WASHINGTON DC, July 18 - The website of the nonprofit Council
for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance (www.USAEyes.org) was named
a "reliable Web source of information about LASIK", in
testimony presented to the Subcommittee on Health of the US
Congressional House Committee on Ways and Means. USAEyes is a
nonprofit nongovernmental organization that provides patient
information and certifies Lasik patient outcomes.
Ha T. Tu, Senior Health Researcher, Center for Studying
Health System Change cited the USAEyes website as one of four
Internet sources of Lasik information specifically named. Dr. Tu
included the websites of the Federal Trade Commission, the
American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of
Cataract and Refractive Surgery, and USAEyes in the
report. USAEyes is the only patient advocacy cited.
The primary purpose of the testimony was to make
Congressional leaders aware of consumers’ experiences with
markets for self-pay services, such as Lasik.
The report states consumer-oriented approaches to health care
sometimes focus on price shopping without giving adequate
priority to comparing quality across providers. USAEyes makes
available a list of doctors certified by the patient advocacy
and a list of 50 Tough Questions For Your Lasik Doctor.
Despite
consumer emphasis on price, widespread reliance on word-of-mouth
recommendation in self-pay markets suggests that many consumers
place a high priority on quality but may be using referrals from
physicians or previous patients as a proxy for quality, given
the absence of or shortcomings in concrete quality measures.
