Jeff Machat

Jeffery J. Machat MD, FRCSC, DABO is an ophthalmologist in the United States and Canada specializing in surgical vision correction better known as refractive eye surgery. He is most known for being the Co-Founder of TLC Laser Eye Centers with Elias Vamvakas in 1993. The first TLC clinic was located in Windsor, Canada and treated thousands of patients from across all of North America. The clinic also hosted thousands of eye care specialists trying to learn about LASIK and PRK prior to US FDA approval which came three years later. Together Vamvakas and Machat built an incredible company of 83 LASIK clinics through both organic growth and strategic acquisition by May 2002 to become the largest provider of LASIK in North America. Dr. Machat pioneered not only LASIK but the concept of Optometric Comanagement throughout the 1990s, helping build a TLC network of over 14,000 referring optometrists by 2000. In 2005-2006, Machat spent time in Europe working to build Optical Express, helping David Moulsdale, owner and Founder, to transform the company from 300 optical stores into the leading provider of LASIK vision correction in Europe with 55 clinics in the span of 2 years.

Education

Machat received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Toronto in 1986 and his Royal College of Canada Certification in Ophthalmology in 1990 from the same alma mater. Machat is a Diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology, a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS), the International Society of Refractive Surgery (ISRS), the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ESCRS), the Canadian Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (CRCRS), and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Machat has lectured extensively at the AAO, ASCRS, ESCRS, and the Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology.

Career

Machat was one of the first ophthalmologists in North America to perform laser vision correction in 1991 and the first to perform wavefront-guided LASIK in Canada on March 6, 2000. Machat was also the first refractive surgeon to use the Intralase femtosecond laser for flap creation in March 2003. Machat was instrumental in the development of software, techniques and surgical instruments for LASIK and PRK. He is the originator of the Acoustic Shockwave model to explain Central Island formation and the pretreatment technique to counteract their occurrence. Machat has been quoted in Ophthalmology Times, Ocular Surgery News, Eyeworld, Cataract and Refractive Surgery Today, and has been featured on the CNN evening news. Machat's patients have included (Terry Meeuwsen (Anchor 700 Club), Bob Rae (former Ontario Premier), Dan Meyers (President-North America Ophthalmics-CIBA Vision Corporation), Michael Wilson (former Finance Minister), Dr. Anthony Sensoli, MD, Dr. Brad Britton, Dr. Scott Jaben, Dr. John Mitchell, MD, Dr. Randel Rabon, NBA Basketball star Emanuel Davis, and NHL Hockey star Bob Rouse.

Machat is the founder and CEO of Crystal Clear Vision at which he serves since 2012. In 2015, Jeff Machat joined Nvision Eye Centers and worked there until 2019. Dr. Machat then became the Medical Director for Vision Group Holdings from 2019 to 2021, which had 130 clinics including both TLC and LASIK Vision Institute clinics in the USA. In 2021, Vision Group Holdings was acquired by Craig Joffe, owner and CEO of LASIKPlus, creating the largest laser center service provider in North America. Dr. Machat continues to operate as the LASIK Surgeon for LVI Charlotte and Memphis, previously also operating in Durham NC and Virginia.

By August 2024, Dr. Machat had performed over 107,000 laser vision correction procedures, 90% of which were LASIK. To date, 684 eye doctors came to Dr. Machat for their own laser vision correction procedure. Dr. Machat has been an FDA and Health Canada investigator and/or trainer for 21 different excimer laser models from 9 different manufacturers and 16 different femtosecond laser models from 6 different manufacturers. He has develop a dozen surgical instruments for LASIK, PRK and KAMRA inlay surgery. He has lectured in 24 countries and trained thousands of surgeons in LASIK, PRK, Crosslinking and KAMRA techniques, complication management and laser technology. Dr. Machat is also an authority on diagnostic corneal analysis with the Pentacam, and giving numerous webinars and lectures to other eye care physicians. Custom technology, both wavefront guided and topography guided technologies is another area of expertise that Dr. Machat has focused upon for 25 years.

Books

Machat is primary author of the textbook Excimer Laser Refractive Surgery-Practice and Principles cited in peer-reviewed ophthalmic publications. Machat is also the co-author of The Art of LASIK.