Pros
If you are an OD looking to practice optometry, you may want to reconsider working here. I worked for the company for several years, and at first it seemed like a great opportunity. Like everyone else has mentioned on this site, the pay is basically the best part. The bonuses are generous, when and if you get them, but it does not make up for how they treat you as a person. If they didn’t have this bonus structure, then I would have left a long time ago and I think the turnover rate would be even higher than it currently is.
Kontras
As the years have gone by, corporate has changed. The focus is no longer on the patients. At all. This job is simply sales and they will monitor every single metric imaginable. Micromanaging is putting it lightly. You will be put under a microscope every single day. I hate to say it, but they really have become a lasik mill. It doesn’t matter if patients have dry eyes, night vision issues, early cataracts, amblyopia, uncontrolled diabetes, unstable refractions, decreased best corrected vision, glaucoma suspects, the list goes on and on. They want everyone to be candidates. Contact lenses could be just taken out and they could have surgery the next day. Some patients aren’t even dilated and they can still have surgery. Other ODs often ask me how we approach monovision. I’m embarrassed to tell them they’re done simply with a phoropter demonstration. They don’t want patients to try contacts because “time is the enemy in lasik.” They’re afraid of losing the sale if patients don’t like it. LasikPlus does not believe in the standard of care and it shows how little they care about patients. It brings shame to being a doctor. LasikPlus will put you in ethical predicaments on a daily basis. Do you recommend what you feel is best for these patients and not have surgery or do you put on a fake smile, grit your teeth, and tell them they’re a fantastic candidate. This is one of the major issues I have with this company. Patients are literally just metrics. They are numbers on paper. They will look at the prescription and the topographies and that’s it. There is no context and everyone should have a firm recommendation that they are ideal candidates. Corporate wants every surgeon and every optometrist to practice exactly the same way. THEIR way. We all went to different schools and as a result should have slightly different opinions on how to practice medicine. LasikPlus is a group of lawyers and office workers trying to tell us how to be doctors. They do a brilliant job of sugar coating it too. My favorite line is “you are falsely imprisoning patients in their glasses and contacts when you make them a non-candidate.” aka “stealing from the company.” Another major frustration with the company is the amount of emphasis put on social media. It is a bigger priority than providing quality care to patients. It is mandatory for all employees and nonnegotiable. Have we forgotten that we are providing a medical service? It seems completely unprofessional as a medical provider to constantly badger patients to check in on Facebook, review us on Facebook, and record their procedure on Facebook. The majority of the online reviews are disingenuous star ratings in exchange for a free T-shirt. They just want the free marketing…