New eye care practice owners say it's not just about vision

TILTON — Deidre Cullen and Sam Sarson met while working together at an eye care practice in Concord. Both live in the Lakes Region, and both were having a difficult time finding someplace to work closer to home, so they decided to start that place together. The result is Apex Eye Care, located in the Tanger Outlets, which opened a few months ago.

Sarson said the idea was something the two started joking about, “and then it got serious.” By July it was really serious, as the two partners set to work giving the space a complete renovation, putting in flooring, painting the walls and assembling the furniture, all themselves, in preparation for a September opening.

Apex is an owner-operated, independent practice, with Cullen providing optometry services — meaning she performs eye and vision exams and writes prescriptions for glasses and contact lenses — and Sarson, the optician, fills those prescriptions by making and fitting eyewear.

Their difficulty in finding work in the Lakes Region revealed a second good reason to locate a new practice here: There’s a lack of providers in the area. Those operating in the area are booking appointments out for weeks, if not months, and if that’s too long to wait, those seeking care would have to drive out of the region to get it.

“Sam and I both live here,” Cullen said. “We want to provide care to the community where we live.”

Their location allows them to provide another option. Being at Tanger Outlets lets them attract shoppers walking by, and being just off exit 20 allows them to cater to patients traveling via Interstate 93.

So far, business has been a bit slow to pick up, as they work to get the word out about the new option. Many people also presume, falsely, that Apex is the name of a chain. Another challenge has been acquiring credentialing to bill insurance providers, which has proven to be slower than expected. However, they’ve since become credentialed with Cigna, Eye Med, Humana, United Healthcare, Tricare, Spectera, will soon be able to help patients on Harvard-Pilgrim, and are waiting on Medicare and several other insurers.

Yet, despite the challenges, it’s been a rewarding experience, they said.

“It’s been really fun. Sam and I have never done this side of the practice before,” Cullen said. “Learning about the back end of the business has been really good for us to learn.”

Cullen said people often think that optometry is strictly about vision, but she said that all people should seek eye care, even if they don’t need corrective lenses.

“What I do is a comprehensive eye exam,” she said. She can detect early signs of glaucoma, or a partially detached retina, which might not yet be apparent to the patient. Eye exams can also reveal signs of diabetes or cholesterol deposits, even brain tumors. Healthy adults should have an eye exam at least every two years, she said, and annually once they’ve turned 50.

“It’s not just the vision we’re looking at, but the health of the whole eye, and the health of the whole body,” Cullen said.