Viewpoint
Change is the Challenge
FROM THE CHIEF MEDICAL EDITOR, Alan B. Aker M.D., F.A.C.S.

Since before the first shots were fired in the LASIK price wars, Ophthalmology Management has kept you informed about the continual changes in the market.

In this month's cover story, we examine yet another -- the changing profile of the LASIK patient.

Author/consultant Howard Gottlieb delves into the mindset of the second wave of patients, known as late adopters, who are now beginning to undergo LASIK. He comes out with some sound advice that should help us to understand what these patients are looking for and how we can be their providers of choice.

Are you ready for the late adopters?

The article is enlightening -- and refreshing because it echoes themes that we've championed in this column before. For example, LASIK patients as a group are different. We've said that. But now we go a step further to say that the group is made up of subgroups, one being late adopters. The late adopters are different from the early adopters. The early adopters were willing to jump off the precipice and be among the first to undergo a new surgical procedure. But they understood that rocks could lie below. Late adopters, on the other hand, don't want any rocks below or any bumps in the road.

That creates many issues for us to address, from the look of our practices and whether patients feel comfortable in them, to the financing we offer, to the way we educate these patients about their outcomes. But the main issue is change. The patient profile is changing, and we must change with it.

The late adopters do have one attribute in common with the rest of the group that bodes well for us: a mere 20% of them are concerned with price only. That means the other 80% are able to appreciate the importance of a skilled, caring surgeon and staff. But only if we've also adapted to their motives, preferences and fears. This month's cover story will certainly help.

And, in an upcoming issue, we'll continue to help you adapt with a detailed look at how one practice seamlessly blended its cataract and refractive surgery segments. How? You guessed it -- by making changes.