Laser Eye Surgery

[grayson]

Thanks. Much appreciated. I'm still hesitant about it, but nice to know the info. Looks like the price as gone up though. Used to be 45k I thought.

[Josefus]

What the crap? My friend got it done here a year ago for 28,000! No, I don't know where, nor do I know what kind of machine they used. I do know he "shopped around" though. 3 people got it done together.

[panda]

My wife had it done at Cornell clinic which is just around the corner from Daxue and used the new machine and they charged around 27000 which included a govt sponsored 10K discount. Now they charge 37K. We interviewed at Daxue but got bad vibes from the experience and chose Cornell clinic. My wife is 4 months post surgery and it worked out great.

I thought that Daxue was a very pushy and overconfident place. Seeing as how they overcharge by so much, now I understand.

[Bu Lai En]

Well it cost me 43K at Daxue 1 year ago.

Yes, more expensive than some other places, but more experienced doctors, and better machines (than some).

Brian

[Chun Li]

Also, most of the Taiwanese celebrities go there as well. And the doctor there that started was the first one in Taiwan to start the procedure. Crap, I don't care what the hell the price is. I got a famous doctor that even the celebrities trust so it gives me a peace of mind. So far, everything is all right with my eyes. Just really dry.

[Truant]

60,000nt for the navisk machine, and 50,000nt for the older machine. You get 2000nt if you know someone whose got it done there.

What is the main difference between the two options at this place - Navisk vs Lasik?
As far as I am concerned, if the Navisk is even 2-5% better than Lasik in the final result, then it's got to be worth an extra 10,000NT right?

[DSN]

After reading the positives many of you have experienced with Lasik, I decided to investigate having the operation. My local gf has also had it done, quite successfully. She did, however, mention that her distance sight was restored immediately, but it took a few weeks for her reading distance sight to focus again.

Anyway, on the recommendation of many of the posters on this site, I contacted Daxue and one other clinic I have since forgotten the name of. I live in Hsinchu and contacted the local branch (well, actually my gf did, to help with the Chinese). They quoted me NT$35,000. There was just one problem; I wanted to have the op on the evening of 10 June or morning of 11 June, as my school had a 2-week teaching break starting then, so I would have more time to recover completely before I teach a writing course this term (ie heavy close-up eye work for me).

The problem was 11 June was Dragon Boat Day, and the doctor was leaving early, so couldn't do the op on Friday night either. What to do? No worries, they said. Come in for the tests in Hsinchu, and if I'm suitable for the op, I can go up and have it done in TPE, where they are not closed on the Friday night, but still have my follow-up visits in Hsinchu.

Although I would have preferred to have the same doctor who does the op do the follow-ups, this seemed fairly reasonable. I went for the tests, and was VERY impressed. The technician spoke very good English, explained what he was doing, and was highly efficient. The doctor, who did the final examination of the retina, was also great.

Then they sat me down for the "chat". Yes, fine, I can have the op, but because I am having it at this particular branch in TPE, it will be NT$45,000 instead of NT$35,000.

What? Why?

"Because the doctors in Taipei are more experienced."

Now, I don't doubt that this is true, but is that what you want to tell your prospective customers? Of course my reply was "So the doctor in Hsinchu is inexperienced."

Serious back-pedalling. No, no, of course not. The one in TPE is just MORE experienced (70,000 ops he's done, they say... )

Naturally in a free market, more experienced people (doctors, lawyers, teachers) charge higher fees, but don't use that one on your customer, especially in the medical field, surely. Even weirder to me was a hospital offering different prices in their different branches. McD's doesn't charge $100 for a burger in TPE and $60 for the same in Taichung because it's cheaper to hire staff and rent buildings there, does it?

Now if they'd just told me TPE was a more expensive city, so the price was higher, I could've bought it to some extent.

Weirder followed. OK, they can knock their price down to NT$40,000. Yep, bargaining over my medical care now.

I reminded them that I would've had it done in Hsinchu if this branch was open like the one(s) in TPE, and that I was doing them a favour by going to TPE. To no avail. Instead they suggested Taoyuan, Zhongli and Yonghe as other branches with less experienced doctors who could do the op "cheap". One was even NT$33,000, I think. I guess he was a recent graduate???

I said I'd phone back, and did so a few days later, and asked if they could give me a more reasonable price yet, but they wouldn't budge. I said that if they could offer a better price, they could phone me back.

All this over a lousy NT$5,000 you say. That's true, but the fact is I've worn glasses for 15 years now, and I'm not that desperate to ditch them. I used to find them more of a hindrance when I played ball sports (cricket, hockey etc), but now that I do cycling and gymming, it's just not such an issue. To me, the principles are important.

Tips for Daxue:

1) Charge a standard fee, or make it clear in advance that prices differ among cities and branches, which you did not do, although I explained in advance that I wanted the op in Hsinchu, and you explained that I could have it in TPE.
2) Don't bargain on medical costs, or offer me a "jie-shao" price. Give me your best price straight up.
3) Don't mention experience of your medical staff as a reason for higher prices.

Tips for the cash-strapped surgery-seeker:

1) Check if other branches of the same company offer better prices (but block your ears when they tell you why, for more peace of mind)
2) Check in advance that the price quoted is the price at the branch you want the op done at.

[Truant]

DSN,

appreciate you sharing your experience, but if they are pumping thru patients every 15 mins, I honestly think their response will be "NEXT PLEASE"

[Dragonbones]

Just a quick note: a doctor doing his 30th surgery of a certain type is sometimes a better choice than one doing his 100,000th, because the former is more likely to be awake during the operation, and less likely to make a careless error. The former is more likely to have reviewed his notes extensively during the previous day and to be extremely alert during the procedure. This piece of advice was given to me by, you guessed it, an eye surgeon friend in Taipei.

[daryl_ks]

I had LASIK performed in Taichung about 5 months ago and I couldn't be happier. As a rugby player, gone are the days of getting whacked and losing contact lenses! Night driving was a bit of a pain for a while after the op but everything now is completely fine.

My biggest piece of advice would be to choose a surgeon you are comfortable with. Go to a few different ones and talk to different doctors. Even without extensive knowledge of the subject you will get a sense of who is most professional. Ask about what equipment they use, get names, then look it up on the internet to make sure the equipment is the latest design...

I also had a surgeon friend from NZ give some really valuable advice... She said, if you feel the doctor is pressuring you to have the procedure then walk out. With LASIK, it is a lifestyle choice and there is not really any urgent reason to have it done... therefore, if a surgeon pressures you to go to his clinic, he's probably just trying to turn a quick buck...

I can't remember the name of the clinic I went to in Taichung (will find out, was near Jong-Yo department store, near the gas station on the corner), but I got reccomendations from 3 different people, looked at other clinics, and most importantly, the doctor was very up front and said right off the bat, "There is no reason for you to have this done. It is essentially a life style choice and if you feel it will improve your life then we are willing to help". They were also very upfront with information regarding any potential risks and or hazards...

Cheers!

Daryl