Lasik @ LSC. I want it to be done by Marc Tay =)

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Dr Marc Tay on Channel 5's Rouge




AsiaOneHealth
This eye surgeon has done Lasik surgery on 10,000 eyes

IF numbers are anything to go by, one man here seems to have cornered the Lasik market.

Dr Marc Tay, consultant ophthalmologist at the Lasik Surgery Clinic, operated on 10,000 eyes last year.

At the Singapore National Eye Centre, where there are believed tobe 10 ophthalmologists doing Lasik surgery, it is understood that 5,000 eyes were operated on last year.

And at the TTSH Lasik Centre where there are four ophthalmologists who do Lasik surgery, the figure was 1,471 eyes last year.

Over at National University Hospital, there are three surgeons who do Lasik surgery who operate on 600 to 800 eyes a year. This does not include military personnel.

So how did one man come up with such impressive numbers?

Part of the answer lies in Dr Tay's expertise - he can operate on two eyes and finish within eight to 10 minutes, while other doctors typically take 15 minutes, his clinic's chief executive officer, Dr Cheryl Baumann, said.

A check with two doctors showed that how long a surgeon takes to perform Lasik depends on whether it is standardised or customised Lasik, the surgeon's expertise and how calm the patient is.

Dr Lynn Yeo, a consultant ophthalmologist at Asia HealthPartners, said: 'On average, I take about 15 minutes to operate on a patient with customised Lasik.'

The bulk of Dr Tay's work is Lasik surgery, but he also does three to four cataract operations a week.

FOCUS ON MEDICAL WORK

Part of the reason Dr Tay can perform efficiently could also be that Dr Baumann runs the day-to-day affairs of the clinic so that he is left to do what he does best, without having to deal with matters such as buying of equipment, hiring of the clinic space and so forth.

Dr Baumann, 39, who has a PhD in law, started the clinic with Dr Tay in April 2005 and is the majority shareholder.

Dr Tay, 47, does not own any share in the clinic. He is paid a salary.

Dr Baumann told The New Paper: 'In this way, the workload is divided and we can make the workflow very efficient.'

They started with a 600 sq ft space at Paragon Medical Centre.

As the number of patients grew, the clinic moved in 2006 to another floor in the same building with a 7,000 sq ft space.

The clinic now has 40 employees, including two other ophthalmologists, nurses, optometrists, a human resource team, a finance team and a marketing team.

The other two eye surgeons also do Lasik surgery.

Dr Tay said: 'I used to work in a one-man private clinic setting, where I had to do everything, from hiring the staff members to buying equipment.

'Now, it's much better because all those things are taken care of.'

He said that he takes breaks like everyone else. 'I have three weeks of holidays a year where I travel anywhere I wish.'

Dr Tay, who did not want to disclose if he was single or married, works from about 9am till about 8pm from Mondays to Saturdays. He works for an hour on Sundays.

On a typical day, he spends half his time seeing patients, counselling and going through the procedure with them. He spends the other half of the time operating.

Dr Baumann said: 'We worked out that Dr Tay does, on average, 34 eyes a day, if he works 288 days ayear.

'At 10 minutes for two eyes, he spends about five hours operating each day.'

Dr Tay estimated that he gets one complication in about 3,000 operations.

LOW COMPLICATION RATE

The clinic did its own study on its infection and complication rates and compared them to rates worldwide.

Their results showed that they had zero infection rate last year compared to 0.4 per cent in other international centres.

The clinic's complication rate was 0.27 per cent compared to 1.26 per cent in other international centres.

Their study was based on a total of 16,089 operations done at the clinic for 2007.

Ms Salimah Ali, a co-ordinator in a headhunting company, will be going for a Lasik procedure by Dr Tay next week.

She said: 'I attended a talk organised by the clinic and found Dr Tay very knowledgeable.'

She also said the clinic was well-known.

This story was first published in The New Paper on Apr 25, 2008.

Article from: http://www.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20080427-62095.html