Undergoing a LASIK surgery in order to improve your vision is a great treat to yourself. However, it is important that you entrust your eyes to a doctor whom you trust and whom you are confident. Conduct an inquiry in your area and even at the nearest metropolitan. Do not let location hinder you from getting the best one. It might take some time but it will definitely be a time well spent.

Preoperative Qualities of a Good LASIK Surgeon

There are a number of ways for you to determine who the best doctor in your locality is. The first quality that you should look for is the LASIK physician’s ability to assess your situation accurately. Someone who will be honest with you in giving the information that you need including whether or not LASIK is appropriate for you and your way of living. A good indicator of a conscientious physician is if he will take the time to really discuss to you your condition.

Look for a physician who is reputable and someone who has a good track record in the area. Never rely on advertisements. It is insufficient to put your trust to a doctor who advertises himself in a magazine or newspaper. Before agreeing to have a doctor handle your case, do a thorough investigation. At times, a LASIK center which advertises largely and offers discounted prices might be indicative that the quality of service is not very excellent. Be aware that over publicity might actually be a danger signal telling you to avoid the particular center.

Post Operative Attitude of a Good LASIK Surgeon

A physician who will get himself involved with the whole LASIK process is a good one. As mentioned earlier, he should be the one to do the assessment and discuss his findings with you. Apart from that, he must personally perform most if not all of your preoperative examinations. Included in this is monitoring the outcome of the procedure to ascertain that it has in fact been successful. He must be the one to do the follow up checks on you. This is important to note since there have been complaints from previous patients that they were not able to see their physicians after the surgery until such time that a certain problem arose.

You have to make sure that your physician is honest in his or her evaluation of the general LASIK procedure. A particular surgeon’s track record may be found out by conducting interviews with his previous patients. Ask for a specific individual example when the doctor has actually dissuaded a patient from undergoing the LASIK operation and ask his reason for this. Inquire for the total number of the LASIK operations the doctor has handled before you, especially during the last two years of his practice. If he has performed an approximate of 50 percent of the total population of patients who had submitted themselves to a refractive surgery in your locality, then he is considered experienced in his field.

Certification

Several nonprofit organizations or government agencies exist to provide certificates of patient outcome. The USA Eyes is a group advocating patient’s safety. Those patients who have previously undergone refractive surgery are enjoined to apply and be a part of a unique survey. Once a patient applies, a receipt will be given together with a survey that is mailed to the applicants. Mailing of survey and data retrieval will be controlled and facilitated by the said organization. The results of the survey will be compared to a cumulative peer outcome. In order for a good physician to receive a certification, the results of the submitted survey of his or her performance must be around 90 percent neutral responses to positive replies. The detailed report will be confidential and will be compared to the responses given in the previous years.

Only certified refractive surgeons will be noted for referrals. Determining whether a surgeon is actually listed would give you a good basis for the physician’s capacity in this field. Surgeons are actually encouraged to inform their patients to take part in this endeavor.

To maintain certification, surgeons are re-evaluated every quarter through a query made by a data bank of national practitioners. This is done annually to ensure the standard of care.

The Four Step Methodology of Certification

1.    Application or Credentialing

2.    Patient Survey

3.    Comparison Peers

4.    Re-evaluation/Recertification