Question:
why isn't the consultation and the surgery done by
the same doctor? It really sounds strange to me, almost like an
assembly line sort of thing. Did you ask why they do it that way?
Answer:
Consumers are lining up for laser eye surgery with the promise of
shedding glasses and contacts on the cheap, thanks to the marriage of
medicine and the high-volume, low-margin world of commerce.
Corporate discount centers are busily competing in the Cleveland market
with prices of $999 an eye or less for surgery known as Lasik. The
centers, dubbed "laser mills" by critics, charge fees that can run one-
third to one-half the cost of surgery charged by private practices and
doctor-owned eye centers.
But discount surgery centers defy medical standards for patient care by
cutting corners on patient-doctor contact, according to some leading
doctors and other critics. The hallmark of discount laser is the
diminished role of the doctor in what Dr. Stephen Slade, a Lasik
pioneer, calls "the art of vision correction surgery."
Co-managing can also be prone to ethical abuses. When the Academy of
Ophthalmology and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive
Surgery announced a firm stance on surgeon responsibility in a joint
statement in February, they also warned members that co-management done
solely for economic reasons, specifically as an inducement for surgical
referrals, is unethical and in some cases may be ...
