Laser Vision Correction Experiences in Boston/Brookline, MA?
January 28, 2013 1:03 PM Subscribe
It's 2013, it's the future, it's time to fire lasers into my eyes. Does anyone have any particularly good/bad experiences with offices in the Boston and Brookline area? Did you use Qualsight?
Nearsighted, no astigmatism, -4.75 right, -4.25 left, open to PRK or Lasik, whichever is necessary (although the thought of getting bonked on the head and having my cornea flap fly open does give me pause) Some history of protein buildup on cornea from 15 years of contact lens use, but I've switched to glasses for a few months to try to clear that up. (Bonus karma if you can share any experience with protein buildup and laser eye correction!)
I had heard lots of good things on Yelp about Boston Laser, which is conveniently located for me as I don't have a car. I know I'm not supposed to get discounted laser eye surgery, but the reviews suggested it was much cheaper to go through this Qualsight referrer and you'd save about 50% if you went through them and it was totally legit. Unfortunately there's only been one review since 2011 on Yelp, and on one had that makes me a little nervous, and on the other... it's just Yelp, for god's sake. Their Facebook reviews are all positive and thus unreliable.
New England Eye Center also seems a good candidate, although we'd have to get a Zipcar if they do their surgery in Waltham, MA, but it's convenient (hopefully) that they have seem to have a Brookline office for initial and follow-up appointments.
Has anyone gone through Qualsight and indeed have it be ~$3k instead of ~$6k? Was it worth it dealing with Boston Laser? I don't mind $6k for firing lasers into my eyes, but if the doctors there are great, I might as well save a little money.
Other awesome practices I haven't heard of, perhaps? I don't care about rude receptionists, I just want good vision, and attentiveness on follow-up.
Nearsighted, no astigmatism, -4.75 right, -4.25 left, open to PRK or Lasik, whichever is necessary (although the thought of getting bonked on the head and having my cornea flap fly open does give me pause) Some history of protein buildup on cornea from 15 years of contact lens use, but I've switched to glasses for a few months to try to clear that up. (Bonus karma if you can share any experience with protein buildup and laser eye correction!)
I had heard lots of good things on Yelp about Boston Laser, which is conveniently located for me as I don't have a car. I know I'm not supposed to get discounted laser eye surgery, but the reviews suggested it was much cheaper to go through this Qualsight referrer and you'd save about 50% if you went through them and it was totally legit. Unfortunately there's only been one review since 2011 on Yelp, and on one had that makes me a little nervous, and on the other... it's just Yelp, for god's sake. Their Facebook reviews are all positive and thus unreliable.
New England Eye Center also seems a good candidate, although we'd have to get a Zipcar if they do their surgery in Waltham, MA, but it's convenient (hopefully) that they have seem to have a Brookline office for initial and follow-up appointments.
Has anyone gone through Qualsight and indeed have it be ~$3k instead of ~$6k? Was it worth it dealing with Boston Laser? I don't mind $6k for firing lasers into my eyes, but if the doctors there are great, I might as well save a little money.
Other awesome practices I haven't heard of, perhaps? I don't care about rude receptionists, I just want good vision, and attentiveness on follow-up.
Response by poster: Just to close this up and offer help to future searchers, I got my LASIK with Boston Laser last week and am at 20/20 vision that's getting crisper every day.
I went through the Qualsight referral network. Basically you call them, and they call the LASIK dr for you, and you make an appointment via conference call. Qualsight's deal is they get a $50 deposit from you for the consult, refundable if you cancel your consult, but basically to ensure that you go to your appointment. They automatically bill you a $500 surgery deposit, from the card you gave them for the consult deposit, automatically two days after your consult unless you call them and tell them you did NOT schedule your surgery. I was impressed with Boston Laser and scheduled my surgery through them after my consult, so I only had to call Qualsight that one initial time. The $550 Qualsight gets is deducted from your final cost, too. In all going through Qualsight knocked off about $3000.00 off the total bill and they were really easy and nice to deal with, and I didn't get a "discount surgery" vibe at all. (Although it's worth checking your primary health insurance to see if they offer partial coverage or discounts for LASIK. Though you can't stack that with Qualsight. /D&Dterminology)
Boston Laser is definitely a busy place, and a little labyrinthine, but they were very professional, courteous, and did a thousand thorough tests. Yeah, you kind of get moved from person to person for the different tests and only see the actual doctor at the end, but, I don't see that as a strike against them really. It's an efficient operation. Also, apparently all the medical interns there are male models. Seriously. It was crazy.
I opted to go with a place close to home, which worked out because you have two followup appointments in the week following surgery, and I paid a little extra for the lifetime plan which covers a lifetime of followups and touchup LASIK if necessary.
posted by Sayuri. at 2:21 PM on March 17, 2013
I went through the Qualsight referral network. Basically you call them, and they call the LASIK dr for you, and you make an appointment via conference call. Qualsight's deal is they get a $50 deposit from you for the consult, refundable if you cancel your consult, but basically to ensure that you go to your appointment. They automatically bill you a $500 surgery deposit, from the card you gave them for the consult deposit, automatically two days after your consult unless you call them and tell them you did NOT schedule your surgery. I was impressed with Boston Laser and scheduled my surgery through them after my consult, so I only had to call Qualsight that one initial time. The $550 Qualsight gets is deducted from your final cost, too. In all going through Qualsight knocked off about $3000.00 off the total bill and they were really easy and nice to deal with, and I didn't get a "discount surgery" vibe at all. (Although it's worth checking your primary health insurance to see if they offer partial coverage or discounts for LASIK. Though you can't stack that with Qualsight. /D&Dterminology)
Boston Laser is definitely a busy place, and a little labyrinthine, but they were very professional, courteous, and did a thousand thorough tests. Yeah, you kind of get moved from person to person for the different tests and only see the actual doctor at the end, but, I don't see that as a strike against them really. It's an efficient operation. Also, apparently all the medical interns there are male models. Seriously. It was crazy.
I opted to go with a place close to home, which worked out because you have two followup appointments in the week following surgery, and I paid a little extra for the lifetime plan which covers a lifetime of followups and touchup LASIK if necessary.
posted by Sayuri. at 2:21 PM on March 17, 2013
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posted by Sayuri. at 1:17 PM on January 29, 2013