Hi. I’m Dr. Andy Holzman, Medical Director of TLC Laser Eye Centers here in the Washington, D.C. Metro area. I have three surgery centers that I operate out of: Tysons Corner, Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, and Rockville, Maryland. I perform hundreds of vision correction procedures per month, and so far I’ve performed 70,000 procedures in my career, both LASIK and PRK. It’s been 20 years, but I can honestly tell you I have the coolest job ever. My years of training and expertise coupled with an amazing staff and company in TLC enables me to actually change the way that people see the world. And with today’s advanced technology, I can actually correct patients’ vision 20/20, and many times even better than that. Honestly there are no words that can describe the feeling that I have when I’ve been able to help somebody see better. I know it sounds corny, but I get to make people happy all day long. I have the absolute best staff to work with here. It’s a remarkable team of professionals, and I rely heavily on them every single day. They truly are the best in the industry. We all go the extra mile to provide our own personal touches. I like to contact all of my patients post-operatively, and I provide my own personal cell number and email. This way they know they can get in touch with me any time they want to, even after hours. I know my patients appreciate our level of compassion and care. I hear it all the time from them. It’s a remarkable responsibility to have someone’s sight in your hands, and it’s not something that I take lightly. To ensure good outcomes, we have designed thorough processes and protocols that my staff and I follow each and every day to reduce risks and ensure patient happiness. Most important is determining who should and who shouldn’t have this procedure. All patients must go through a very thorough consult and pre-op visit. If we find anything at all that makes the patient even slightly higher risk, we simply tell them this is not for them. And that is an important point. Out of the patients we see, 80% are excellent candidates for the surgery, and 20% are told not to proceed. Patients can feel comfortable that if we tell them that they are a good candidate, they really are a good candidate. A lot of people ask me why am I affiliated with TLC Laser Eye Centers. It’s because of their commitment to patient safety, technology, and outcomes. We have a national network of experienced surgeons like myself. We use each other’s insights to make sure that we keep providing the very best care for our patients. TLC also believes, like I do, that working together with the patient and their own eye doctor can be a very useful and important part of the process. They give us recommendations and information that’s extremely valuable in helping us to determine candidacy and to help provide the very best surgical outcomes. Literally hundreds of doctors in this area refer their patients to me for surgery, and we work together to provide the ultimate patient experience. All in all, I know I have a partner in TLC that cares as much as I do about patient outcomes and patient satisfaction. One of the things that patients ask me is, “Has the technology changed in the last 20 years.” Or has it ever? Today’s LASIK is much more predictable and accurate and safer than it was in the past. Not only do we have much better laser platforms that help with important things such as centration and tracking, but we also have better diagnostics which help ensure the patients are good candidates. We practice as a center of excellence in the community, and I frequently mentor and teach other surgeons how to use new technologies, and new techniques available here at TLC. By working with TLC, I know I always have the most advanced technology at my disposal. This is hugely important to me as a surgeon, and I wouldn’t be associated with TLC if they weren’t technology leaders. It’s a really emotional thing for a lot of patients to have this done. Sometimes patients haven’t seen since they were in the third grade, and they’ve been wearing incredibly thick glasses. So the moment they sit up from the laser after they’ve had the surgery, most always they say, “Wow.” And they can’t believe it. And it fills the OR with such happiness. We’re actually amazed at what we were able to achieve in just 10 minutes. You have no idea how many times I hear patients tell me that they should have done this sooner, and that their life is so much simpler after the procedure. It truly is a feeling of freedom for them. So my final advice, if you’re ready to get LASIK, or if you’re even thinking about it, then come here to TLC. Our compassion, dedication to excellence, and personalized touches is what separates us from other LASIK providers. We make the process easy and way less scary than people think. You can trust us with your eyes, and my team will help you see life in a whole new way.