Seeing More for Less with LASIK

By Adrienne Ziegler

Published on April 13, 2007

There are more and more reasons to consider LASIK laser vision correction surgery. Over the past several years, LASIK surgery has seen the addition of wavefront-guided technology, bladeless techniques, and more pre-surgery screening procedures for patients. As technology has advanced, results of the procedure have improved on a broad scale. Today, the competition among surgeons is fierce, with thousands of doctors nationwide offering the procedure. Because of this rapid growth in the industry, conventional LASIK surgery is significantly cheaper today than when it originally gained popularity in the mid-1990s. Due to these exciting technological advancements and the subsequent price drop, more Americans than ever are choosing some form of LASIK laser vision correction. In 2005 alone, it was estimated that more than 1.4 million Americans underwent either conventional or custom LASIK, based on data obtained from the first three quarters of that year.

According to the Center for Studying Health System Change (also known as HSC), the average price for conventional LASIK has declined by approximately 30 percent in the past 10 years (after adjustment for inflation). HSC has determined that increased competition between LASIK providers has kept the price low, even with more advanced and efficient technology on the market. During a congressional hearing on price transparency in 2006, Ha T. Tu, the senior health researcher at HSC, speculated that LASIK price competition could be fueled by two aspects: the ease with which ophthalmologists enter the market for LASIK surgery, and cheap, if not free, consultations for potential patients.

Other industry experts speculate that the “disruptive technology” continually introduced with LASIK surgery has driven down prices. According to Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen, a disruptive technology is one that starts out as a cheaper alternative to a more expensive standard. For LASIK, that means that as technology advances, the results of LASIK become less and less dependent on the skill and touch of an experienced surgeon. Instead, advanced technology has automated the procedure, driving down prices even more.

Despite these lower prices for conventional LASIK surgery, the costs for more advanced procedures, such as custom LASIK, are still significantly higher and don’t appear to be falling. But even with a significantly higher price tag on custom LASIK, the procedure is still growing in popularity. In fact, nearly half of the estimated 1.4 million LASIK procedures performed in 2005 were projected to be custom LASIK surgeries. On average, custom LASIK generally costs between $250 and $500 more per eye, depending on the surgeon’s level of experience, where the surgery is performed, and the technology used.

Despite these exciting developments making LASIK more affordable to a larger population, patients should be wary of aggressive marketing campaigns that advertise extremely low LASIK rates. Often, these practices will only perform LASIK for that price if the patient meets certain criteria and requires only minimal vision correction. They also may not be including the cost of the entire procedure, and certain pre- or post-operative care. Discount LASIK providers also handle a high volume of patients and do not spend a lot of time one-on-one with their patients. Read the fine print on advertisements and be sure to choose a surgeon whose experience matches your expectations.