The reason most people who have surgery come to us is very simple: 1. They want to have a safe surgical experience. We don't cut corners. We don't use cheap equipment. We don't skimp on maintenance of the equipment. We won't perform surgery on you unless we would lay there in your place in the same circumstance. 2. Our visual outcomes are very, very good. Why? Because we compulsively insist that data gathering on each of our patients is consistent, and must meet a very high standard before it is considered accurate enough to use in calculating a treatment plan. We further insist on seeing our patients back in follow-up ourselves so we know the desired outcomes are being achieved. We can give patients accurate odds of a visual outcome based on previous patient experience and then each individual can decide if those odds are adequate for them to proceed with surgery. 3. We do all we can to earn and maintain the trust of those who honor us by allowing us to do their surgery. The relationship between a patient and doctor is completely different than between a consumer and a provider. Those that sell laser vision correction surgery as a commodity, and those who shop for it as such deserve each other. We are blessed to be able to choose to do surgery for those people we feel are good candidates. We feel no compulsion to push anyone to do laser surgery. We have always tried to honestly tell patients if we think they are good candidates for surgery after we get to know them better. We will continue to put the patient's interests first when it comes to laser surgery decisions. 4. We are so confident in our ability to deliver the results our patients desire that we are the first and the only in the area to offer 20/20 vision or your money back from your laser vision correction experience. We decided it was time to put our money where our mouth is and set a new standard. We too were tired of the hype and claims of many in our industry and decided to do something about it.    « less

Our laser surgery results are among the very best I have seen. We even offer patients 20/20 vision or your money back. 98% percent of our patients see 20/20 or no worse than 20/25 after their first treatment. I wish I could claim it is because we are such gifted surgeons, but in reality it is because we are so compulsive about how we gather patient data pre-operatively and even more important is how we collect data post-operatively. Having watched international surgeons go through the learning process of how to program the laser was very enlightening. The early days of laser surgery in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s consisted of the Canadians and the Europeans learning one eye at a time how to program the laser to do each correction. Sometimes the success rate was less than 25%. I didn’t want to be part of that learning curve as a patient or doctor. Those doctors who became very good at getting great vision for their patients were those who compulsively tracked their outcomes, and adjusted the way they programmed the laser based on that experience. Patients mistakenly think that all laser vision correction surgeons track their data. Unfortunately that is not true. Why not? Because it is expensive to pay for staff and doctor time to see your own patients in follow-up, and then enter all that data in a proprietary program so you can track outcomes.   « less

To answer the first part of that question adequately, we start with a free, initial consultation here in our office with the surgeon of your choice. At this appointment, we will perform a series of diagnostic tests to ensure your candidacy for laser vision correction. We will also see you for additional preoperative appointments before surgery. Over the course of these visits, your eyes will be scanned by several diagnostic instruments and our doctors will perform a dilated retinal examination to assess your ocular health. Also, we will perform our exclusive Pentacam scan (detailed in question #15) and your surgeon will review the results with you. Consideration will be given to how you use your eyes in a typical workday, what your visual needs are in your leisure time and most importantly, what you hope to gain from laser vision correction. Until we get to know you and your unique life needs, any answer is inadequate. In regard to other evaluations, they all differ. They are usually done by a technician or staff member and sometimes by an Optometrist. At most high volume centers, you don’t meet your surgeon until minutes before your actual surgery (detailed in question #2). Many patients tell me they have been told they are good candidates for surgery at some other center. Often that candidacy is based on their ability to pay for the surgery, not whether it is the best option for them in order to better their life. Our comprehensive consultation and preoperative appointments will include some familiar tests: refraction, pupil exam, eye motility exam, confrontational visual field, slit lamp exam, intraocular pressure, and dilation. However, there are additional examinations that are routinely done in our Sacramento practice for potential laser vision correction patients. They include the Pentacam scan, corneal thickness measurements, corneal curvature measurements using sophisticated corneal and eye mapping devices, WaveScan analysis of individually unique abnormalities in vision using both the Visx CustomVue system as well as the Marco Wavefront analyzer. All this data is gathered and analyzied during your preoperative visits with us. The data is then carefully correlated with a comprehensive history of how you use your eyes during a typical day. We also determine what your visual needs are during relaxation and recreational times as well as what your visual expectations are from laser vision correction. All that information is then evaluated in a personal consultation with your surgeon, who together with your input will use their expertise to advise you if laser vision correction is right for your eyes and your needs. The collection of data usually requires a surgery patient to return to our office for more than one visit to compare data from the various tests until the most accurate repeatable data has been gathered. Then and only then can an accurate calculation be performed and an individual program be designed to correct your vision. Anything less is nothing more than generic laser vision correction surgery also known as "plug and play" laser vision correction. The expertise to program the excimer laser most accurately for any given patient not only comes from all the testing, interviewing and counseling together, but finally is based on years of data collection that Griffin and Reed Eye Care has compiled for the thousands of patients we have treated. We track all our patients' postoperative results and have always insisted on doing so. The need for carefully tracking patient results was evident after watching the evolution of laser vision correction outcomes. In the late 1980's and early 1990's, the surgery outcomes in Europe, Great Britain, and Canada were generally quite poor. As visual outcomes became better, it was very clear that surgeons who achieved outstanding visual results for their patients were those who gathered data as methodically as possible and then did careful follow-up and correlation of their patients' visual outcomes one by one. If you wanted to help your patients achieve the best possible visual outcomes it was apparent that you had to see them in follow-up and, most importantly, continue to hone the programming of the laser based on that ongoing experience. Having patients come in for follow-up exams and tracking data is expensive and time consuming, but that is the only way to know for sure that those who trust us are seeing the way they should.That is why high numbers of eyes treated without continuity of follow-up and patient care speaks more to running a laser vision correction surgery mill than a medical practice. We have seen a number of laser vision correction surgeons, surgery mills, and corporate chains come and go. We will see more come and go. Often these chains will even hire the surgeon from a corporate chain that previously failed in the area. There will be more bait and switch pricing schemes, more tier pricing where every little thing costs more. There will be more "closers" trying to find a trusting patient's "price point" for laser vision correction surgery. There will be more phony lifetime guarantees and cleverly disguised disclaimers, also known as the "20/40 or 20/30 waiver" (see question 4). There will be more people trying to commoditize laser vision correction surgery. Remember, you're not buying a TV. If you don't like the picture, you can't return the eyes.   « less