Archive for January, 2012

Did Your LASIK Provider “Skip Town”?

Saturday, January 28th, 2012

Some LASIK providers have left town.

   We see them with some regularity.  The LASIK patient who had their surgery performed a few years ago is looking for their provider to take advantage of their “lifetime guarantee”.  The story goes like this: the patient gets an incredible deal on their LASIK eye surgery and the kicker?  Free enhancements for life.  But the center has used a lower quality technology known to require a higher enhancent rate and now the patient needs a “touch up”.  The patient assumed that “LASIK is LASIK”.  They called around and went for the lowest price.  The LASIK center had an impressive “franchise” type name.  They used slick advertising, touted that they used the best LASIK technology, had the best doctors and had the most experience.  Theydrew the patient in with their claim of having the lowest price and the patient was reassured with the unsubstantiated claims and the promise of a  ”lifetime guarantee”.  
  Now the patient is unable to excercis their LASIK guarantee.  In some cases the center and the surgeon have left town.  In other cases, the doctor remains in town but now practices under a different practice (corporate) name.  When confronted with the “guarantee”, the surgeon will usually disavow any responsibility.  “That was the guarantee of the corporation, not me,” the’ll protest.  The deal that seemed too good to be true, really was.
  In our 14 years of practice, we’ve seen a number of discount LASIK providers come and go.  We’ve long tried to educate the patients who come in for consults but many just can’t resist the draw of a discounted price.  Unfortunately many are left “holding the bag” like the used car buyer who, after buying a lemon, returns to the auto dealer only to find an empty lot.

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Which is Better, One or Two?

Sunday, January 22nd, 2012

Today we use centuries old technology to determine what eyeglasses to prescribe eyeglasses and contact lenses for patients. A series of different powered lenses are held in front of a patient’s eye and the patient is asked to judge, subjectively, which lens makes their vision clearer. “Which is better, one or two?”. The patient guides the doctor to the prescription that allows them to see best in medicine’s version of “hotter or colder”. Most of the time, the result is successful, but occassionally the result is a prescription that the patient can’t wear. In this scenario, glasses are simply remade. But this ancient technique of determining prescriptions is also used in standard and wavefront-optimized LASIK eye surgery. The result of an incorrect prescription determination used in LASIK eye surgery is also a “remake”, but this remake is a second eye surgery. This aspect of pre-operative planning before LASIK eye surgery points out but a couple of advantages of wavefront-guided LASIK over conventional or wavefront-optimized LASIK.
In wavefront-guided LASIK, a wavefront analyzer is used to determine the treatment. This takes away the subjective nature that can be affected by patient fatigue, fogged lenses, rash or hurried judgement or indecisiveness. How much better is wavefront analysis over conventional means of determining prescriptions? Twenty five times more accurate. And the affect on “do-overs”? About four times less likely. Wavefront-guided LASIK yields better results than wavefront-optimized LASIK. Don’t be fooled by confusing by centers that advertise “wavefront LASIK”. Insist on wavefront-GUIDED LASIK.

How good are you at determining which is better?

A wavefront analyzer is used to determine treatment in a wavefront-guided LASIK.

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LASIK vs Contact Lenses

Saturday, January 14th, 2012
LASIK beats contacts in cost and safety.

LASIK beats contacts in cost and safety.

Which is Better?  LASIK or Contact Lenses?
For many patients, the choice of vision correction comes down to LASIK or contact lenses.  Eyeglass correction may be undesirable, impractical or impossible.  But which is better?  For many, the determination is one of cost and/or safety.  Your assumptions about the superiority of LASIK vs contact lenses may be tested by the facts.  Today’s  prizefight is LASIK vs Contact Lenses.
Round 1: Safety
Over the years of providing LASIK consults I’ve learned that nothing draws a blank expression from a patient like making the statement “The risk of vision loss from LASIK eye surgery is less than the risk of vision loss from contact lenses.”.  The overwhelming majority of patients when informed of this will look at you in stunned amazement and appear to be studying the statement to determine whether they heard you right or attempt to figure out what the catch is.   The thought of vision loss from contacts seems to never have occurred to them.  Yet, every year, dozens of patients lose vision from contact lens wear.  The most common cause?  Corneal infections.  Some patients may protest: “Well, yes, some people abuse their contacts.” or “But I always disinfect my contacts.”  Obviously patients who abuse or don’t disinfect are at greater risk, but the truth is, all patients who wear contacts are at a greater risk of vision loss than patients who do not.  The safest way to correct vision is with eyeglasses. Of course, the risk of vision loss from contact lenses is quite small but the risk of vision loss from LASIK is even rarer.  Numerous studies  confirm that LASIK carries a lower risk of vision loss than contact lenses and, as laser technology improves, the disparity in safety can be expected to become greater.  Round 1 goes to LASIK
Round 2: Cost
“But LASIK is expensive.  I can’t afford it.” says a typical skeptic?  Expensive? Think about how much you spend every year in exams, contacts and supplies, and eyeglasses.  The typical LASIK patient will save thousands of dollars in just a few years.  Not to mention the additional time savings in not having to go in for contact lens exams, eyeglass fittings etc..  Even if you have vision insurance, you can come out ahead.  No, LASIK is not expensive, it’s a worthwhile investment that pays for itself many times over.  And, because most LASIK providers provide financing, you won’t have to pay for the entire procedure all at once.  The final knock-out blow?  LASIK is a tax deductible expense and can be paid for in pre-tax dollars or via a flexible spending account.  Round 2 goes to LASIK.
Both LASIK and contact lenses are effective and safe ways to correct vision.  But, if you are a good candidate for LASIK eye surgery, LASIK beats contact lenses for both cost and safety.

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Would Your Competitors Admit Your Product is Superior?

Sunday, January 8th, 2012

Someone has to offer the best product. But everyone has competition. And, no one has a monopoly on products and services. So if there is always a best, how do competitors continue to stay in business? By distracting the consumer by focusing on some other factor other than quality such as price or convenience and unfortunately at times, by misrepresenting or making false statements.
We have seen some of our competitors make the claim that they offer the best LASIK technology at the lowest price. Obviously if this was true, we would be out of business.
The two things most important in LASIK is safety and results. We have invested in the technology that has proven to be the safest with the lowest risk of complication. In addition, our technology offers the highest rate of 20/20 vision results. So if these two facts are true, what criterion is a competitor using to claim “being the best”?
We will readily admit that it is possible to offer a lower price by using less expensive technology and a lesser level of service but we challenge any competitor to back up their claims of being better with hard data. We have the proof and authoridative data to back our declaration of superiority. All they have are hollow assertions.

Would you buy a Rolex from this man?

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