California LASIK Eye Surgery, Wavefront LASIK, and Vision Correction

There are hundreds of California LASIK vision correction doctors from whom to choose, including Harvard M.D. and refractive surgeon Dr. Scott Hyver of ScottHyver Visioncare in the San Francisco Bay Area. So if you're in the market for laser eye surgery California, it should be relatively easy to find a good California Wavefront LASIK (or California LASEK) doc nearby, shouldn't it?

LASIK Value: Location, Price & Visual Outcome

If only it were that simple. The reality is that physical location is only one of three factors you should evaluate before you entrust your corneas to a California LASIK vision correction doctor. The other two factors are price and post-operative visual outcome.

Price is a relatively easy way to differentiate California LASIK eye surgery providers. Invariably, when a patient calls our clinic, the first thing she asks is, "what's the cost of LASIK?" She doesn't ask, "what's your average 3 month post-op uncorrected visual outcome for the last 500 California Wavefront LASIK patients?"

Unfortunately, patients don't have the time or possess the expertise to understand and compare the performance of CA laser eye surgery doctors. So naturally, they give disproportionate attention to what they can understand — price and location — when choosing their CA LASIK surgeon. That's why low-end California LASIK discounters thrive.

The Myth of California LASIK Surgeon Equality

These patients are making a faulty (and potentially dangerous) assumption: that the performance of California laser eye surgery doctors varies within a narrow range. The reality is that there are some California laser vision correction surgeons who are potentially unsafe, and have a long track record of California state government discipline. After you get past this risky bunch of CA LASIK docs, you're still not out of the woods.

Think about it this way: you're planning to celebrate your 50th wedding anniversary. You've evaluated all the restaurants, and you've decided to host this once in a lifetime special occasion at . . . your local McDonald's? Ridiculous, right? But that's how some patients chose their California LASIK eye surgery doctor: inexpensive, convenient service over quality. They ignore or fail to recognize the fact that the performance of CA LASIK doctors varies widely. Let face it, LASIK is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You don't want to settle for just average, run-of-the-mill outcomes; you want great visual outcomes that you can enjoy everyday, for the rest of your life.

So how do you assess the performance of your CA LASIK vision correction surgeon? You know his location and price, so you've solve the first two variables of the LASIK value equation. But you still need the last piece: the expected post-op visual outcome.

Great LASIK Outcomes are Born in the Pre-Operative Stage of Care

There is no better single predictive measure of your post-operative visual outcome than the pre-operative approach of your California laser eye surgery doctor. Why? Because it's during the pre-op stage of your care that your prescription and corneal features are mathematically characterized. These data are then interpreted by software to generate your "laser session" file, which tells the laser where to move across your cornea and for how long to fire. Obviously, the more accurate the data, the better your visual outcome. So variations in the pre-op approach may mean that one California LASIK surgeon consistently produces 20/20 outcomes on average, while his colleague across the street regularly achieves 20/15 results, which are far, far better than 20/20.

Now, here are the two signs that your California laser vision correction surgeon recognizes that great LASIK outcomes are born in the pre-op stage of your care:

The first sign that your surgeon has his pre-op act together, is that he's present and invested in your preliminary vision analysis. Believe it or not, there are a lot of California LASIK eye surgery corporate chains where you meet your surgeon for the first time when you're lying beneath the laser ready for treatment. All your pre-op work is performed by non-medically trained personnel. What does this say about the ability of the CA laser eye surgery practice to generate precise information about your vision error (i.e., your prescription), when your surgeon is not even present during this critical stage of your care?

Even if your California LASIK surgery doctor is present, he needs to dedicate adequate time to your analysis. You'll discover that some CA laser eye surgery docs perform a quick and cursory exam, and are anxious to get to their next appointment. If you're being rushed through the pre-op process, then the accuracy of the data the surgeon is collecting is likely to suffer, ultimately affecting your surgical outcome.

"Test Twice, Treat Once"

The second sign that your surgeon has his pre-op act together, is that he analyzes your vision error (prescription) on two separate days. This "test twice, treat once" philosophy is shared by very few California LASIK surgeons. Why? Because the surgeon needs to spend extra time with every patient, which means he sees fewer patients overall, thereby reducing his earnings potential.

Keep in mind that your measured vision error may slightly fluctuate from day to day, or season to season, depending, for example, on the moisture levels on your corneal surface. It's simply prudent, then, to double check your prescription rather than depend on a single snapshot produced on the day of your consultation. By generating two separate data sets, across two separate days, your California laser vision correction surgeon can then average these data to arrive at a more precise reading of your prescription. And as we know by now, the more accurate the data into the laser, the better the post-op visual outcome.

You probably wouldn't be surprised to learn that Dr. Hyver is a devoted adherent to the "test twice, treat once" philosophy; in fact, he analyzes your vision error on both your consultation day and surgery day prior to your procedure. He also spends a substantial amount of time with you during your initial analysis. Dr. Hyver's pre-op analytical rigor is designed to optimize your visual outcome.

Why It's Worth Going the Extra Mile

So that's the story. It's not surprising that most patients choose their California Wavefront LASIK surgeon on the basis of price and location. They simply don't know how to predict the performance of their surgeon. But now you do. And when you discover a California LASIK surgeon like Dr. Hyver, who is uncompromisingly dedicated to producing the best visual outcomes he can, then you might consider traveling the extra mile to the Bay Area to see him for yourself.

And if you ultimately choose Dr. Hyver to perform your procedure, and you live outside the Bay Area, we'll lodge you at the Hilton or Hampton Inn at our expense the evening after your procedure, so you can come in the next morning for your one day post-op, and then be on your way with your new vision.