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EYE WARS - Laser eye surgery centers locked in pricing war to correct our vision
SHORT-SIGHTED?
Rutzen might easily be dismissed as a partisan if not for the fact that his opinion is supported by more objective sources and at least some evidence.
"At the prices they're charging, (discount centers) really have not been able to make any money," Harmon said.
The average price in 1997 was $2,100 per eye; in 1998, $1,900; 1999, $1,700; and in 2000, it fell to $1,500, according to Arons, the industry consultant.
The money crunch for some was only exacerbated by expensive marketing campaigns, he said.
"They couldn't afford to do the advertising to keep (the market share)," he said. "They said, 'We're going to enlarge the market because people with marginal levels of income will be able to afford this (at discount prices).' They trivialized the whole procedure, and it became a commodity."
And low prices affected just about every provider. Few were willing to maintain prices as others cut away.
The industry already has at least one casualty: Visual Freedom Centers. At its corporate zenith, Visual operated centers in Owings Mills Towne Center in Baltimore, Fair Oaks Mall in Virginia and a shopping center in Illinois. The company's locations featured glass-enclosed offices with television monitors that allowed passerby to observe procedures.
Visual has since filled for bankruptcy.
Arons said Visual's approach was doomed from the start.
"Why would anyone go to a shopping mall to get their eyes done? It's not like getting your hair done," he said. "I was surprised (the shopping mall surgery centers) opened; I was surprised they stayed in business, but I'm not surprised they closed."
While Arons is incredulous, Speaker of The Laser Center is worried.
Quality must take a backseat when discount centers slash prices to the bone, he says.
"We know what it costs to do this procedure right," Speaker said. "The equipment is expensive and requires a lot of maintenance. You need technicians that are properly trained. It takes a lot of staff to do it right. At the prices these people offer they can't be making money. Corners have to be cut somewhere."
The key, everyone seems to agree, is preparation - on the behalf of potential patients. In other words, experts say, do your homework. And on an anecdotal basis, patients seem to be doing just that.
"My patients seem to have done a lot of research," said Dr. Brett Katzen, an ophthalmologist at the Katzen Eye Group in Towson and medical director of TLC Laser Eye Center-Baltimore. "They have a lot of questions. They come in and they say, 'I have a friend who did poorly at this (other) place - I don't want that to happen to me.' It's amazing how much people know by the time they get to the doctor."
While it is impossible to say with any certainty at this point which providers will prove victorious in the pricing war, it is fair to say that the reason for fighting will continue to exist.
"The growth rate has dropped to 50 percent, and analysts are predicting for this year anywhere in the 20 (percent) to 30 percent range," he said. "I think it will be around 50 percent, with over 2 million procedures being done," Arons said.
Even now, observed ophthalmologist Dr. Dan Durrie, "I think there is a huge opportunity for businesses to look at this as a new venture."
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