SOUTHLAKE, Texas—Retina Consultants of America (RCA), a comprehensive physician management services organization, has added a leading Nashville, Tenn.-based retina group, Tennessee Retina, to its management organization. The addition of the nine-location Tennessee Retina practice marks RCA’s entry into Tennessee and the surrounding region. The terms of the deal were not disclosed in the RCA announcement late last week. The group now has practices in 11 states. Tennessee Retina is the largest and most established retina practice in middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky, with nine locations that include Nashville, Crossville, and Bowling Green, Ky.

“We enthusiastically welcome our outstanding colleagues and friends from Tennessee Retina to the RCA family,” said Dr. Philip Ferrone, president-elect of the American Society for Retinal Specialists, and physician for Vitreoretinal Consultants of New York, an existing RCA partner practice.
 
Formed by Webster Equity Partners and based in Southlake, Texas, RCA partners with leading retina specialists who seek a strategic partner with the capital resources and expertise to invest in their practice infrastructures and position the practice for continued growth in its market. RCA, which has more than 125 ECPs across its 115 locations, is unique in offering the first horizontal alliance in eyecare focused solely on retinal care. 
 
The physicians of Tennessee Retina are active in local, national and international ophthalmologic and vitreoretinal professional societies and have authored more than 325 papers, books and scientific articles. Additionally, all 10 of its physicians completed their residency and/or fellowship training at one of the top 10 ophthalmology programs in the country, the announcement noted.
 
Tennessee Retina also is involved in many multicenter national and international clinical trials. In these trials, the physicians study new treatments for a variety of eye diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema, age-related macular degeneration and vein occlusion. 
 
“The physicians of Tennessee Retina are delighted to join Retina Consultants of America,” Dr. Carl Awh, physician for Tennessee Retina and president of the American Society for Retinal Specialists, said in the announcement. “We are confident that an alliance of dedicated retina specialists will create an entity much greater than the sum of its parts.”
 
With existing partner practices in New York, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Minnesota, and California, and plans for further geographic expansion, the addition of Tennessee Retina advances RCA’s goal of providing the highest quality retinal care to patients across the U.S.