Laser Eye Surgery Cost Cutting Tips

lazza_w

Oops, sorry Gray man. it's Optical express, not Optimax:whistle:

Mind you I found this on Ebay - £500 off for a quid http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/500-off-Optimax-laser-eye-surgery-free-consultation_W0QQitemZ230320180349QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Health_Beauty_VisionGlasses_Lenses_SM?hash=item230320180349&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1298%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

nadkad

Hey Gray Man try with Accuvision they gave me good price i am going for consultation on 22/Jan/08. Optimax disappointed me they are expensive .... but my recomendation is that shouldnt be paying more than £2000 for wavefront intralase lasik ..... as i get the final quote from other clinics i will get back to u .....

cherie1122

A woman I work with had her operation last week and it cost her £3000

My son paid £2400 in November. I'm not sure what the procedure was called but both of them had a surgical operation (not just laser treatment)

They're both really pleased with their sight now though :T

chivers1977

moneypenny2k wrote: »

Yep it is, you're looking at around £4-5k. not sure if there is a way around it. Have you talked to your doctor? Is there no sign of cataracts at all? Mine were very very early in their development. I guess it's in the doctor's interest to do as much work as possible so if there is any sign at all they will recomend it.

Why not make and pay for an appointment with one of the surgeon's that do the op and ask for their opinion. You'll get an idea of the costs as well as double checking to see if they can find any reason to do the op via bupa

Thanks for this. I am back for my contact lens checkup in July so will try and get some more idea then. I don't think that there is any sign of cataracts yet but my grandma and nana didn't get them until they were in their 70s.........

The_Gray_Man

Thanks for ther offer Lazza. Got you reply a bit too late to take you up on it.

My wife went to her consultation yesterday and below is what happened.

Arrived at 10am on time and we were the first there. My initial impression wasn't great. There were 3 reception girls and two boys, all seeming very young and not that experienced.

Anyway they confirmed my wife's basic details and got her to answer a simple questionare. Next we were taken upstairs to another waiting room. Here an older experienced lady carried out a comprehensive set of tests and explained the possible proceedurees, recovers times as well as the possible issues.

Finally we were

The_Gray_Man

Thanks for the offer Lazza, I checked too late to take you up on it.

Below is an account of our visit yesterday to the Bristol Optimax centre.

We arrived, on time, at 10am and were the first ones there. There were 3 reception girls and two boys. I say girls and boys because they all looked and acted quite young and inexperienced, which wasn't at all comforting.


They confirmed some basic details and got my wife to complete a simple questionare on a screen. Next we were escorted upstairs where another person, older and very experienced, carried out all the initial tests and explained all the proceedures as well as the recovery etc. This left my wife feeling very uncomfortable about the proceedure. This was because they covered all the negative aspects not just the potential benefits. This was a good sign in my book.

Once this was done we were taken to the basement where we both had the consultation with Dr Khurshid. He was polite but what I would call business like. Not brusk or uncaring just to the point, the sort of manner I like but possibly not to everyones taste. He re-confirmed some of the previous tests and carried out another test to confirm my wife's current perscription. Once he had done all this he explained the different proceedures and their suitability for my wife. He was at pains to explain that he does not gaurantee 100% success, but 95% is usual. He also explained the other 5%. Finally we discussed the best option for my wife.

This was LASIK with INTRALASE and WAVEFRONT. Now you might say "well he would wouldn't he, it's the most expensive". That would be true but it is also true that these options would provide the best potential results, which at the end of the day is what we all want. In all truth reading the bumpf they send through the post before the visit we had already identified that this was the best option for my wife.

Anyway he did not discuss money and we then returned to the reception area. Here they explained that if we wished to proceed today we would have the proceedure done at about 15:00 and then we got on to the subject of money.

They quoted the following per eye:

LASIK £895
INTRALASE £495
WAVEFRONT £395

That is a total of £3570 for both eyes. (OMG, !!!!!! & other phrases went through my mind)

Now we had discussed before the visit what price we would be happy to accept and we were happy with around £2500 (we would try for less but would settle for that).

On the wall in the reception is a poster that says if we are introduced by a "friend" we get a £500 discount and our friend gets £50. I asked the receptionist what the real price was as this was clearly their "standard" openning offer. She replied that she didn't understand what I meant. Either she was as new as I thought or better at the job than I thought. Anyway I explained about the poster and how I could come back another day with a "friend" and get £500 off, also that I knew full well that if we don't go ahead today Optimax will contact us in a few months offering a diso!!!!.

She said that she would have a word with her supervisor (does this sound at all familiar). She came back and whispered that she is allowed to offer £3370 if we want to use their interest free credit or £3070 for "cash". This was only £500 off in reality.

My wife was at this point feeling unsure about the operation so we said we would go for a coffee and come back in an hour with our decision. Anyway we decided to leave it for maybe another time or price. Maybe if they offer a lower price later and my wife feels more confortable with the proceedure we will return.

nadkad

The_Gray_Man wrote: »

Thanks for the offer Lazza, I checked too late to take you up on it.

Below is an account of our visit yesterday to the Bristol Optimax centre.

We arrived, on time, at 10am and were the first ones there. There were 3 reception girls and two boys. I say girls and boys because they all looked and acted quite young and inexperienced, which wasn't at all comforting.


They confirmed some basic details and got my wife to complete a simple questionare on a screen. Next we were escorted upstairs where another person, older and very experienced, carried out all the initial tests and explained all the proceedures as well as the recovery etc. This left my wife feeling very uncomfortable about the proceedure. This was because they covered all the negative aspects not just the potential benefits. This was a good sign in my book.

Once this was done we were taken to the basement where we both had the consultation with Dr Khurshid. He was polite but what I would call business like. Not brusk or uncaring just to the point, the sort of manner I like but possibly not to everyones taste. He re-confirmed some of the previous tests and carried out another test to confirm my wife's current perscription. Once he had done all this he explained the different proceedures and their suitability for my wife. He was at pains to explain that he does not gaurantee 100% success, but 95% is usual. He also explained the other 5%. Finally we discussed the best option for my wife.

This was LASIK with INTRALASE and WAVEFRONT. Now you might say "well he would wouldn't he, it's the most expensive". That would be true but it is also true that these options would provide the best potential results, which at the end of the day is what we all want. In all truth reading the bumpf they send through the post before the visit we had already identified that this was the best option for my wife.

Anyway he did not discuss money and we then returned to the reception area. Here they explained that if we wished to proceed today we would have the proceedure done at about 15:00 and then we got on to the subject of money.

They quoted the following per eye:

LASIK £895
INTRALASE £495
WAVEFRONT £395

That is a total of £3570 for both eyes. (OMG, !!!!!! & other phrases went through my mind)

Now we had discussed before the visit what price we would be happy to accept and we were happy with around £2500 (we would try for less but would settle for that).

On the wall in the reception is a poster that says if we are introduced by a "friend" we get a £500 discount and our friend gets £50. I asked the receptionist what the real price was as this was clearly their "standard" openning offer. She replied that she didn't understand what I meant. Either she was as new as I thought or better at the job than I thought. Anyway I explained about the poster and how I could come back another day with a "friend" and get £500 off, also that I knew full well that if we don't go ahead today Optimax will contact us in a few months offering a diso!!!!.

She said that she would have a word with her supervisor (does this sound at all familiar). She came back and whispered that she is allowed to offer £3370 if we want to use their interest free credit or £3070 for "cash". This was only £500 off in reality.

My wife was at this point feeling unsure about the operation so we said we would go for a coffee and come back in an hour with our decision. Anyway we decided to leave it for maybe another time or price. Maybe if they offer a lower price later and my wife feels more confortable with the proceedure we will return.

Hello Gray Man,

I think you missed my reply to you. First of all this laser eye surgery is a standard procedure in every (famous) clinics. Optical express i wont recommend you because they are concerned about money and they are traders. My suggestion to you is that go to other clinics and get quotation from them and compare these quotes and start emailing the companies .... Thats wht i am doing now a days.

For sure you are looking for the Wavefront Treatment With intralase which is the safest method.

Below you will find my price quotes from different clinics and today i am going to Accuvision lets see what they say.

Bear in mind i am travelling to Birmingham from Manchester for accuvision as they promised me some good offer ......

Both eyes -4.75

Treatment Offered Intralase Lasik Wavefront

16/01/2009 Ultra Lease £2400 (Both eyes) (Staff very friendly) offered life time guarantee as well for free treatment (if i am alive after the surgery )

18/12/2008 Optical Express £2100 (Both Eyes) (Staff cares about money and not very friendly)

Last think i would say you can save money .... it might take some time ....

lazza_w

Gray Man - very interested to hear how you got on as I had my appointment at Optical express in Bristol today and was quite impressed with the examination and advice I received today.

Contrary to nadkad's impression I did not find them overly concerned about pushing the most expensive option. I suppose that there is always going to be a difference dependant upon which branch you go to and who the staff/clinicians that you see. That doesn't mean that I'm going to ignore his/her opinion - confidence in who if actually going to mess with your eyes is paramount and, to me, is more important than the actual cost.

On arriving they conducted a series of examinations that I assume would rule me out of being a candidate for surgery if required (measurement of corneal thickness, tear production, glaucoma etc) and the wavefront bit.

After that was done I was examined by an optician to check both my prescription and also slit lamp examination, further checks for tear production. then plenty of time to discuss diffrent treatment options.

I'm medically orientated anyway (well actually I'm a vet, but the principles are the same in humans) so I was able to ask more detail about the effect of different procedures on the rate of healing, expected outcome, complication rate as well as long terms implications such as possible difficulties in choosing the appropriate lens strength when my lenses need replacing when I get older due to cataracts (laser surgery complicates the choice of refractive lens strength).

The relative benefits of wavefront vs 'standard' treatment (not much in my case but the cost difference is small enough for me to be likley to choose it) and microtome vs Intralase were discussed (other than reducing the healing by approximately a day there was no major benefit) so I felt that I wasn't pushed into the most expensive choice.

After reading more info on the web tonight I may consider intralase due to reduced risk of infection, largely due to my job, as it carries a lower risk of post op infection. I may be paranoid, but I work with a lot of bacterial infections and antibiotics so MRSA is a risk that might be higher for me than with someone who doesn't work in a medical environment. I will probably also discuss this with 'independant' people!

For reference my eyes aren't too bad (-1.25 both sides) and I was quoted :

£995 for 'standard' microtome and laser
£1700 for microtome and wavefront (the treatment recommended yo the optician)
£2390 for Intralase and wavefront.

I'll get £50 of as my sister in law has already had treatment by Optical Express if I choose to proceed with them and I may see if I can knock the waverfront with Intralase cost down to £2000 as well. I also managed to get them to throw in a free pair of blank lensed glasses to protect my eyes from contamination at work during the healing period.

nadkad

22/01/2009
Accuvison

Wavefront with Microtome £2000 both eyes and staff also ok but afraid to allow any1 put blad in my eyes .........

ck22

I had both my eyes done nearly 2 years ago at Optimax in Aberdeen. Can thoroughly recommend them but do haggle on the price. My initial costing was £2300 (Lasik, Intralase and Wavefront) but after mentioning Ebay deals and a bit more haggling got it down to £1450! :T