cause of the vision or eye problem by performing very thorough tests.
"It must also include prevention and early interventions, and not focus on eye treatments alone," she said.
"In Eyecare Deluxe, we are all about good vision, healthy eyes, high-quality eyecare products, and more. We want to provide the ultimate eyecare experience," Dr. Tan ended.