A great place to start choosing a LASIK surgeon is your local friends and family who have had LASIK eye surgery. You can also turn to your social media network, as this is a quick way to get many opinions. Asking your eye care provider or primary care physician can be somewhat helpful, however, other doctors, even eye doctors, typically do not keep up with advancements in the LASIK industry. So, how can you find a good LASIK surgeon?
At this point, it is important to not only research the LASIK practice, but also the LASIK eye surgeon who will actually be performing your LASIK procedure.
Practices like Providence Eye provide complimentary LASIK consultations, so you can come in and get a feel for our practice, staff, office, and most importantly, the surgeon who will be performing your LASIK eye surgery.
If you are not able to meet your LASIK surgeon before your surgery day, this is something to be wary of. Many practices often advertise “2+ million procedures performed”, but this is at a nationwide level. The credentials, experience, and expertise of your surgeon are what really matter. At many practices, consultations are performed by technicians or optometrists, not LASIK surgeons. It is important to have face-to-face interaction and to be evaluated by the actual LASIK surgeon so that you can determine if this is the person you trust with our vision.
These are important questions. You can visit The North Carolina Medical Board and see if there have been any malpractice lawsuits or complaints filed. This is a step you should take prior to even scheduling a LASIK consultation. When you are meeting with your prospective LASIK surgeon, you should ask how often and how many LASIK procedures he or she performs and what their success rate is. Getting to know your surgeon in-person is mission-critical, as this can relieve a lot of stresses that often come before a surgery like LASIK.
This is an essential piece of information to know because not everyone is an ideal candidate for LASIK. You want to make sure that the LASIK surgeon knows how to identify and turn away non-candidates. This is also a good reason to always get a second opinion, as some surgeons are overzealous, and some can be too conservative.
Patient reviews and testimonials can be extremely helpful and should be used to do your research, but make sure you are looking at independent sites like Google or Yelp. Some practice websites “filter” reviews only showing their best reviews, or reviews that they approve. This does not give you an accurate representation.
You should verify the surgeon’s board certifications, licensing, and memberships to various medical organizations. This information should be clearly outlined on the LASIK surgeon’s website and can be verified on independent websites.
Most LASIK surgeons will be Board Certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology. You can verify your doctor’s certifications with the practice or online.
Individual state’s medical boards verify a doctor’s credentials license to practice. You can check this online by searching “[your state] practitioner database.”
Memberships and awards are often listed on the surgeon’s website, as well as on their licensing information. These memberships can indicate that your potential surgeon is keeping up with their credentials and industry changes. Awards are icing on the cake!
Medicine, especially when it comes to the field of LASIK surgery, is always changing as technology evolves. It is important for surgeons to stay on top of the latest technology to ensure they are offering their patients the best, safest and most reliable equipment to perform diagnostics and lasers (not blades) for the LASIK procedure. Be sure to read about which lasers your LASIK surgeon will be using during your surgery. This information should be easily found and readable on the surgeon’s website and/or pre-appointment materials. A good question to ask your surgeon is “Why did you select these specific lasers and how long have you had these lasers?” To help make sure LASIK is the right decision for you, consider asking your surgeon these five questions.
Schedule your complimentary LASIK consultation and learn about how we can help you achieve your ideal vision.
