For anyone considering the EPIC, the Marco Area Manager will work closely with you to reevaluate your patient flow from an efficiency standpoint. Within 3 months of our first EPIC purchase, we bought 3 more and realized that we should have made the investment sooner. Our practice grew 15% in a single year.
I love the software and I love the Marco equipment. Patients are impressed with the EPIC and speedy refractions. I personally enjoy being able to complete the refraction, pull the equipment away and still be facing the patient. No more turning away to document findings. Hoping to not jinx myself, but the need for any maintenance is minimal.
Marco’s EPIC system has empowered the staff by allowing them to do more with patients. Technicians conduct all the pretesting and transfer the data to the TRS console in the exam room via a credit card-sized card and I complete the refracting process with the patient. Typically, finalizing the refraction now saves me several minutes per patient and allows extra time to talk about lens choices and visual needs.
Marco may be the leader in vision diagnostics, but the devices are just part of the formula. After my EPIC system purchase, my area manager has maintained close contact with me for seven years, he’s always been there for us and the fact that I can lean on my vision diagnostic consultant for traffic and patient flow issues, scripting to patients to maximize usage (and billing), is worth 100 times more than the great products themselves.
We’ve been using the EPIC system from Marco for 10 years in multiple practice locations, and the system is indispensable. The primary reason for getting the EPIC was to get consistent, accurate refractions every time, no matter who did the test or who the patient was. The system also saved us time and money while making technicians and patients happier.
The incorporation of the new EPIC automated refraction system along with the TonoRef II into our practice has not only made the routine and post-op refractions more accurate, but has improved our refractive cataract surgery work flow – the post-op interim examinations between the two surgeries is quicker, more accurate and does not require any eye drops. Our technical staff really appreciate the enhancement to their work flow as well!
We’ve had an EPIC workstation for at least 15 years and the flow from day 1 has improved. We have multiple technicians – it’s great to have the technology. Our flow time between patient limiting factors now is just dilating the pupils – now we are being evaluated by the internet with all these websites and grading your practice and the biggest complaint by patients is our wait time. You have to set expectations obviously so we will tell the patients they will be there for a couple of hours for advanced diagnostics at the same time we need to maximize the flow with the OPD III, OCT, IOL master, etc. Our flow time and efficiency time has really been improved and so far we have gotten some great ratings on the internet.
The EPIC refraction system from Marco has been a key addition to our practice that has helped us achieve this improved quality of care while simultaneously improving our efficiency. We purchased our first EPIC system and were so impressed with it that we added a second unit 3 months later. The system comprised of the TRS digital refractor and the integrated OPD-Scan III component, gives us a reliable, fast refraction as well as a detailed corneal analysis that aids us in multiple ways in the pre- and post-operative management of cataract patients.
Much of the emphasis around autorefraction is placed on the time it saves – with good reason. When I performed the refraction myself, I averaged 10 to 15 minutes per patient. Using the EPIC system, refraction takes just 2 to 3 minutes with my staff; then I validate or tweak the prescription for 1 or 2 minutes for a total of about 5 minutes. That cuts refraction times in half, and translates into me seeing 5 to 10 more patients each day.
We looked at virtually all of the autorefractor models from the various companies. The ARK series showed to be more consistent and accurate during the demonstrations versus non-Marco models.