A cataract dulls and blurs your vision slowly over time. Usually it happens so slowly that you may not realise until you have a eye examination with your doctor or optometrist.
Cataract surgery is a highly technical procedure that takes a minimum of five years to become proficient at and 10 years to master. It has been perfected over the past 5 decades to become not only one of the most common but also one of the most successful. The skill and experience of your surgeon matters as well as the technology used to treat you. You can be rest assured that we use the latest technology and best intraocular lenses.
What Are The Advantages of Private Cataract Surgery?
Cataract surgery is a commonly performed procedure. Whether you choose private or public surgery you can be assured of the best possible outcomes in terms of safety and utility. However there are certain things public health services don’t fund. We want you to be fully aware of your options and this will guide you to help you choose the best option for you.
Waiting Times
The most common reason for choosing private surgery is to bypass the waiting times for public surgery. Your surgeon may have given you an estimate of current public waits however it is out of our control and can vary all the time. The typical wait for PRIVATE surgery is 4-8 weeks.
Topography
Everyone seen at Australian Centre for Sight benefits from the latest technology whether they choose public or private surgery. However choosing private surgery means we are able to offer additional options which are mainly of benefit if opting for the latest lenses unavailable in the public sector. One of these is corneal topography. Topography is a system to profile the surface your cornea (front window of your eye) in very high definition so we can measure all the little imperfections.
Latest Lens Technology
By choosing private surgery we can choose whichever lens is best for you based on your current prescription, shape of your eye, profile of your cornea, depth of your anterior chamber and thickness of your lens. With public hospitals we can only use the lenses provided by the hospital.
Toric Lenses for Astigmatism
Not everyone has astigmatism but if you do in most cases, public services won’t fund it and some won’t fund it at all. Those public hospitals who do fund it reserve it for patients with very high astigmatism only. You may discuss with your surgeon whether you will benefit from toric lenses and whether your preferred hospital will fund it for your particular case. Often there are trade offs on waiting times, ease of access or losing your choice of surgeon. Private patients have NO RESTRICTIONS on their choice of surgeon, hospital or lens.
Digital Reference Image
This system scans and develops a unique fingerprint of your eye so that our placement and alignment of your intraocular lens is in the perfect position. Without this system we rely on manual ink marks which can result in many sources of error. The Verion no touch system can eliminate up to 9 sources of error in measurement, calculations and alignment of lenses.
Digital Marker
This amazing technology incorporates the preoperative ‘fingerprint’ scan of your eye to guide the surgical keyhole cuts and lens alignment. This is done through a ‘heads up display’ incorporated into the surgical microscope similar to fighter pilot helmets.
Next Steps:
Private Insurance
If you have private health insurance all of the technology and options are already in your surgical plan and preoperative assessments.
Self Pay Options
If you don’t have private health insurance and would like to benefit from the additional options discuss with your surgeon about your choices. You can mix and match some options without having to pay for your surgery but to fully benefit from all the latest advances private surgery is unsurpassed.
Further Information
If you would like more information or have questions about what you have read please contact us:
Telephone: (03) 9021 2568
Email: admin@centreforsight.