Making sure that you are getting the best price for LASIK Eye Surgery requires that you are a well informed potential LASIK patient and not simply the “best shopper” or “best negotiator”. In fact making the decision to have LASIK at a particular LASIK center or LASIK practice because they gave you think they gave you the best price is often a big mistake.
First, every potential LASIK patient needs to understand that LASIK is surgery and not a commodity like a flat screen television-and thus making purchasing decisions based on the price of LASIK is an accident waiting to happen. After all…you can return the flat screen television, but you can’t return surgery if it doesn’t work out the way you thought it would. Granted, it is very easy to be drawn in to the “$299 LASIK “ special offer. Particularly in these challenging economic times, we all want to get the best price on everything we buy-especially elective purchases.
Beware of the “LASIK from $499” offer, as VERY FEW patients will actually qualify for this low pricing. Read the fine print-if you can find it-and you will see that the “$499” price for LASIK only applies to patients in a limited prescription range. Or, it may not include the medically important follow-up visits to insure the best results. Or, it may not include a “fine tuning” enhancement should it be necessary. It is generally safe to say that if the price of LASIK appears to be to low, then corners are being cut somewhere. Sometimes this may be as just described. Worse, low priced LASIK may be low priced because it is the wrong procedure for you! The lesson on low priced LASIK is that it is most often a way of drawing you in to a ‘bait and switch” scheme or an “upsell” scheme, where the low price is simply a method of getting you through the door.
Advertising the price of LASIK leads patients to believe that they are equipped to and can decide what procedure to have-for example should they have Custom LASIK, how much follow-up care they need and what type of instrumentation should be used-for example-traditional or blade free.
MAKING A DECISION TO HAVE A PARTICULAR TYPE OF LASIK SURGERY PROCEDURE
IS NOT THE DECISION OF THE PATIENT
Only after a thorough evaluation and consultation can a skilled LASIK Surgeon educate the patient about whether they are even a candidate for LASIK. Then, it is the responsibility of the LASIK Surgeon and the staff to recommend the procedure type that is going to provide the patient with the best results at the best price. A reputable LASIK Surgeon will PUT THE PATIENTS’ EXPECTATIONS AND RESULTS FIRST-and not cut corners. Nor will they ”over recommend” or over promise the “latest and greatest’ technology is the best choice if it doesn’t deliver clear clinical advantages for that patient based on their evaluation and consultation.
So then-how do you get the best price for LASIK? First you recognize that the range of the costs for LASIK should be between $1,500 and $3,000 per eye depending on the region of the country you are in, the type of procedure your are having, the type of equipment being used and the scope of follow-up care and services provided. Next-you attend consultations with as many LASIK Surgeons as you need to in order to get comfortable with their recommendations and prices-look for rationale prices for LASIK.
Low priced LASIK is not necessarily the best price for LASIK.
