20 Tough LASIK Questions

20 Tough Questions To Ask Your San Diego LASIK Surgeon

We realize that it is difficult to choose your LASIK surgeon. It may be even harder to determine which LASIK center will offer you the best LASIK technology and result. These are questions that we recommend you ask your LASIK surgeon and center to help you decide which will offer you the best results. We have also provided our answers for the San Diego LASIK Institute in italics. Like the stock market, past performance is no guarantee of future performance.

1. Are you online San Diego LASIK reviews for you and your practice? Are they real? Did you use a search engine optimization company to post your reviews for you?

There have been LASIK practices that have used generic reviews to help them get a better position in the search engines.

The San Diego LASIK Institutes's reviews are from real patients. That is why we have the most LASIK reviews from reputable sites. Hopefully, after your San Diego LASIK procedure you will post us a kind review.

2. Have you ever been involved in a medical lawsuit? Have you been sued before? Have you lost a malpractice claim?

Although being sued is not necessarily a sign of negligence, it is important to see if your LASIK surgeon has had a history of lawsuits. Even if your San Diego LASIK surgeon has not had a successful lawsuit, it is important to see if your surgeon has been brought towards litigation. Has the surgeon settled cases or gone to trial? Has your LASIK surgeon ever been sued for improper use of a laser in a class action lawsuit?

Dr. Pham of the San Diego LASIK Institute has not had any medical lawsuits brought towards him ever. He has never settled any cases nor has had any medical cases brought towards him.

3. Have you been sanctioned by the California medical board?

The California medical board is the main regulating body for physicians in California.

Dr. Pham of the San Diego LASIK Institute has never been sanctioned by the California medical board.
You can look up your LASIK surgeon here:

http://www.medbd.ca.gov/lookup.html

4. How many of your patient's do you turn down?

Dr. Pham believes that accurate LASIK surgery screening is one of the most important things to increase your chance of a good outcome after LASIK. Although the rates vary depending on the month, approximately 10-15% of patients are turned down either from the phone consultation and after the initial San Diego LASIK consultation. It is our goal to be one of the most ethical and honest LASIK practices. If there are any specific concerns about eyes and laser vision correction, your doctor will discuss these concerns in detail with you. We are believers in a good informed consent - we want you to know as much as reasonably possible about your LASIK surgery so that you can make a good decision.

5. What is your LASIK enhancement rate at your San Diego center?

An enhancement is an additional procedure that you may need to do after your primary LASIK surgery The national enhancement rate can vary to as high as 10%.

Dr. Pham's enhancement rate is currently less than 0.5%. We believe the combination of our technology and triple checking is the reason we have these low rates.

6. What is your enhancement policy?

It is important to see what your San Diego LASIK surgery center's enhancement policy is.

Our enhancement policy is that as long as it is safe for a patient and they need it we will be happy to do your enhancement. Patient satisfaction with their iLASIK procedure is very important to us. However, safety is the most important determinant of whether or not a patient can have enhancement surgery. It is our supreme goal to get the surgery for you right the first time. In addition, having your LASIK surgeon do your pre-operative care and post-operative care helps us maintain our low enhancement rates.

7. Are you board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology?

The American Board of Ophthalmology is the highest level of certification for an eye surgeon in the United States. It involves testing over a two year process in both written and oral examinations. LASIK surgeons are also required to recertify on a continuing basis.

The San Diego LASIK Institute's surgeon, Dr. Tony Pham is board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology.

8. What is your complication rate?

At the San Diego LASIK Institute, we believe an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. We constantly review our protocols, technology, and procedures to provide the safest LASIK procedure that we can. National complication rates can range from 1-3%.

Although there is no surgery with a zero percent complication rate, we strive to keep our our complication rate as low as possible.  However, any surgery has its potential risks. Dr. Pham will discuss your specific risks and concerns at your free San Diego LASIK Consultation.

9. Will you discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of the LASIK procedure for me?

It is our policy to give you an informed understanding of all the advantages and disadvantages of custom LASIK for you. We take into account the time it takes to address your questions and concerns when scheduling your LASIK consultation.

10. Does your surgeon use true custom wavefront technology or "wavefront optimized" technology?

Some San Diego LASIK surgery centers may use wavefront optimized technology that is not a true custom treatment.

The San Diego LASIK Institute uses advanced custom wavefront technology that is a true custom treatment.

11. Do you do same day LASIK surgery?

Some southern California LASIK centers may consider doing same day surgery to risk losing a patient.

At the San Diego LASIK Institute, we believe that it is best to check your measurements on different dates so we do not do same day surgery. All of our practices are to ensure that we are able to offer you the safest ilASIK procedure possible.

12. How long do you recommend that I do not wear contacts prior to my San Diego LASIK surgery?

Although there is no great research done as to the best amount of time out of contacts before your surgery. We are fairly conservative.

We recommend that you stay approximately one week out of soft contacts, two weeks out of toric contacts, and at least three months out of rigid permeable contact lenses. We also check your prescription over multiple visits to make sure your prescription is free from the influence of your contacts.

13. How often do you decline patients for LASIK surgery?

We are fairly conservative at the San Diego LASIK Institute. We decline approximately 10-20% of out patients from LASIK surgery.

14. Do you have minimum and maximum age ranges for LASIK surgery?

Although the FDA recommends a minimum age of 18, we only do surgery at that early age for members of the military who may need clear vision on their deployments. Otherwise we recommend you reach your twenties and have stable vision.

The San Diego LASIK Institute does not routinely recommend LASIK for patients over 55 because we believe these patients would benefit from the advances in cataract surgery.

15. How many LASIK surgeries do you do on average a month?

We would recommend a surgeon with a lot of experience. However, you may want to have surgery with a surgeon that can provide you with personal care. 

On average, Dr. Pham does approximately 80-150 surgeries a month. However, our San Diego LASIK surgeon does surgeries on many different days so that he has the time to spend the necessary time with you.

16. What is the maximum number of surgeries that you do in a day?

We have heard of some LASIK surgeons doing surgery on as many as 40 patients a day.

Dr. Pham limits the number of patients on a surgery day to make sure that he as adequate time to spend with each patient. On a typical surgery full day Dr. Pham will do LASIK surgery for 5-12 patients.

17. Have you ever been convicted of a felony?

It is important to know the history of your San Diego LASIK surgeon.

Dr. Pham has never been charged with any criminal charges.

18. Have you ever abused any controlled substances?

Dr. Pham has never abused any controlled or uncontrolled substances.

19. Have you ever had hospital privileges revoked?

If a surgeon is deemed unfit to operate in a hospital, he or she may have their operating privileges revoked.

Our LASIK surgeon has never had hospital privileges revoked.

20. Are you available for after hours emergencies?

Our LASIK surgeon is available for after hours emergencies related to LASIK surgery for his LASIK patients. In a case that he is out of town, he will try his best to arrange for coverage.


We understand that it is hard to make a choice as to who would be your best LASIK surgeon. At the San Diego LASIK Institute, it is our goal to provide you with information so that you can make an informed decision.

We hope that you will become a member of our patient family and consider LASIK one of the best investments you have made.

LASIK San Diego

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