Dr. Hammer With New LAL Machine

Cataracts are a leading cause of blindness among older adults in the United States, with more than half of all Americans having cataracts by age 80. Over the last few decades, remarkable progress has been made in improving cataract surgery and patient outcomes. Some of these innovations include laser-assisted cataract removal and premium lens implants, which may allow patients to see most distances, even up close, with no dependence on glasses.

"Visionary Eye Doctors is fulfilling its promise of providing advanced technology with a loving touch with the first customizable lens after cataract surgery."

Currently, surgeons take measurements of the patient's eye and, based on those measurements, make their best-educated decision as to which lens power would give the patient the best visual outcome. While effective, a patient would often still require glasses after surgery.

The Light-Adjustable Lens (LAL) manufactured by RxSight™ is the first and only cataract lens implant that can be customized after cataract surgery. This customization helps deliver superior visual outcomes that non-adjustable IOLs simply cannot match. This technology can give patients the best correct vision for distance in their dominant eye. If they wish independence from reading glasses, the surgeon can adjust their non-dominant eye for reading vision.

Visionary Eye Doctors' founder and owner J. Alberto Martinez, MD, has always promised to provide state-of-the-art technology with a loving touch. Keeping its promise to the community, VED now provides the latest customizable lens for cataract surgery. 

About Dr. Andrew Hammer, MD                                                    

Dr. Andrew Hammer is a Board-Certified Ophthalmologist. Before joining VED in December 2017, Dr. Hammer was with Baltimore Washington Eye Center. Dr. Hammer earned his medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, followed by an internship at Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia. He then completed his training with a residency in Ophthalmology at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which serves the greater Washington, D.C., metro area. Dr. Hammer served as the Chief of Ophthalmology at Ireland Community Hospital in Fort Knox, Kentucky. 

Dr. Hammer was voted a Top Doctor by Washingtonian magazine in 2018. Additionally, Dr. Hammer has been selected as a Top Doctor by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. Castle Connolly identifies top doctors, both nationally and regionally, based on an extensive nominations process open to all licensed physicians in America. The Castle Connolly physician-led research team reviews and screens all nominated physicians before selecting those regarded as the most outstanding healthcare providers to be Top Doctors. The loyalty of his patients demonstrates his commitment and his passion for his work.

Board-Certified: American Academy of Ophthalmology
Residency: Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.
Internship: Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Augusta, GA
Medical School: University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
B.S.: Electrical Engineering, Cum Laude, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 

GOBEL Logo
Logo for GOBEL Group

At the end of January 2023, GOBEL will host the G23 Healthcare Philanthropy Innovation Summit in Clearwater Beach, FL. The summit, an exclusive event for leaders in healthcare philanthropy, will feature some of the brightest minds in healthcare, technology and philanthropy. 

It's pretty impressive ground for a company celebrating its 13^th year on Jan. 11, 2023.

"We have come a long way in a short time," shared Chad Gobel, company founder and CEO. "For us, enhancing the business of philanthropy is its own reward. Of course, everyone seeks success in the line of work they've chosen. But in philanthropy, accomplishment is based on a simple premise, really. It's driven by a fundamental passion to help people. And if that mission drives you, the effort to achieve success in the philanthropic consulting landscape is as rewarding a task as one could pursue."

It's a calling not just for GOBEL's clients but for the company itself. In 2022, GOBEL launched its own philanthropic foundation, with an eye toward funding health and humanitarian efforts internationally. The GOBEL Foundation's first fundraising endeavor resulted in more than $100,000 raised on behalf of the people in war-ravaged Ukraine. Money was used to provide water, food, medicine, medical supplies, and even to construct bomb shelters for the people of the Mykovlaiv and Kherson regions.

The year 2022 was a particularly strong one for the company. Driven by their philosophy that gratitude drives the decision to give and wealth drives the level of that giving, GOBEL helped its clients raise more than $1.5 billion to improve their communities and the experience of their patients and their families. In fact, it was the company's most prolific year to date with nearly triple-digit revenue growth. In addition to the launch of the Foundation, a number of hallmark episodes contributed to the progress in quick succession. 

GOBEL Acquires Leading Firm Ghiorsi & Sorrenti

In June of 2022, GOBEL acquired Ghiorsi & Sorrenti, Inc. (GSI). For more than three decades, GSI led the industry in developing and executing some of the most innovative and successful capital and comprehensive fundraising campaigns in healthcare. While campaigns have long been part of GOBEL's services, GSI added a deeper level of expertise.

"We joined GOBEL because we saw a visionary company that repeatedly puts thought leadership into action, achieving remarkable results," said Dan Sorrenti, founding partner of GSI. "GOBEL is taking our industry to an entirely new level by combining incomparable consulting and technology solutions that assist clients with raising more philanthropic support than ever before."

GOBEL Launches International, Secures First Patent

In addition to the GSI acquisition, in the fall of 2022, GOBEL launched its international company, with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. Shortly afterward, GOBEL announced its first international fundraising engagement with Northern Ireland Hospice.  

On the home front, GOBEL took another enormous step in pioneering the future of smart technology in the philanthropy industry when it received a patent from the United States government for its artificial intelligence and automated machine learning predictive models.

And to underscore its burgeoning momentum as an industry leader, GOBEL created its own advisory board of senior healthcare leaders from some of the nation's top healthcare organizations. 

Firm Plans for Ambitious 2023

"We're certainly proud of our position as the No. 1 consulting and technology firm for healthcare organizations," said Chad Gobel. "But we are looking ahead to what is next, and view our growth and accomplishments to date as laying the groundwork for exponentially more to come."

Among the firm's goals for 2023 are to help clients raise more than $2 billion, greatly expand its research platform, offer more smart technology products and ideas, and expand even further into Europe and elsewhere internationally. 

"We're grateful to our clients for giving us the opportunity to help them achieve transformational results from all of our platforms," said Chad Gobel. "And in many respects, as we enter our 13th year, we feel we are just getting started."

GOBEL is the world's leading consulting and technology firm in healthcare philanthropy. They offer clients the most comprehensive solution for building a robust philanthropy program, using data and analytics to advise clients in grateful patient programs, major gifts training, clinician engagement, fundraising strategy, campaign planning and more. GOBEL also provides clients with primary and secondary research, along with peer analysis and benchmarking. Its team of 60 seasoned healthcare development professionals and clinicians comes from the top medical centers in the nation. They bring more than 750 years of collective healthcare philanthropy experience to their client engagements and have worked with over 1,000 hospitals and health systems in their history. 

For more information, contact Glenn Vallach, Vice President of Communications at GOBEL, at [email protected].

La Granja Central Florida opens near UCF Campus.
Open for lunch or dinner. Dine with us. Order takeout or delivery by calling (407) 440-3191.

Featuring fresh ingredients and homestyle food with large portions, La Granja Central Florida offers a truly unique dining experience for foodies and UCF students alike. The new La Granja location is off Alafaya, 4650 N. Alafaya Trail, Suite 101 Orlando, Florida, 32828. It is the perfect spot for a date night or group outing. The beautifully designed space features an open kitchen and outdoor seating.

The restaurant's presence in Orlando area is growing. La Granja now has nine restaurants serving lunch and dinner in the greater Orlando area. Go to La Granja Restaurants' Locations page on their website and type in a zip code to find the nearest La Granja.

One of their most popular dishes includes their Pollo a la Brasa, a delectable chicken meal paired popularly with rice and beans. The local favorite 1/4 Chicken Rice and Beans Special is only $7.25. Add plantains and soda for only $9.75. 1/2 Lb Steak with rice, beans, plantains and soda is only $14.95.

And for those with a sweet tooth, La Granja has a mouthwatering selection of desserts using only the freshest, highest-quality ingredients. To top off any meal, experience authentic Latin desserts like flan, alfajores, tres leches, pionono, and ice cream.

La Granja Restaurant Menu Chicken Steak Pork Seafood Desserts (lagranjarestaurants.com) 

Check out the menu link above. Call La Granja Restaurant for pick up or delivery at (407) 440-3191.

La Granja Central Florida will be open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Be sure to come early because the restaurant is sure to be a popular spot for many UCF students, locals, and visitors.

About La Granja

For over 25 years, La Granja Restaurants has been known for their excellent and affordable Latin cuisine, including the 1/4 Chicken meal and delectable sides such as white rice, yuca, tostones, black beans or French fries. Their first location opened in Aruba in 1993 before expanding to the United States in 1995. 

The award-winning restaurant has been recognized as the "Best Peruvian Restaurant of the Year," "Best Family Style Restaurant" and "Best Peruvian Cuisine of Fort Lauderdale." CFO Claudia Bartra was honored with the 2016 Women of Worth Award by Restaurant Review Magazine.

La Granja's focus on customer service and commitment to delicious cuisine keeps the restaurant chain growing. 

Visit www.lagranjarestaurants.com or Call (407) 440-3191. Don't miss out on this unique and exceptional dining experience. Dine-in, order takeout, or use a third-party delivery app service such as DoorDash or Uber Eats.

Accuhealth logo

Accuhealth today announced it has been named a winner in the 2023 BIG Innovation Awards presented by the Business Intelligence Group.

Accuhealth delivers remote patient monitoring (RPM) solutions to clinics and enterprises and is the only RPM vendor with a full suite of easy-to-use, 4G cellular-connected devices for patients enabling physicians to track real-time biometric data from the comfort of the patient's home. Accuhealth's proprietary AI-enhanced software Evelyn provides a dashboard of data serving as the central hub between providers and patients. Evelyn predictively analyzes patient behaviors, speech, and response time, which, coupled with sentiment analytics, will profile patient conversations and rank patients based on criticality of attention required by physicians — proving crucial to further reducing hospital visits and total cost of care. 

"We are proud to be recognized by the Business Intelligence Group for our work in healthcare and artificial intelligence, which have resulted in significant cost savings and better health outcomes. Accuhealth is America's largest provider of remote patient monitoring services due in large part to our ability to innovate, correlate and produce actionable results for both patients and providers," said Accuhealth CEO Stephen Samson. "Innovation is an integral part of our business strategy as a fully managed, turnkey remote patient monitoring solution. This award belongs to the entire Accuhealth team, whose hard work and commitment to developing groundbreaking new technology and bringing new ideas to life continues to impress me. We are excited to be seen as innovators in healthcare technology and have some BIG announcements coming in 2023."

"Innovation is 'business critical' in today's society," said Maria Jimenez, chief operating officer of the Business Intelligence Group. "We are thrilled to be honoring Accuhealth as they are leading by example and improving the lives of so many."

Organizations from across the globe submitted their recent innovations for consideration in the BIG Innovation Awards. Nominations were then judged by a select group of business leaders and executives who volunteered their time and expertise to score submissions.

About Accuhealth

Accuhealth empowers physicians with the right data to stay ahead of negative health outcomes to keep patients healthy, happy, and out of the hospital. Founded in 2018, Accuhealth is a leading healthcare technology provider of turn-key remote patient monitoring solutions worldwide, providing hardware, software, and first-line 24/7/365 clinical monitoring to physicians with real-time vital information and AI-enhanced data. Accuhealth's services yield improved outcomes, increased patient satisfaction, reduced costs for payers, and increased revenue for clinics. Accuhealth's touchpoints as a service has set a new standard of care, making remote monitoring simple to use and easy to understand for both patients and providers. Remote patient monitoring and chronic care management made easy and done right. Visit www.accuhealth.tech for more information.

About Business Intelligence Group

The Business Intelligence Group was founded with the mission of recognizing true talent and superior performance in the business world. Unlike other industry award programs, these programs are judged by business executives having experience and knowledge. The organization's proprietary and unique scoring system selectively measures performance across multiple business domains and then rewards those companies whose achievements stand above those of their peers.

Let's Talk Interactive

Let's Talk Interactive (LTI), a leading telemedicine solutions provider, today announces the appointment of Joe Lacher to the company's board of directors. An insurance and risk management professional with more than a decade of experience building successful employee benefit programs for national clients, Lacher will support LTI in cultivating relationships within the insurance sector as the telehealth firm expands its employee assistance program offerings.  

"I am delighted to welcome Joe Lacher to the board of directors," said Arthur Cooksey, founder, CEO and chairman of the board of Let's Talk Interactive. "As virtual care technology continues to impact new sectors, such as employee assistance and benefit programs, we are customizing our solutions to fit their unique needs. Our services reduce the cost to provide healthcare services, while increasing patient acquisition and revenue through improved access to care. Joe's track record in the industry and the relationships he has developed will support us in growing our client base in the insurance and payor space." 

Currently, Lacher serves as senior vice president of employee benefits at HUB International, the largest privately-held insurance brokerage firm in North America. His focus is to help navigate benefits to employees, incorporating the latest technology innovations and offerings at the best rate for clients. Before joining HUB International, Lacher was a managing partner at The Crichton Group in Nashville, Tennessee. Prior to its acquisition, The Crichton Group was the largest privately-held insurance brokerage firm in Tennessee. Lacher has been recognized as a leader in his company and industry over the last decade, winning multiple Top Sales awards and designations.

"Over the last decade, I have been migrating from manual to tech-focused benefits integrations. Throughout this time, I've witnessed the space evolve and really come alive," said Lacher. "I'm excited to join LTI's board of directors and introduce the firm's innovative software, hardware, and AI solutions into the broader healthcare technology benefits space."

Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, Lacher attended the University of Tennessee and received a Bachelor of Science in microbiology. He has served in numerous board and advisory-level positions with several nonprofits and social services in Middle Tennessee, including Make-A-Wish, Habitat for Humanity, Monroe Harding Foster Care and Parenting, and others.

To learn more about Let's Talk Interactive's board of directors, visit https://letstalkinteractive.com/our-leaders. 

About Let's Talk Interactive

Let's Talk Interactive, Inc. (LTI) is an innovator in telehealth that has developed the most complete and configurable HIPAA-compliant telemedicine platform in the world. Through proprietary telehealth software, medical hardware, and provider network solutions, LTI gives those in need instant access to care. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the company ranked No. 496 on the 2022 Inc. 5000 annual list of fastest-growing companies. For more information about Let's Talk Interactive, visit www.letstalkinteractive.com.