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 disappointed with the outcome," says a
Tennessee surgery center manager.
The administrator of a very busy East Coast eye center reports that about half of the surgeons in her center use femtosecond laser, and "all have good outcomes." 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 dollars 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.
Pamela Bevelhymer,
RN, BSN
ATTACK ASTIGMATISM "Our toric patients
are routinely ecstatic," says a facility manager.
