Local spotlight

Doctor fine-tunes LASIK practice

Groggy economy finds fewer seeking out laser eye surgery

Karen Dybis / Special to The Detroit News

In June 2008, Dr. Robert Beitman gave a speech at Wayne State University on the business of high-volume LASIK surgery.

Nearly 18 months later, Beitman tells a very different story. Many potential patients are holding off on elective procedures, he says, especially those who work at southeastern Michigan's automotive manufacturing companies and their suppliers.

The owner of Beitman Laser Eye Institute in West Bloomfield has trimmed his revenue expectations, modified his business to meet demand and become realistic about his outlook on the future. Yet he remains true to his core business values, like providing Ritz-like customer service to those who invest their time and money in their eyesight.

"I don't care if you're selling motorcycles or cars or vision correction. You've got to right size everything," Beitman says.

However, in industries like his that mostly see people's discretionary dollars, "you've got to have the product and the quality and the service," Beitman notes.

The number of laser vision-correction surgeries has fallen more than a third over the past year, a MarketScope survey of ophthalmologists found. Average LASIK prices, however, have not risen substantially in several years because of the poor economy, says allaboutvision.com.

Beitman notes that the cost of LASIK procedures using the bladeless technology has remained relatively stable at $3,600 to $4,000 for both eyes.

Beitman is one of the nation's foremost LASIK eye surgeons, having pioneered the procedure and taught it to hundreds of surgeons. He began doing the surgeries in 1981 and has done more than 20,000 procedures since. He opened his practice in 1990.

He has continuously upgraded the services and technology he offers. The Eye Institute is the first in Michigan to provide high-end products like CustomVue and the Intralase all-laser, bladeless vision correction procedure.

This surgery is the safest and most accurate LASIK procedure available, Beitman says. But it is also expensive.

As a result, some patients may opt out of it -- or to save money, seek treatment from vision-correction professionals who do not offer it.

Business for most vision-correction surgeons is off. Worldwide, about 3 million LASIK surgeries are done annually. About 2 million to 2.5 million are in North America; about 1.6 million are in the United States alone.

Now, that number is expected to drop by about 50 percent or more depending on the area and how deep the recession has affected it, Beitman says.

"There was a huge buildup of surgical volume and an enthusiasm to get rid of people's glasses," Beitman said. "Since then, the business has completely changed. It has dampened because of economy -- and that's globally, not just in Michigan."

Ultimately, patient recommendations remain the best advertisement. So Beitman makes sure customer service is top notch.

Every positive review can mean future business, he notes.

"The best result is a happy patient," Beitman says.

Karen Dybis is a Metro Detroit freelance writer.