The Key to Safe Surgery in Any Field of Medicine is an Informed Patient.

Take time to research the LASIK center you are considering for surgery.

Dr. Robert K. Maloney offers the following guidelines to quality care and treatment:

• Find a doctor by getting referrals from other doctors or from patients who have had laser vision correction.
  
• Don’t be fooled by fancy advertisements about a particular laser center. Choose the doctor, not the laser center. Find out who will actually do your procedure, then ask about that doctor’s qualifications (e.g., board certification, special training).
  
• Choose a doctor who has done at least 5,000 LASIK surgeries. What a doctor doesn’t know can hurt you.
  
• Ask for information on your doctor’s complication rates, during surgery. If your doctor won’t tell you, find another one. For top surgeons, the figure is under 3 in 1,000.
  
• Ask what measures are taken to prevent infection. Look for a center with a sterile or dust-free operating room. Make sure that disposable parts are not reused. Insist that your eye be thoroughly sterilized. Also insist that the surgical instruments be sterilized before your surgery to eliminate the risk of transmission of HIV or hepatitis.
  
• Beware of advertisements pushing “low cost” surgery. Discount surgery is as good as a discount parachute. The potential savings are not worth the risk of receiving less than expert care!
  
• Expect to see very well after LASIK, but don’t expect to see perfectly. Each patient gets a slightly different result. The best surgeon in the world can’t guarantee 20/20 vision. As with any surgery, results are as individual as each patient. Beware of any doctor who promises 20/20 vision.
  
• If you feel like you’re getting a hard sell, you probably are. Go elsewhere. You’re not buying a car - this is real surgery.
  
• Choose a doctor who is a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Fellows must pass a rigorous board certification exam and conform to a strict code of ethics.
  
• While you investigate, don’t lose sight of the benefits: for most people a lifetime of bad vision can be cured in 5 minutes. LASIK surgery has improved the eyesight of millions of people around the world.