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A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 | O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
with femtosecond
lasers heal faster," says
the nursing director of
an East Coast ASC.
But many more say the
jury is still out. "Some
patients have been
highly pleased while
others have been dis-
appointed with the out-
come," says a
Tennessee surgery cen-
ter manager.
The administrator of
a very busy East Coast eye center reports that about half of the sur-
geons in her center use femtosecond laser, and "all have good out-
comes." But the other half "express that the femto is a gimmick and
there's no need for it."
Limiting factors
Even though premium services do typically result in better outcomes,
patients have been somewhat slow to embrace them. Predictably, the
biggest barrier is money. Premium services can cost thousands of dol-
lars extra, and more than three-fourths of our survey respondents say
at least some of their patients simply can't afford them. Says Venice,
Fla., ophthalmologist Dee Stephenson, MD, "It's too expensive on a
fixed income."
Another reason is that some patients are not great candidates for
premium services. Two-thirds of all patients don't have significant
astigmatism and aren't candidates for toric lenses or arcuate incisions.
P R E M I U M C A T A R A C T S U R G E R Y
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN
ATTACK ASTIGMATISM "Our toric patients
are routinely ecstatic," says a facility manager.
