and delivers concentrated energy," she says. "And it can be customized
for each individual patient."
How's the service?
Before purchasing a system, consider the service and training provid-
ed by the vendor. Ms. Wyers notes that after her center purchased the
laser, the company sent reps in to train the surgeons and perform test
runs in wet labs. Once initial training was complete, each surgeon
was required to perform 10 cases with a rep's guidance.
"They're always available if we need help, too," says Ms. Wyers. "But
from what I observed, the surgeons were comfortable after 10 times,
especially the ones who were more computer savvy." So far, the sys-
tem's intuitive user controls have ensured nearly problem-free imple-
mentation. "We've gone through a few troubleshooting phases, but it's
pretty user-friendly overall," she adds.
When choosing his laser, Dr. Stephenson says she was attracted to
the company's small size and excellent customer service. "It wasn't a
big, huge corporation," she says. "The nice thing about it being a
smaller company is that the engineers really listen to the surgeons, so
we get things like upgrades or changes to the machine done much
more quickly."
Laser cataract machines require a significant investment, but Ms.
Wyers says her center was able to lessen its impact on their budget by
partnering with the surgeons most interested in starting a laser pro-
gram. Those ophthalmologists formed an LLC that eventually split the
total cost of the capital purchase with the center. "It's very, very
expensive," she says. "This way, not one group had to bear the full
burden of the cost."
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