Learn About LASIK, EVO ICL and CLR: May 9

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You attain a lifestyle where you’re free from glasses and contacts. It’s a great way for you to learn by meeting our surgeons directly.

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We are going to answer the most commonly commonly asked questions, and then we invite you to submit questions using the Q&A button that is sitting at the bottom of your Zoom panel, you can submit questions at any time and those

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That we see more than one person wants to know about. We’ll answer here. We’ll answer as many as we can.

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But if we don’t answer your question on this webinar, as long as we have your email address, we will answer you directly afterwards to make sure that every question that gets asked today gets answered. My name is Sharif Madavi. I am the Chief Experience Officer here at the Laser Eye Center. And it’s just so pleased that I can work with our outstanding surgeons. We have two of them with us today, Dr. Joe Ling and Dr. Sood Kosik.

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We also have Renee in the background and she is going to be the one that is going to be responding to questions as you ask them. So let’s get started and talk about modern vision correction. And here on this first screen, what you see are a couple of patients that are fairly well known here in the Bay Area and beyond. Greg Papa.

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Had custom lens replacement with us several years ago. He’s the voice of the 49ers on the radio during football season and has a daily show on KNBR. Cameron Brink.

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Is a star basketball player at Stanford and then now is in the WNBA and her star continues to rise as an outstanding player. She had Evo ICL with us before her senior season and did phenomenally that season. So it absolutely improved her vision.

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Here is another patient, Yoel. He’s a big outdoors guy. He loves doing all sorts of sports and activities outdoors.

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And there was no question in his mind that not being able to see clearly got in his way by having modern vision correction and he had LASIK with us, he’s now better able to enjoy everything that he likes to do in life.

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And we have everyday patients that come in and we wanted to share with you a scene from a patient who was with us recently. And this is her husband. He was observing her CLR procedure and waiting for her as she came out.

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Of the procedure room.

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So Christine, how was that for you? So easy. Very, very easy and simple, but nothing in your time. Just a great process.

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In the middle here. Come on. We’re going to have this forever. Awesome. Thank you for letting us take care of you, Christine. We’re going to see you tomorrow morning. Absolutely. All right.

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You know, that’s the kind of scene that we get to experience on a daily basis whenever we’re with our patients. It’s just beautiful.

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To be able to help people achieve their goals in life. And that’s why we’re glad that you’re here today so that you can learn What we’re going to cover today is we’re going to help you understand how modern vision correction differs from traditional vision correction.

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We’re going to help you understand at least preliminarily if you are a good candidate for this.

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Which procedure might be the one best for you. We’ll talk about things like recovery and side effects and what to expect before, during, and after the procedure. And finally, we’ll end with cost and this question about does insurance cover it.

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But right now, I just wanted to to welcome and introduce Dr. Joseph Ling. Joe, so good to see you today. Thanks for being with us.

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Thank you, Sharif. And that was a great introduction. My name is Joseph Ling. I’m the medical director of Lenspace Surgery here at the Laser Eye Center of Silicon Valley.

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So one of the commonly asked questions that we get is, what is modern vision correction?

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But modern vision correction is simply the forefront of what we currently have in terms of vision correction techniques.

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We do all six major ones. And what that tells you is there’s no one single procedure that’s right for every single person.

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Many people will be a great candidate for one. Or a few of them. And some people won’t be a candidate for any of them. So the most important thing is to understand that it’s a tailored approach Here at the Laser Eye Center, we have a model is we always do the right thing and we offer conservative advice

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With procedures that truly work. So every single person I walk through the door will get that treatment.

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And Dr. Lang, I’m just going to show a slide here, put it up on the screen for you. It’s kind of like basic anatomy in a way, but what is it that happens with our eyesight and why is it that people need to wear glasses or contacts in the first place?

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So this is a great diagram here to understand in a very preliminary level how the I worked and how does the vision focus? Why do we need glasses and why some people don’t and why do we all eventually need glasses at some point?

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So think of the eye here. As a camera. This is a cross section of the eye looking from the side. You can see the internal structure as well.

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To the left-hand side is the cornea that is like the windshield of the car, say you’re the passenger looking out, that’s the windshield that also acts as like the first pair of glasses that you ever had. You’re born with it.

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So that cornea doesn’t really change much throughout the course of our life.

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So light would go through that cornea and then go through the pupil which is the color green part and right behind it is the lens, which is another said pair of glasses. So you kind of have two pairs of glasses going on your eye.

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This lens ages and changes over the course of our life and that is what causes our vision to drift dramatically, especially once we hit our 40s. This is when people start to need reading glasses, progressive bifocals.

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Maybe they never needed glasses before in their entire life and up until this point.

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And this lens will continue to start this process of aging deterioration. We call it dysfunctional lens syndrome.

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And it ultimately becomes a cataract, which many people have heard of is where the lens become very cloudy.

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So this lens will then transmit the light finally to the back part of the eye where the retina is. That’s kind of like the film of the camera where the image gets process and sent to the brain.

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And we formed the vision. So the light has to go through all these uh these surfaces, these glasses, the corneal lens, to get focus onto the retina for us to achieve clear vision without glasses. Because if anything is out of focus, then thereby people wear glasses, contact lenses.

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Or other type of visual aid.

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And Dr. Ling, what happens if someone is born and they’re, you know, and in childhood, they need glasses, right? It’s not a problem of a lens. It’s a problem with the cornea.

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And explain why is that cornea too steep, too flat? What’s going on there?

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Yeah, so at a very basic level Some people are born with needs for glasses and some people develop them through their childhood and need for glasses. The whole world is getting more nearsighted.

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In general, and that has something to do with our environmental changes. So when that happens, it’s a combination of the cornea, the first pair of glasses that you’re born with.

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And the length of your eyeball. So imagine that retina just keeps going further back the light would get out of focus. This is typically how kids become nearsighted.

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With age. The lens itself in the middle, typically when we’re born, is very clear, very functional. It does its job well.

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So in terms of different techniques that we use to correct the need for glasses, especially for those who are below the age of 45, We are typically looking to correct for the cornea the cornea To correct for nearsightedness and even some farsightedness is possible.

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We could also use an implant to correct for the inborn need for glasses or the developmental need for glasses called ICL. So instead of touching the cornea, we can use an implant to correct for the vision and the need for glasses, all the while leaving the natural, very functional lens in place.

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I’m going to move on now to the next slide so you can explain to people what happens if they choose to have LASIK with us, if they’re a candidate for one of our three versions of LASIK.

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Yes. So laser vision correction is a longstanding, very effective and very safe option for vision correction. Typically.

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We use it to correct for the developmental inborn need for glasses. So a lot of folks below the age of 45, sometimes it can even be all the way up to 55, LASIK, Smile, PRK all falls under the laser vision correction category is very effective. And what is laser vision corrections? It’s using a very advanced, precise laser that adjusts the shape of your cornea.

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So it’s kind of like having your first pair of glasses remade. We resurface it so that the contour of that cornea that glasses is correct for your visual need.

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And can you describe the image on the right and what the patient experiences?

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Yeah. So when you have LASIK done or SMO or PRK done, the procedure itself is very controlled and very simple You’re laying flat on this bed that you can see on the left-hand side. And as you look up, you see the image on the right.

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You don’t see anything scary or unusual, nothing coming towards you. You’re just really looking at that green blinking light.

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The laser is invisible. It is a cold laser, and it just adjusts the shape for you.

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And typically treatments only last from anywhere from two to 15 seconds.

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Painless, well tolerated. The process is very seamless and most people with LASIK and SML, they are seeing well within 24 hours.

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And now let’s turn to you, Dr. Koshek. Welcome. Said to the webinar, so glad to have you today. And Dr. Ling sees patients in our San Jose office. And Dr. Koshek sees patients in our Pleasanton office. And Dr. Bindi, who couldn’t be with us today.

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Does LASIK in both in both offices as well. But Dr. Kosick, you’re a refractive surgeon, a specialist as well. What motivated you to get into refractive surgery.

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Yeah, thank you so much, Sharif. And thank you, Dr. Ling. Very excited to be here and answer these kind of questions.

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What got me excited to get into reproductive surgery? The technology and the outcomes that we can deliver to patients.

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I think we’re always at the forefront of Like Dr. Ling mentioned, we do all the modern vision techniques and that kind of allows us to customize and tailor our approach for each individual patient.

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And then when you see the outcomes, you see how happy these patients are like you’ve seen in the pictures in the video.

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That’s almost a very self-sustaining process for me. You do the surgery, you do the work, and then you see the excited, happy result.

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And then you just want to do more and more. And so that’s really what brought me into refractive surgery is improving vision, improving lives, improving quality of life.

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Well, and here’s one of the procedures that we perform and that you specialize in, the ICL, the insertable contact lens. Could you talk a little bit about this and And why some patients might be a better candidate for this versus laser vision correction.

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Sure. Yeah. So this is the Evo ICL. We colloquially call it insertable contact lens.

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Also known as insertable columnar lens. But this lens you can kind of imagine or think of this as a contact lens.

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A contact lens, obviously you’re putting onto your cornea, that clear windshield that Dr. Ling was mentioning.

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And that sits there until you take it off, usually at the end of the day. And this is a process that you repeat in day in and day out. And maybe your eyes are dry, maybe it doesn’t sit very well. Maybe it just feels irritated.

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Those are some of the limitations of contact lens. With this Evo ICL, You can imagine we are putting in a lens inside of your eye that corrects your vision. So now when you wake up in the morning.

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You just see you’re not putting anything onto your eye. And then at the end of the day, when you want to go to bed.

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You just close your eyes. There’s nothing to worry about, nothing to take off.

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So this is a painless procedure that takes roughly about 10 minutes or so that we can do in our office per eye, 10 to 15 minutes per eye.

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Correct your nearsightedness as well as correct your astigmatism. And patients say that their quality of vision is fantastic. Immediately the next day, they notice that improvement.

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No one can tell that you have this in your eye. Obviously, an eye doctor and eye surgeon can look and identify and see that it’s there, but the layperson has no way of knowing.

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You cannot feel it. You cannot… sense it in your eyes. So it’s just a very painless, easy way to improve vision. And we do not require the use of a laser with this technology.

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Yes, and this procedure has been available in the United States for almost as long as LASIK. We’ve had LASIK for over 25 years, the ICL for about roughly 20 years or more. And this latest version, the Evo ICL, is just even better. It’s just an advancement of that technology.

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A lot of patients who qualify for this are grateful that they do because maybe they didn’t qualify for LASIK.

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Dr. Ling, I’m going to turn it back to you for a moment as we’re going to get into one of the other lens procedures we do, which is Custom lens replacement, but we’re going to go back to the eye for a moment and I’ll bring up the Randia image in just a second. But if you want to start here.

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So for custom lens replacement we are now looking into how the vision changes as we age. There’s an age-related change mechanism.

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That affects our site as we go forward in life. That typically starts in our 40s, as early as our 40s. That is when we start to notice, hmm.

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When I bring something up close I have difficulty seeing it. Or simply when you Put on glasses see far. For some people who are nearsighted, they put on glasses see far, but then they can’t see up close to their

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Classes. Why does that happen and why is it so universal? And if you didn’t know, it happens to everyone and it’s not just you if you happen to be experiencing it.

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This occurs because the natural lens within our eyes starts to deteriorate. Should we have this video here Where you can see this lens kind of expanding and contracting This is called accommodation. This is a phenomenon where the eyes automatically autofocus for you and does it very well that we take it for granted when we’re younger. We don’t even know that it’s happening. We just know that we can see.

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Unfortunately, this process starts to fall apart usually starting our 40s and intractably worse and worse. So every year, then the amount of reading glasses progressives increases.

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The lens age and this process of hardening and loss of flexibility continues onwards until it starts to become a cataract.

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So one does not simply develop cataract overnight And as you now understand it, it is a progression, a spectrum of worsening of vision over the lifetime.

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So as the lens becomes hardened and cloudy and typically for most people is usually in their mid to late 50s.

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The lens will start to produce noticeable amount of glare. That’s why people start to feel like, hmm, my glasses do not work as well as they used to.

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Nighttime driving becoming more difficult. I seem to need more light just to see things that I used to feel very comfortable seeing.

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Image right here that Shuri has put up. On the left side, you have a normal lens. On the right side you have this yellowish tinted lens that seemed to be scattering light all across a retina instead of a nice pinpoint focus. And that is the effect of cataract affecting someone

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Now. Many people in the past have waited till whereas debilitating uh called a medically necessary cataract.

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But in modern vision correction techniques. Many people do not need to go through that deteriorating process.

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For many people is already symptomatic in their mid to late 50s.

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Not just counting the glasses, but just difficulty tracking golf balls, reading the menu in the restaurants. So many people would opt for a procedure called custom lens replacement.

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Which will replace the cloudy lens, the dysfunctional lens. With a synthetic one that outperforms this dysfunctional lens.

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Correcting the need for glasses stabilizing the stabilizing the vision so it doesn’t change anymore and As a bonus, taking care of the cataract or doing it so that you will never develop cataract for the rest of your life.

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That’s a great overview. And I want to now just kind of pause because we reviewed our main procedures, LASIK, the Evo ICL and custom lens replacement. Dr. Kosick, if someone has astigmatism.

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Can these procedures take care of astigmatism?

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Yes, yes. So any one of these procedures, EVO ICL, laser vision correction.

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Or a custom lens replacement can take care of astigmatism. And so we can basically take a look at your eyes, know what type of astigmatism you have, where it’s located, and be able to determine for you what is the best procedure that can help improve your vision.

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Got it. Got it. And just a reminder to all of you who are on the webinar watching, you are welcome to submit a question using the Q&A button. You can also do it in the chat.

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And we will see this come up and we’ll answer questions that you have.

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Let’s talk a little bit before we get more into what’s going on with custom lens replacement. Let’s just talk about procedures in general.

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What are the side effects typically? Dr. Ling, Dr. Kosher, let’s talk about side effects of procedures and what people can expect.

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Yeah, so side effects with vision correction in general are well understood.

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And in the right patient, very minimal and very well tolerated. That’s why LASIK has become a household term.

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The success of it. That’s why ICL is taking off across the globe and that’s why custom lens replacement Which the way to think about custom lens replacement is essentially a very advanced form of cataract surgery, a lens exchange being around for 60 years has such high level of safety that we are doing now electively for vision correction purposes.

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We can definitely break down the common side effects associated with each type of procedure. Of course, these are unique.

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I can speak to laser vision correction, such as LASIK small PRK.

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Because we changed the shape of your cornea, many people experiences some dry sensitivity afterwards. The most important part is making sure that you are evaluated for any severe dry prior to the procedure.

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So for those who have severe dry is important and imperative to take care of that condition before moving forward.

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Because in the appropriate individual in which the dry is under control.

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The dry sensitivity after laser vision correction is very mild and very well tolerated and typically gone by about four weeks out.

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That’s great. Dr. Koshek, any other side effects or things you want to mention

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Yeah, yeah, definitely. One thing I want to echo, which Dr. Ling had mentioned before is we provide conservative advice to our patients. And so part of that whole process is identifying the ideal patient and knowing that we are only performing surgery on patients whose anatomy would benefit from it. So I want to talk about one type of

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Side effect, if you will. Some patients might have heard of someone having a custom lens replacement or a cataract surgery, and then they hear that, oh, you know, my vision is, you know, I noticed this glare or I notice this halo or something like that.

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And so part of that too, we do a very thorough exam. We look at the eye in detail with our advanced vision analysis. And we also screen out certain conditions. If you, for example, have severe glaucoma or you have a lot of diabetic changes to your eye. We will adjust our approach accordingly and we will never put in something that would compromise your vision.

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Part of side effects with modern vision correction have to do with was that patient an ideal candidate to begin with?

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And I think that’s something that we strive to do very well here is identifying ideal candidates for surgery.

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So that we don’t have patients that end up in the position with these kind of intolerable side effects that you might hear about online or from a a family member.

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Got it. You know, we’ve got questions coming in now, so I’m just going to go to that. And so a few people said, you know, hey, I was in before I was in here five years ago. One was eight years ago, and I was told I wasn’t a candidate for LASIK. Why wasn’t I offered These procedures, well, first of all.

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You know, we moved from LASIK only to laser vision correction just about four years ago.

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Dr. Lang, I believe when you joined us to became a full practice and We also knew having treated tens of thousands of LASIK patients over the years, and many of them might be on this webinar.

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That ultimately the aging lens would require attention. So I think that kind of answers that question. I also want to ask a question.

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A question of you guys. Dr. Ling, could you just talk about the difference between traditional cataract surgery and custom lens replacement?

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Yes. Great question. I mentioned a little briefly about how there’s a lot of similarity between the two, but there are very stark differences as well.

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Basic cataract surgery has been around for a long time. And the goal of cataract surgery is really to rescue the vision from a medically necessary debilitating cataracts. So typically there’s someone who’s been told, yeah, your cataract’s not ripe enough yet, or hey, you should wait a little bit longer and you’re just

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Biting your time until you slowly go blind from the cataract.

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And then you get a basic cataract surgery. The goal of the basic cataract surgery really isn’t to get rid of glasses.

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It is really to get rid of the cataract and place a synthetic lens so that glasses will work better for you afterwards as a result.

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This is in contrast to custom lens replacement. And it’s different at almost every part of the process.

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It is different on the front end when you come in for a consultation because when you get evaluated for custom lens replacement, you receive an advanced vision analysis and consultation that determines your lifestyle, your needs and your desire to get out of glasses. There’s a very tailored discussion on how you would like your vision to be as you go through a custom lens replacement, which you typically don’t get when you are evaluate for cataract surgery.

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Right. And go ahead. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.

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During the procedure. Oh, yeah. Sorry. I’ll also go over kind of the procedure and then also the post-op so During the procedure, you’re now being considered for all the advanced technologies that typically isn’t utilized in traditional basic cataract surgery. These are advanced implants.

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These are implants that can help you see far and near. There are various techniques that we do during surgery that reduces prescription like astigmatism, which basic cataract surgery cannot achieve.

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So what Sharif pulled up here are IOLs, intraocular lenses. There are a variety of them.

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We have access to all of them here at the Laser Eye Center of Silicon Valley, and we have the experience to utilize these. That’s also another important factor to consider. A traditional cataract surgeon typically does about 90% basic caster surgery and You may hear of premium cataract surgery. It’s kind of similar to custom lens replacement. But again, for most traditional practices, that’s just about 10% what they do or even less.

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But the laser eye center of Silicon valley Custom lens replacement is 100% premium. So our understanding and knowledge of how these lenses function and performs and how they can address certain desires and goal-driven outcomes is is at the highest level. So we can talk with you, okay, which lenses would fit you the best?

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Which ones wouldn’t work well for you. We will help you make that decision. We don’t leave it to our patients to make that decision for themselves because that’s simply there isn’t enough understanding there for that patient to guide themselves. So we’re here to assist.

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And then post-operatively, we ensure that the outcome is met with several other advanced techniques. So for many people, after they had custom lens replacement, there are certain lenses that can be adjusted. We utilize a light adjustable lens as one of the options.

00:26:16.000 –> 00:26:22.000
Or simply, if there’s a surprise that, hey, the way I healed, I end up with still a little bit of prescription.

00:26:22.000 –> 00:26:37.000
We can use laser vision correction to fine tune things. So our access to vision correction techniques and technologies allow custom lens replacement to exist as a far superior option compared to basic cataract surgery.

00:26:37.000 –> 00:26:43.000
Dr. Koshek there are questions about How old is too old to qualify for one of these procedures? How would you answer that?

00:26:43.000 –> 00:26:55.000
I would answer it very simply by saying we don’t have an upper age limit. I think If you’re experiencing changes to your vision and you want to get out of glasses or contacts.

00:26:55.000 –> 00:27:08.000
We will do a thorough examination and quite possibly have a solution for you no matter your So come in, get that free consultation and hear what we have to offer.

00:27:08.000 –> 00:27:09.000
103. Yeah.

00:27:09.000 –> 00:27:19.000
Dr. Ling, the oldest patient you’ve treated to date? 103. Okay, so there you go. And that would cover most of the population right there, just about everybody. So yes, we can take care of you. You’re not too old.

00:27:19.000 –> 00:27:24.000
You may be too young. We need, you know, for laser vision correction, you’d have to be at least 18.

00:27:24.000 –> 00:27:39.000
By the way, this was approved. And we are getting some specific questions. I have this level of astigmatism and this level of refractive error. Well, the only way we can really tell you for sure is to have a consultation. We’ll talk about how you can schedule that.

00:27:39.000 –> 00:27:50.000
In a minute. Dr. Ling, would you just describe what we have here with our procedure rooms?

00:27:50.000 –> 00:27:51.000
Yeah.

00:27:51.000 –> 00:28:00.000
Yeah, I just want to do a very quick, excuse me, answer to that astigmatism Let’s put it this way. Fda approval for laser correction for astigmatism goes all the way up to six diopters.

00:28:00.000 –> 00:28:14.000
So that means astigmatist, there’s a common myth out there that, oh, you know, maybe 25 years ago When I had an evaluation, I was told I couldn’t have LASIK because I have astigmatism. That is definitively not relevant anymore. Again.

00:28:14.000 –> 00:28:27.000
If you have up to six doctor astigmatism, there’s a possibility. Now, there’s other factors we absolutely will look into to see if you qualify, but asymmetism certainly isn’t an issue for candidacy.

00:28:27.000 –> 00:28:41.000
So that’s one thing to consider. Farsightedness can be treated with all the options here as well as nearsightedness. We can treat nearsightedness all the way up to Minus 20, minus 21 through the combination of many procedures.

00:28:41.000 –> 00:28:57.000
So these are things that if you have a question about, well, is my prescription going to be able to be treated the chances are in modern vision correction technique, there is a way and we will just need to have you evaluate it to see if it can be done effectively and safely.

00:28:57.000 –> 00:29:09.000
Yeah. And, you know, we are We’re so proud of the fact that we can do the procedures in-house. We have our own operating suite, our office-based surgical suite.

00:29:09.000 –> 00:29:16.000
Dr. Lane, why’d we do that? Why did we bother to do that versus just meeting a patient at a surgery center or hospital?

00:29:16.000 –> 00:29:28.000
We are very, very focused on patient experience here. Patient outcome, patient safety, patient experience. We pride ourselves in our concierge level of care.

00:29:28.000 –> 00:29:40.000
So when a patient comes in. They see our staff, they meet us, they do the advanced vision analysis, they get to know us, and then we’re very excited to do their procedure. They’re excited to get out of glasses. They come in for a day of procedure.

00:29:40.000 –> 00:29:56.000
It is the same type of excitement and environment. So they’re not showing up at a completely different location, meeting a whole different sets of staff in a very cold, sterile environment. It’s all friendly faces environment they’re very familiar with.

00:29:56.000 –> 00:30:11.000
And it’s also just simply convenient. They know exactly where we are. When they come in for laser vision, whether it’s laser vision correction or custom lens replacement or ICL, They’re able to get both ice done on the same day, a seamless process, no IVs, no getting stick.

00:30:11.000 –> 00:30:18.000
Our workflow is that you get a painless procedure through topical anesthetics. We provide some oral Valium.

00:30:18.000 –> 00:30:25.000
Everyone has an experience that is some ways way better than they could have imagined.

00:30:25.000 –> 00:30:32.000
We totally understand that getting vision correction or anything done for your eyes can be a little bit intimidating.

00:30:32.000 –> 00:30:36.000
But everyone that went through this invariably say it’s much easier than I thought.

00:30:36.000 –> 00:30:45.000
And it’s easier than going to the dentist and all these things that basically allow them to recommend all these procedures to their friends and family.

00:30:45.000 –> 00:30:59.000
Well, and you see here pictures on the screen right now of patients. The one in the middle, Dr. Ling, that was one of your patients, like literally One minute after she had her CLR procedure, right? We saw that other patient walking out and that’s a misconception about

00:30:59.000 –> 00:31:07.000
Modern vision correction and people, they walk in and they walk out a few minutes later. It’s part of why we love what we do.

00:31:07.000 –> 00:31:14.000
Dr. Kushik, you’re celebrating here with this family. What’s going on? This person has their dog with them. How did that happen?

00:31:14.000 –> 00:31:27.000
Yeah, this was just one day after a custom lens replacement and she was able to just wake up and see and uh We both have dogs, so we were talking about that and she brought the dog in so I could share in the excitement.

00:31:27.000 –> 00:31:34.000
Talk a little bit more, Dr. Koshek, about the recovery process. Some people want to understand that better across our different procedures.

00:31:34.000 –> 00:31:56.000
Yeah, so one thing we do make a distinction of is recovery is a little bit different whether you’ve had a laser vision procedure or you’ve had a lens based procedure but just speaking kind of in broad terms, I think we can say recovery is very fast for any one of these procedures. Patients typically the very next day wake up and are able to see much, much better than they did

00:31:56.000 –> 00:32:22.000
Before having the surgery. Now, just speaking in broad terms about laser vision correction, typically we tell patients to kind of take it easy that first week, try not to go into dirty, dusty environments or contaminated water sources like pools and jacuzzis and lakes. And those are all very similar with a lens replacement as well. But for the vast majority of patients within one week, they’re off and running. And then one month we check again.

00:32:22.000 –> 00:32:28.000
And make sure everything looks really good, very healthy, and then kind of transition care from

00:32:28.000 –> 00:32:32.000
And Dr. Ling, anything to add about recovery, what to expect?

00:32:32.000 –> 00:32:39.000
Yeah, I mean, most patients always think they need more time than really is the reality.

00:32:39.000 –> 00:32:46.000
Laser vision correction ICLs, most individuals are seeing excellent the next day, being able to drive without glasses, return to work.

00:32:46.000 –> 00:33:03.000
Within a day or two. Custom lens replacement follows a very similar route. Custom lens replacement is a very LASIK like experience. So most people are seeing dramatically better the next day And we do give a little bit more of a window. I typically tell my patient three to five days later.

00:33:03.000 –> 00:33:07.000
You’re back to work or doing normal things that you used to love.

00:33:07.000 –> 00:33:14.000
You know, one of the things that we like to talk about with our patients is that we’re our patients as well.

00:33:14.000 –> 00:33:18.000
As you can see here, all three of our surgeons have had one of our procedures.

00:33:18.000 –> 00:33:35.000
I have had Epilasic PRK now. Gosh, it’s been 30 years ago When I was just a child, practically, having that procedure. And we’re fortunate now with Renee. I’m going to ask Renee to come on camera. Renee has had one of our procedures.

00:33:35.000 –> 00:33:41.000
And Renee, just make sure you’re on mute. Thank you. Renee, talk about what it was like. You had custom lens replacement now a couple of years ago. What was life like beforehand? What’s life like now?

00:33:41.000 –> 00:34:10.000
Yeah. Yeah, sure. Thanks for having me on. I was not a good candidate for LASIK. I did not wear glasses up until I was probably young 40s. And I kind of hated them. I had to wear readers and I wore them for a few years and kind of ended up wearing my Raiders around the house because I didn’t want to wear them out of the house. And then I started wearing progressives. And I started wearing them to play tennis, which I did on

00:34:10.000 –> 00:34:15.000
Every day and kind of throughout my life, I was just wearing glasses for everything.

00:34:15.000 –> 00:34:35.000
And I did not like the version of myself that I became wearing glasses for everything. So I knew I wasn’t a candidate for LASIK and I knew that wasn’t going to help me. So I came in and I kind of learned about CLR and learned that it was not only a solution, but that it was a

00:34:35.000 –> 00:34:47.000
Permanent solution. And if there’s anything that I liked better than a solution, it was learning that it was permanent. And so that seemed intriguing to me. And I kind of thought about it for a little bit and I thought.

00:34:47.000 –> 00:35:07.000
Yeah, so I said yes to the vision. And I came in and I decided to do it and um You know, I’ve made some good decisions in my life, but I think it’s probably near the top. In fact, it was such a good decision and it’s changed the quality of my life so much that

00:35:07.000 –> 00:35:23.000
I’m sitting here working and I get the joy of talking to people every day about it and not just about my experience, but I get to help them decide if they want to do it or not and at least talk about the joy that I’ve gotten out of it. And it just has changed.

00:35:23.000 –> 00:35:39.000
You know, running out of my house every day without worrying about contact blend solution and getting the right pair of glasses for the right kind of thing. And it’s just really, it’s been very impactful for me. So that’s kind of my story.

00:35:39.000 –> 00:35:40.000
Yeah.

00:35:40.000 –> 00:35:45.000
Well, Renee, thank you. Thank you for sharing your experience. It kind of reminds me of a lot of the reviews that we read. We invite any of you, go to Google, go to Yelp, see the reviews.

00:35:45.000 –> 00:35:46.000
See what people are saying after they have modern vision correction with us is.

00:35:46.000 –> 00:35:49.000
Yeah.

00:35:49.000 –> 00:35:57.000
Often they’re just blown away and they say, really, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. And I wish I had done it sooner. It was worth every bit that I paid. Those are three common things. We invite you to go read those yourself.

00:35:57.000 –> 00:36:00.000
Yeah.

00:36:00.000 –> 00:36:10.000
Dr. Lange, when people come in, we obviously people, we can’t tell them on the telephone if they’re a candidate. We can’t say, oh, yes, let’s schedule surgery. They need to have an in-person exam.

00:36:10.000 –> 00:36:15.000
Could you just explain briefly what our advanced vision analysis is all about?

00:36:15.000 –> 00:36:41.000
Absolutely. So advanced vision analysis is our culmination of the latest in technology to understand one’s eye and vision. So we have more than a million data point being collected for each individual in which we can understand both the health of their eyes at baseline, we commonly identify conditions that people may not even realize they have.

00:36:41.000 –> 00:36:48.000
We understand the way they see. We understand if they’re a good candidate for a certain type of procedures.

00:36:48.000 –> 00:37:10.000
We understand the qualities of vision as well. Through our measurements so we can help them achieve, you know, is quality of And kind of… priority. I work with a lot of Mark Sands pilots. We have devices that can understand kind of how sharp can we make that vision as well as

00:37:10.000 –> 00:37:16.000
What are you a candidate for in terms of certain type of lenses if we’re looking at custom lens replacement.

00:37:16.000 –> 00:37:36.000
Thank you. Also, let’s talk a little bit about price because people want to know about price and what cost is. And I’ll cover that one for us The procedures themselves differ by the type of procedure you’re doing. So if it’s a laser procedure, it’s going to be roughly just under $300 a month if you were to

00:37:36.000 –> 00:37:49.000
Finance this over 24 months, and there’s no interest fee for that. You just break it up over 24 months, a little under 300 for the Evo ICL, a little under 400. And for custom lens replacement, a little under 600, unless you have

00:37:49.000 –> 00:38:04.000
A light adjustable lens and we have to charge a little more for that. In round numbers, you’re looking at roughly 7,000, 10,000, or $14,000 for both eyes to be treated and to be taken care of by us. And that includes everything.

00:38:04.000 –> 00:38:16.000
Including your medications and your post-op visits. And if we need to make an adjustment. And Dr. Ling, someone was asking like, oh, after CLR, how likely is it that you’re going to need a LASIK adjustment? How do you address that question?

00:38:16.000 –> 00:38:24.000
Typically, I would say it’s roughly about 1%. We can control for a lot of things when we do these procedures.

00:38:24.000 –> 00:38:39.000
But not everything. And that’s what that 1% stems from. We can’t control each individual’s healing process. We can control just kind of the unpredictable nature of how each person responds to the lens placement itself.

00:38:39.000 –> 00:38:49.000
But we have a very good understanding. So even in that 1% that needs a LASIK touch, it means that there is a solution, that there’s never a place where we’re like, oh, we’re just stuck.

00:38:49.000 –> 00:39:00.000
So we look at the advanced vision analysis will tell us whether we need to utilize certain technologies to help adjust the vision afterwards, such as the light adjustable lenses.

00:39:00.000 –> 00:39:23.000
We also want to know your history of prior surgery. If you had LASIK before, absolutely, you’re a candidate still for custom lens replacement. If you had even older procedures like RK, Absolutely. You could still be a candidate. These things all feed into our nomogram, our analysis to determine the highest chance of success. And if we need to do additional things later.

00:39:23.000 –> 00:39:30.000
Whether it is planned or it’s unplanned in that small percentage point everything’s taken care of.

00:39:30.000 –> 00:39:45.000
People are wanting to know more. People are wanting to know our experience. I will just reiterate This is something that our surgeons have dedicated their careers to. This is all they do. That’s what distinguishes us from most other eye care practices.

00:39:45.000 –> 00:39:52.000
Sell glasses or contact lenses. We do not manage disease like glaucoma or diabetes.

00:39:52.000 –> 00:40:04.000
Or retina issues. We do require, if you’re a candidate and it’s for our lens procedure CLR, we will ask you to get clearance from your primary care doctor. That’s just part of the routine of what we do.

00:40:04.000 –> 00:40:20.000
We have done thousands and thousands of these procedures because it’s all we do. We’re just hyper specialized in that way. And the next step is for you to have a consultation and there’s Basically, a few different ways to do that. You can sign up in person. This is right on our website.

00:40:20.000 –> 00:40:33.000
Schedule my appointment in either San Jose or Pleasanton. If you’d rather do something virtually and have a meeting like this, but one-on-one with one of our counselors, we welcome you to do that. We’ll discuss your individual goals and needs.

00:40:33.000 –> 00:40:38.000
If you’d like to just talk about cost, you can just fill out the form on our website.

00:40:38.000 –> 00:40:57.000
And we will get in touch with you to have a 15 minute phone conversation about how we can make this affordable for you. But this is something that we’ve dedicated our careers and I’d say our lives too, just making people’s lives better by allowing them to see better. And it has been a absolute privilege to do that and to have you on the call today.

00:40:57.000 –> 00:41:02.000
And I just show you a wall. This is inside our San Jose office when you come in.

00:41:02.000 –> 00:41:09.000
For an appointment, you will walk by this wall. These are all patients who wore glasses until they didn’t.

00:41:09.000 –> 00:41:19.000
It’s something that we’re just so proud of and what we do and so glad. We feel privileged that we’re able to help so many people in the Bay Area. Our practice has been around now for over 25 years.

00:41:19.000 –> 00:41:26.000
We’re going to be here for many, many more years as well. And specific questions, if we didn’t answer them on this webinar.

00:41:26.000 –> 00:41:35.000
We will answer them directly from you. I know, Dr. Ling, you have to go. You have an appointment here in just a couple of minutes.

00:41:35.000 –> 00:41:40.000
Dr. Koshek, you were gracious enough to say you would stay on and we will continue to answer questions.

00:41:40.000 –> 00:41:50.000
This is kind of the formal end of the webinar. Oh, but one thing, except for one thing. Next week, we will be launching a spring into summer.

00:41:50.000 –> 00:42:01.000
Promotion that we are doing. We don’t typically do these and we don’t talk about them on webinars, but they would allow you to get some savings. And those of you on the webinar are eligible for this.

00:42:01.000 –> 00:42:20.000
We will offer a savings of $600 per eye from our typical fee to you if you have come in for your consultation and schedule your procedure by June 21st, the first day of summer. You can have the procedure actually done after that, but you need to come in

00:42:20.000 –> 00:42:38.000
Have your consultation, make sure you’re a candidate. Again, we do not charge a fee for that. And then schedule your procedure before the first day of summer. So it’s called spring into summer, and you’ll probably see more details of that, but I encourage you to go to our website and schedule a consultation. It’s 2020 eyesight.com.

00:42:38.000 –> 00:42:48.000
You can email us more questions. If you just Google us laser Eye Center Silicon Valley, it’ll come right up. But we are so happy to help you.

00:42:48.000 –> 00:42:56.000
Dr. Ling, just in time, I know you’re going to just disappear in a moment, but Dr. Kosick, let’s just stay on for a while. We’ll keep answering some questions.

00:42:56.000 –> 00:43:00.000
All right. Thank you for attending, everyone. And I look forward to meeting each and every one of you.

00:43:00.000 –> 00:43:03.000
All right. Thank you, Sharice. Thank you, Dr. Kosick.

00:43:03.000 –> 00:43:04.000
Thank you, Dr. Killing.

00:43:04.000 –> 00:43:11.000
You’re welcome. Thank you. Dr. Kosick, can someone have CLR if they’ve had LASIK in the past?

00:43:11.000 –> 00:43:28.000
Yes. So we often do a custom lens replacement for patients who have had any kind of laser vision in the past, and we can get them to have wonderful results. And oftentimes we’ll also employ that advanced technology lens that we had talked about earlier, that light adjustable lens, in order to get them the best possible vision.

00:43:28.000 –> 00:43:46.000
Yes. And, you know, let me answer a question about insurance because people saying, does insurance cover this? And insurance does not cover what we do, which is called refractive surgery. So LASIK and the Evo ICL are considered elective. There’s choices that people make because they want to see better and they pay for them.

00:43:46.000 –> 00:44:00.000
Clr is also typically not covered. Custom lens replacement is considered a refractor procedure, but if you come in And you are shown, we do all that advanced vision analysis testing and we determine that you have a cataract that is visually significant

00:44:00.000 –> 00:44:23.000
We can help you get some type of reimbursement. You will pay us directly for the services, but we can help you. And we have a third party that will do this that will submit all the paperwork to your insurance company. And if you get reimbursement, it is yours to keep. You will pay that third party firm a small percentage of it for the work they do. We don’t benefit in any way because you already paid us. But yes, if you have

00:44:23.000 –> 00:44:41.000
Insurance and that does not, if people say, what about if I have Medicare? Well, I think Medicare Advantage may cover it. Medicare, standard Medicare doesn’t, but we would want you to bring your insurance card with you and we’ll let you know at the time of your consultation whether your provider actually will even entertain coverage of this and whether it’s worth submitting.

00:44:41.000 –> 00:44:50.000
Dr. Koshek, just another couple questions for you. There’s one that’s come in. Will I still need cataract surgery if I have CLR?

00:44:50.000 –> 00:45:03.000
No, you will not because we are taking that dysfunctional lens out and replacing it. And the new artificial lens will not degrade or change in quality over time. So you will not need cataract surgery after a CLR.

00:45:03.000 –> 00:45:07.000
Someone’s asking again, will I feel any pain during the procedure or afterwards?

00:45:07.000 –> 00:45:22.000
Nope. So we do a great job with our anesthetic and that’s all done around the eye. And then we also give you Valium to make sure you’re nice and comfortable. Patients say they do not feel any pain. So it’s a pretty smooth procedure overall.

00:45:22.000 –> 00:45:31.000
People are saying, you know, there’s a question here. I don’t know what I need. Can you help or should I go to an optometrist? Well, you’re welcome to come in and visit us.

00:45:31.000 –> 00:45:37.000
Again, schedule a consultation and if virtual is more comfortable for you, you can do that first.

00:45:37.000 –> 00:45:43.000
We are going to need to examine your eyes ultimately to see if you’re a candidate.

00:45:43.000 –> 00:45:50.000
So it’s interesting. Here’s another question. Someone has medically necessary contact so they don’t have to pay for them. Their insurance covers them.

00:45:50.000 –> 00:45:56.000
Would that change anything around lens replacement? What’s your sense, Dr. Koshek?

00:45:56.000 –> 00:46:11.000
Yeah, so that becomes a little more nuanced. If you’re wearing a contact lens on your eye that’s medically necessary, which technically means a pair of glasses also will not improve your vision to the same degree that the contact lens does.

00:46:11.000 –> 00:46:27.000
Then it does not mean that you cannot have a custom lens replacement, but it does mean that it takes a little more nuance for us to sift through with you in the consultation to determine if a custom lens replacement will solve all of your visual kind of issues that you’re going through.

00:46:27.000 –> 00:46:40.000
Yeah, yeah. And, you know, I think just in closing, you know, people who come to see us come because they want to explore getting out of glasses and contacts. They’ve said they’ve had enough for whatever reason.

00:46:40.000 –> 00:46:45.000
And we’re so happy to be able to help them and see if modern vision correction is an option.

00:46:45.000 –> 00:46:50.000
We do not take insurance because we don’t treat disease. This is considered electivism.

00:46:50.000 –> 00:47:06.000
Important for people to understand they will pay us directly for services. And in the case of someone with a cataract that’s considered visually significant, yes, there may be an opportunity for some reimbursement on that. But that is not the expectation we want to create that this is a reimbursed procedure.

00:47:06.000 –> 00:47:13.000
Because we don’t typically do standard cataract surgery, which tends to be covered. But again, Dr. Koschick, what is.

00:47:13.000 –> 00:47:15.000
What do you get when you get standard cataract surgery? How would you describe that?

00:47:15.000 –> 00:47:27.000
Yeah. So insurance is very strict on what they will and will not cover. And typically what insurance will cover is just the removal of a medically significant cataract.

00:47:27.000 –> 00:47:44.000
With replacement of whatever is the base lens that can somewhat improve your vision. So it’s not going to treat astigmatism with that lens. It’s not going to treat both distance as well as intermediate as well as up close. There are limitations. And so it’s a very basic type of surgery and it is in opposition to what we do.

00:47:44.000 –> 00:47:53.000
Which is the custom lens replacement where we are putting a large emphasis on the technology portion of things to get you out of the glasses.

00:47:53.000 –> 00:48:00.000
Yes, yes. Another question about, do we take credit cards? Yes, we take normal credit cards.

00:48:00.000 –> 00:48:04.000
And people sometimes pay by credit card or by ACH or by check.

00:48:04.000 –> 00:48:23.000
Some people even bring in cash and we’ll accept cash as well. But we do offer all those as well as patient financing. We work with several outstanding companies on the outside and From our website, you can actually go and apply in advance to see what you qualify for. The most popular thing that people do if they qualify for it is 24

00:48:23.000 –> 00:48:29.000
No interest financing because it doesn’t cost any more to do that. And we do that as a convenience to our patients.

00:48:29.000 –> 00:48:41.000
I think we’ve handled all the questions. Appreciate everyone who stayed on here. We will be making a recording of this and we will get that to everyone who attended early next week. That will come. So thanks again.

00:48:41.000 –> 00:48:46.000
Appreciate you taking time out of your day to be part of our modern vision correction webinar. And we are the Laser Eye Center of Silicon Valley. We look forward to meeting you.

00:48:46.000 –> 00:48:56.000
Bye