Many people have questions about the cost of refractive surgery. How about this place in Vegas I saw advertised in the paper that charges $ per eye? How good are the discount laser procedure providers? Why should I pay $3000 when I can get it cheaper? My friend had surgery for $400 for both eyes and she's doing fine. I want to go to that place!Is there really a difference in who is doing the procedure? Isn't the laser computerized so that it matters less on individual surgeon skill?

I have been in practice for over 20 years; long enough to see many pre and post surgical refractive surgery patients. I started the first refractive surgery program for Kaiser in California. I've seen RK patients, ALK (the forerunner of LASIK) patients, PRK patients and even patients who have undergone clear lens extraction for correction of very high amounts of nearsightedness.

Each and every surgical procedure is technically difficult and different, with numerous sources of possible problems. A new surgeon can get acceptable results most of the time if everything goes perfectly well during the procedure. However, any small problem during surgery can grow into one that may reduce vision if not dealt with appropriately. That's what experience brings: the ability to deal with surgical problems. Surgeons with experience have seen the complications and potential complications and more importantly know how to handle them. This is what you're paying for: the ability to get a good result in spite of small potential complications. While every surgical procedure done by any surgeon can result in complications or an unexpected result, there is less of a chance with an experienced surgeon. You can't get that by flying to Las Vegas and receiving a surgery at a low price.

More practically, if your surgeon is in Las Vegas (or Phoenix, or Los Angeles) and you need an enhancement (a re-treatment to fine-tune the surgery result), you're back on a plane. Even if the enhancement is free, you have costs in plane fare, lost time, hotel rooms, etc. And, some discount centers do not provide a network of postoperative care doctors that are local. In fact, some surgical centers don't cover the post-surgery services at all.

Good postop care requires the following visits:

1 day
3-4 days
1 week
1 month
3 months
6 months
1 year

If your doctor is out of the area, where will you get this care?

While we provide post-operative care for many of the best surgeons across the country (literally from Washington DC to San Francisco), there are some pre and post-operative care situations that we can't provide. This depends on the surgery center, your surgery needs and how long it has been since the surgery. Call the office if you have a specific need or have a question.

If you wish Dr. Mitchell to provide your postop care, please contact your operating surgeon's office in advance to allow time to release records and make arrangements for the care to be delivered in our office. Because of medical privacy issues, you will need to take care of this as our office cannot sign the appropriate medical information releases for you. We will need information from your operating surgeon before making an appointment as Dr. Mitchell will need to review it in advance.