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THE VISION THING
By Anna Robaton
COMPETITION HEATS UP AMONG LASER CORRECTION CENTERS
 When Lasik Vision Canada mapped out its U.S. expansion plan, New York City was one of the first markets it set its sights on.
The Vancouver-based chain of laser vision-correction clinics, which is opening its first metro are center this week, figured it would find a receptive audience, given the number of New Yorkers who had been traveling north of the border in recent years for its cut-rate services.
"We've had a lot of people from the New York area come to our Canadian clinics, so we know there is a comfort level here," says Michael Henderson, chief executive of the company, which gets its name from Lasik, the most common laser vision correction procedure. Lasik Vision is debuting its first local clinic in Garden City, L.I., and plans to roll out another four in the metro area, including two in Manhattan.
It isn't the only one to see a potentially strong market here for laser vision- correction surgery. A growing number of hospitals, independent ophthalmologists and chains are jockeying for position, creating a hot new health care battleground.
Discounters like Lasik Vision, which charges $900 an eye versus the typical $2,500, are putting pressure on area prices.
"Most of the independent doctors have dropped their prices," says Dr. Mark Speaker, a Manhattan ophthalmologist and a medical director for TLC Laser Eye Centers, a chain of laser eye surgery sites that is facing strong competition from the price-cutters.
TRAINING MANIA
Nationwide, almost 5,000 ophthalmologists have been trained to perform the surgery. Insight Laser Center Inc.- a Manhattan company that trains and certifies ophthalmologists at its Trump Tower center to use the popular Visx laser- has certified about 400 doctors since 1998. The training takes just one day.
"We are amazed that there are still doctors who don't know how to do this," says Robert Greenberg, chief executive of Insight, which has four surgery centers in the metro area, including its Trump Tower location, and one under construction on Long Island.
Clearly, demand is growing. This year, an estimated 1.7 million procedures will be performed in the United States, up from 108,000 in 1996, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The Lasik process, which uses a computer-driven laser to reshape the eye to correct nearsightedness and other vision problems, is one of the fastest-growing surgical procedures in the country.
Still, success is hardly guaranteed. Consumer skepticism remains, which is one reason why providers are spending so aggressively on advertising. Last year, the New Jersey Eye Center in Bergenfield was the metro area's largest radio advertiser among the health care organizations, spending $2.8 million. The metro area's top 10 radio advertisers included two other laser surgery providers, New York Lasik Vision Correction and TLC.
Lasik Vision's U.S. expansion "has got the whole market roiled," says Paine Webber analyst Charles Olsziewski. He adds that the move has investors wondering how so-called premium providers, like Toronto-based TLC, will compete. TLC, the largest chain in North America, has five centers in the New York area.
Some of TLC's medical directors are raising a red flag, citing a rising level of complications among patients due to the proliferation of providers.
Dr. Speaker says he is spending a growing amount of time correcting other doctor's botched work. He says that some providers are rushing patients into the surgery in an effort to bolster their volume and that the field has attracted legions of doctors who have yet to gain significant experience.
"I'm spending more and more time fixing up patients who looked for a cheap deal rather than doing the proper research," says Dr. Speaker.
SCARE TATICS
Lasik Vision's Mr. Henderson says competitors are using scare tactics to hold on to their market share. The firm, he says, is able to charge lower rates because of the cost savings it gets from high volume- its clinics perform an average of 550 procedures a month- and because it doesn't pay the referral fees to optomotrists that drive up competitors' prices.
"The American public is simply being gouged. It's a classic example of a group desperate to justify their gouging by alarming the public into thinking that the quality of the staff isn't as good," says Mr. Henderson.
But even he concedes that there are too many players, given the demand that currently exists. A shakeout, already under way on the West Coast, appears inevitable, especially among independent doctors who can't afford to compete with the marketing clout of larger outfits.
"There are too many people chasing too little business," says Mr. Henderson.
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