The Implant Journey Needs Its Own Roadmap
From Referral to Ready
Implant Navigation and Authorization Coachng
A Different Phase. A Different Kind of Support.
The implant finally exists.
Now you have to actually get from “I'm a candidate” to implanted—and nobody hands you a roadmap for everything that happens in between.
I wasn't new to healthcare.
I had been a nurse for almost 30 years.
I'd spent 14 years as a nurse operations leader in a tertiary healthcare system.
For 10 of those years, I led a high-volume pediatric infusion center where we dealt with high-dollar infusion therapies and gene therapy.
Authorization and patient/family navigation? I knew that world.
And then I became the patient.
Dr. Jerome Schartman of Retina Associates of Cleveland and surgical team from Cleveland Eye and Laser and Laser Surgery Center with patient Melissa R. Williams, the first Ohio recipient of the Encelto, the implant made by Neurotech.
IT ALL STARTED WHEN...
The Background Story
SOME RELATABLE BACKSTORY ITEMS BEFORE EVER GETTING TO IMPLANT:
-The Post-it note with MacTel written on it.
-Waiting two months for the retina specialist.
-Showing up loaded with research and questions about the NT-500 trial and being told my MacTel is "not BAD enough to be a candidate" (what does that mean-do you have to blind to get it, I was feeling pretty bad about my vision).
-Being told you'd have to go home and wait potentially five years for approval while your vision deteriorated.
-Transfering my care to a retina specialist who was a trial surgeon, knowing they had been a trial site and deliberately positioning myself there expecting them to be ready once FDA approval happened.
-Encelto, the implant made by Neurotech FDA approval arriving on my birthday, 2025
-Calling the retina practice immediatly with such excitement and joy.
-Finding out they weren't "even close to being ready".
-Offering to become their first patient.
-A NEW CFO and concern about the capital investment.
-Paying over $1,000/month for COBRA while trying to get both eyes implanted.
-Reading the implant package insert closely enough to challenge the assumption that my worse eye had to go first.
-I wasn't being difficult, I knew if circumstances prevented me from getting the second implant, I wanted the vision in my better eye preserved.
-The research coordinator confirming to the surgeon that this wasn't the trial anymore and I could get my better eye done first.
-Authorization mistakes.
-Calling insurance every three days.
-Getting the first implant.
-Trying to get the second eye done.
-A new authorization being requested.
-A denial.
-Then discovering the financial side wasn't finished simply because the implant had happened.
I got through authorization and implantation and then:
And then the bills. Oh, the bills!
BOTTOM LINE:
I know this system. I know what questions to ask. And this was still a lot!
I had nearly 30 years of nursing experience.
I had spent years working with complex, high-dollar therapies, authorization and patient/family navigation. I understood healthcare operations.
I researched the implant intensely.
I advocated relentlessly.
And I still had to fight to understand and navigate the process.
This is how complicated this process can be.
I don't take over your process. I help you become better equipped to navigate your own process.
Photograph of Melissa's eye with white dot representing implant, given to Dr. Jerome Schartman of Retina Associates of Cleveland as a thank you after Encelto© implant surgery.
"I'm ready to change the landscape of support for MacTel."
Meet Melissa Williams
I’m a nurse with nearly 30 years of experience, a board-certified nurse life coach, and a fellow MacTel patient.
I spent the first 15 years of my career caring for critically ill children in the pediatric ICU and as a neonatal/pediatric flight RN, followed by 14 years in nursing operations leadership at a tertiary healthcare system.
This included 10 years leading a high-volume pediatric infusion center where I worked extensively with high-dollar therapies, insurance authorization, and patient and family navigation.
MacTel changed my vision, but it didn’t end my nursing career—I adapted, becoming a board-certified nurse life coach and eventually finding myself on the other side of the healthcare system, navigating my own path to ENCELTO© as the first patient in Ohio to receive the implant and ultimately receiving implants in both eyes.
Since then, I’ve helped three other MacTel patients navigate their authorization and implant journeys.
I created this coaching because patients shouldn’t need decades of healthcare experience to understand the process, ask the right questions, and confidently advocate for themselves.
30+
Years Clinical Practice
65k+
Patients Visits served
100%
Judgment-Free Care
Referral to Ready
You Don’t Have to Figure
This Out Alone
Support From Referral Through Your Surgical Implant
From referral through your surgical implant, you’ll have personalized coaching to help you understand where you are in the process, what questions to ask, what you’re responsible for, and what needs to happen next.
I’m not here to take over the process for you.
I’m here to help you understand it, participate in it, ask better questions, and advocate for yourself as you move through it.
Your
2-Hour Personal Intake
via Zoom
Your 2-Hour Personalized Intake via Zoom.
-We’ll start by taking a detailed look at your situation—not a generic authorization checklist.
-We’ll review where you are in the implant process, what has already happened, what you’ve been told, what you understand about your insurance and potential financial responsibilities, and where you need more clarity.
-You will leave with a clearer picture of where things stand and what to focus on next.
Ongoing Auth.
& Financial
Navigation
Support
Unlimited messaging for authorization and financial-navigation questions throughout our work together.
-Authorization stalled? Not sure what to ask your insurance company? Getting different answers from different people? Confused about what your provider’s office is telling you?
-Bring it to me via the messaging app. You will be able to message, take photos, upload documents.
-I respond once each business day during office hours, Monday–Friday, Eastern Time. If I determine an authorization or financial-navigation issue needs more immediate attention, I’ll provide additional support.
Prepare for the Financial Side —Before the Bills Arrive
-Authorization does not necessarily mean you won’t have out-of-pocket costs.
-We’ll talk through the types of expenses you could be responsible for, what you may want to clarify with your insurance company and healthcare providers, and the questions to ask before your implant whenever possible.
-The goal isn't for me to review and explain every bill you receive. It’s to help you become a more informed healthcare consumer so you know what questions to ask, who to ask, what information to document, and when something deserves a closer look.
15-Minute Coaching Call Every Week
Questions rarely show up conveniently during a scheduled appointment.
That’s why you’ll have:
-Each week, we will have a focused 15-minute call to check your progress, work through current questions or roadblocks, and make sure you know what your next steps are.
-This isn't another appointment where you have to squeeze every question into the last two minutes.
This time is yours.
Additional Resource:
Navigation Toolkit
You’ll also receive practical tools you can use throughout the process
Authorization Process Tracker — keep track of where things stand, important dates, conversations, and next steps.
Insurance Conversation & Question Guide — know what to ask before you pick up the phone and what information you need to capture.
Financial Preparation Checklist — identify potential financial responsibilities and the questions you want answered before your implant.
Patient Assistance Reference — understand what assistance resources may be available and where to go for more information.
From Referral to Ready
Navigating Implant
and
Authorization Coaching
Single
Eye Implant
Navigation Coaching Package
Perfect for 2nd Implants
Who Did Not Have Support the 1st Round.
Both
Eye Implant Navigation Coaching Package
If you know you are
going to get both eyes implanted,
this is the right
package for you.
*There is NO expiration date for the 2nd eye.
$500 DISCOUNT WHEN YOU PURCHASE BOTH!
Combine with A Grounded Horizon: Living Beyond a MacTel Diagnosis
If you add this package on in COMBINATION WITH A Grounded Horizon coaching package, you will receive a $253 DISCOUNT!
(2nd eye will be $750)
COMBO PACKAGE OFFERS $253