Denver Lasik Surgery

For the eighth consecutive year, TLCVision® has named RICHARD LEVINSON, MD as one of their Top 50 Laser Vision Correction Surgeons, selected from over 1000 LASIK Surgeons, nationwide!

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(LAST UPDATE 06.15.2009)

Are you intrigued by the idea of being able to see, without needing your glasses or contact lenses? Have you considered Laser Vision Correction?

Welcome to my website. I want to provide you with extensive information about Laser Vision Correction. This website is written by me, Richard Levinson, M.D. a very actively practicing Board Certified Ophthalmologist and Laser Vision Surgeon. I have been in private practice in Denver, Colorado since 1979 and have performed thousands of Laser Vision Correction procedures since Laser Vision Correction was FDA approved in 1995. My office is located at Rose Medical Center in Denver and you can contact my office at 303.393.0347.

The purpose of this website is to provide you with up-to-date, accurate, realistic information on Laser Vision Correction (LASIK and PRK), giving you my assessment of the benefits, risks and limitations of Laser Vision Correction and trying to help you understand and address the fears that you may experience concerning Laser Vision Correction. I want to give you information to help you decide if Laser Vision Correction is right for you. And if it is right for you, I want you to have information to help you select your Laser Vision Surgeon from the over 40 Laser Centers in the Denver-Boulder area, discussing with you why I think it is so important for you to have your LASIK Surgeon personally involved in every step of your surgery and pre- and post-op care, and discussing how the price you pay will impact the outcome of your Laser Vision Procedure. I will explain the benefits of Visx Custom Vue Wavefront technology, stress the difference between the microkeratome (i.e. metal blade) and the IntraLase Femtosecond Laser for making the LASIK flap, explain why the IntraLase Laser is safer and provides you better LASIK results than the microkeratome and tell you why NASA has approved iLASIK for U.S. Astronauts. iLASIK is the name for the procedure when the Visx CustomVue Excimer Laser is used in combination with the IntraLase Femtosecond Laser. I will provide you information on my fees for LASIK and PRK, telling you about my free Lifetime Promise Agreement, to retreat you, if ever needed, at no additional charge.

I invite you to read the entire website, but to save you time, I want to summarize for you the two major points of this website.

1. Laser Vision Correction is a wonderful procedure. If you are a good candidate for Laser Vision Correction and if the procedure is performed correctly with state-of-the-art technology, Laser Vision Correction is an extremely safe procedure, and you will be very satisfied with your Laser Vision Correction results. 98% of people are able to function without glasses or contacts after Laser Vision Correction. I would strongly recommend that you have your procedure performed with iLASIK, the Visx Star S4 Custom Vue Wavefront Excimer Laser and the IntraLase Femtosecond Laser used together in combination.

2. Select a Laser Vision Surgeon, not a "Laser Center". Laser Vision Correction Eye Surgery is performed by Ophthalmologists - MD Eye Surgeons. Most people, quite understandably, aren't aware and probably don't care about the difference between an Ophthalmologist and an Optometrist. However, if you are considering Laser Vision Correction, you need to understand the difference between the two types of "eye doctors" because this difference will impact the quality of care you receive. An Ophthalmologist is an Eye Surgeon who, after four years of college, goes to four years of Medical School, and then has four additional years of medical/surgical residency training, specializing in surgical and medical treatment of the human eye. Optometrists are "eye doctors", too, but they do not go to Medical School. They go to Optometry School where they are trained primarily to fit glasses and contact lenses. Optometrists have no formal training or experience in surgery of the human eye. Optometrists are conscientious, nice people, but they are not Laser Vision Surgeons. The Ophthalmologist, the Laser Vision Surgeon, is the one who will be using very powerful Lasers on your eye. So, the most important criteria that you should consider when you select where to have your Laser Vision Surgery is, obviously, the Ophthalmologist, the Laser Vision Surgeon.

You have two basic choices in selecting a Laser Surgeon. You can either directly, yourself, select an Ophthalmologist Laser Surgeon in private practice who will take complete responsibility for every step of your Laser Vision Procedure. This is good. Or you can select a "Laser Center" where the Ophthalmologist Laser Surgeon is selected for you by the "Laser Center" and is typically a salaried-employee, only partially, and mostly indirectly, involved in your care, a "cog" in an assembly-line process where Optometrists provide most of your care. These "Laser Centers" want to downplay the significant distinction between Ophthalmologists and Optometrists. This is not so good.

I know I am repeating myself, but once again, in my opinion, the "key" to a successful Laser Vision Surgery outcome for you is that the Laser Surgeon is extremely experienced in Laser Vision Surgery and will take complete responsibility for and be directly involved in every step and every detail of your Laser Vision Procedure. This means that the Laser Surgeon meets with you at the initial consultation to determine if you are, or are not, a good candidate for Laser Vision Correction, meets with you at every pre-op and post -op visit, and performs your Laser Vision Procedure. If you are not meeting the MD Ophthalmologist Laser Surgeon at every visit, the Laser Vision Surgeon is delegating responsibility for your Laser Vision Procedure to non-MD optometrists, technicians or sales people. This is not the meticulous commitment by the Ophthalmologist Laser Surgeon that you want and this is not in your best interest.

I am almost done repeating myself about how important I feel it is for the Ophthalmologist to meet with you at every visit. Here is one last thought I want to share with you. Fortunately, complications after Laser Vision Surgery are not common, but they do occur. And if they do occur, most complications are usually easily managed if promptly and accurately diagnosed and appropriately treated. I feel very strongly that you would want the Ophthalmologist, Laser Vision Surgeon, not an Optometrist, seeing you at every one of your post-op visits to diagnose and treat complications. And what if you have a problem at night or on weekends? Do you think the Ophthalmologist at a "Laser Center", the one who won't even see you during regular business hours, will be on call and available to see you if you have a problem at night, on weekends or on holidays?

So here is your assignment when you go for you Laser Vision Consultation. Directly ask the "doctor" you meet at your initial consultation at the Laser Center you are visiting: "Are you the Ophthalmologist Laser Vision Surgeon who will be performing my Laser Vision Procedure and seeing me at all my pre-op and post-op visits?" And if you aren't meeting the MD Ophthalmologist Laser Surgeon at your initial consultation, I think you should go elsewhere for your Laser Vision Surgery. The following Laser Centers in the Denver area are staffed by Optometrists who will primarily provide your pre-op and post-op care: ICON, 20/20 Institute, LasikPlus, Laser Vision Institute, TLC, Omni Eye Specialists, Hines-Sight, InSight Laser Center, Spivack Vision Center and Dishler Vision Center. If you don't care that your Ophthalmologist Laser Surgeon has delegated significant responsibility for your Laser Vision Procedure to non-MD optometrists and technicians, then go to any one of the above listed "Laser Centers", they are essentially interchangeable. (Incidentally, these "Laser Centers" are not necessarily less expensive. And be prepared to be confronted with aggressive, high-pressured "sales" tactics at most of these "Laser Centers"!) If you want the Ophthalmologist Laser Surgeon actively involved in every step of your Laser Vision Procedure, select an Ophthalmologist Laser Surgeon in private practice, not an Ophthalmologist associated with a "Laser Center".

If you live in a large city like Denver where you have many Ophthalmologist Laser Surgeons available to you, I see no reason for you to have optometrists, technicians or "sales persons" responsible for the outcome of your Laser Vision Procedure. If the Laser Vision Surgeon does not meet with you at your initial consultation, go elsewhere to have your Laser Vision Surgery. And when you meet the Laser Vision Surgeon, trust your judgment. Does the Surgeon seem competent, caring and honest with you in discussing the benefits, risks and limitations you can realistically expect form Laser Vision Correction? If you are comfortable with the Laser Vision Surgeon, proceed. If not, go elsewhere.

I recommend that you start your visit to this website by reading the "How to Select Your LASIK Surgeon" and the "LASIK FAQ page". I would also ask you to consider "Custom Wavefront LASIK" which has been providing outstanding results to my Laser Vision patients. Finally, I want to remind you about our free "Lifetime Promise Agreement". And if you have any questions, please feel free to call my office at 303.393.0347, or toll free at 1.877.393.0347. Before choosing your Laser Vision Surgeon, I encourage you to visit two or three different Laser Centers. And I cordially invite you to schedule a visit with me and my staff. We offer a complimentary (free) consultation where you will meet both me, Dr. Levinson, and my staff. We will determine if you are a candidate for Laser Vision Correction and help you decide if Laser Vision Correction is safe and beneficial for you.

Phone (303) 393-0347
Fax (303)393-1026

Rose Medical Plaza, 4545 East Ninth Avenue, #270, Denver, CO 80220

Free Consultation

Richard A. Levinson, M.D.

Lasik Surgeon Serving Colorado in Denver, Boulder, and the Denver Metro Area

(LAST UPDATE 06.15.2009)