One national chain advertises $299 an eye for LASIK. They claim to have performed millions of surgeries. How is it possible most patients having surgery at this retail center pay more than 10 x’s this amount?
If you look carefully at their email blast you will see that less than one in a hundred LASIK patients qualify. We call this “bait and switch”. Patients go for an evaluation, lose a day of work, listen to a sales pitch and in many cases sign up for surgery. The hassle of going thru another evaluation, refraction, dilation and explanation is just too inconvenient. Many simply agree to pay the extra money because their “eyes are too bad”.
This is a cheap trick making the patient feel it is their fault they can’t have the $299 deal. In actuality, there is no deal, it is a misrepresentation. Centers using this play have been sued in California for false and misleading advertising. That state doesn’t tolerate this kind of thing.
Making matters worse is that followup treatment for dry eye, post-operative evaluations after 3 months and necessary enhancements cost more. Many patients are pushed into surface ablation to save money on the newly inflated price.
We won’t do this. You are not charged more for a stronger prescription, for astigmatism, for far-sightedness, for dry eye management, for enhancements (in the first two years), etc. We keep prices low and offer a variety of financing options. We have not done a million surgeries but, quite frankly, neither has anyone else. Companies don’t perform surgery, doctors perform LASIK surgery.
James Lewis, MD, is a fellowship trained Cornea and LASIK surgeon with more than 10,000 successful LASIK procedures and nearly 40,000 major intra-ocular procedures. You won’t find a more experienced, skilled or compassionate surgeon. Call 215-886-9090 for a free evaluation.