I am considering having lasik done at the lasik vision institute in plano tx and i am wondering if this is a good facility using the most modern lasers by qualified surgeons

I spent a year in Dallas Texas at the University. There are a number of highly trained experts in refractive surgery at Southwestern Medical Center, including Jim McCulley, MD, Wayne Bowman, and Sylvia Hargrave, MD. There contact information is:
Another surgeon in Dallas with an excellent reputation is Gordon Newman, MD
As far as the LASIK Vision Institute - there have been a number of articles on the internet regarding them (they have many locations across the US). For example - go to Google and tyoe in Laser vision Institute Washington Post to see one article.
Another concern is that one should not need to pay a deposit for surgery. This is because after learning about the risks and benefits of surgery, one might decide surgery is not for them. So I would in general avoid places that require a deposit.
I hope this helps

Best of luck

Bill Trattler, MD
Miami, FL

Link: http://www.wftv.com/money/1877445/detail.html

Sight on Sale: Action 9 Investigates Lasik Surgery Chain
(11/13/02) -- Action 9 has new information about a big laser eye surgery chain that offers to correct your vision for just $299 an eye. Now a former employee is telling all about the tactics used to get your eyes under the laser, for the highest possible price. Action 9's Todd Ulrich investigates "Sight on Sale."

It's an eye-popping offer: $299 an eye for Lasik and get rid of your glasses. Once inside Laser Vision Institute in Altamonte Springs would you really get that price?

"No, definitely not the average person," says Linda Kaley Pentecost. She should know. She had been a patient counselor at LVI, the first person you saw when responding to that $299 ad.

We asked her, "What was the price LVI wanted you to charge, if you could get it?"

"One thousand dollars an eye," she says. And patient counselors got bonuses for pumping the price. We obtained the company's internal bonus sheet. If you get the patient to spend a thousand dollars an eye, the employee collects a $25 bonus for each procedure. Get them to spend $1,600 an eye and the bonus more than doubles. A patient counselor made a nice bonus when Janet Roberts walked into the office. "I heard $3,000 to have the procedure done, $1,500 an eye," she says.

That was a year ago. What happens if you respond to that ad now? Action 9 sent a volunteer into Laser Vision several weeks ago, asking for the $299 special. Her surgery would cost "the lifetime plan, which was $699 an eye," says our volunteer, Tara Simone. She was told her Lasik cost twice as much because of astigmatism, so she would need enhancement surgery later.

That patient counselor making the diagnosis had no medical training, just like Linda Kaley Pentacost, who walked in without a medical degree. "I saw my first patient on my first day," she says.

According to Pentecost, patients with nearly perfect vision were supposed to get the $299 rate, but that got her in trouble. We asked her, "If you offered the patients the $299 price, would you be disciplined by management?"

"Reprimanded, not disciplined," she explains. "It was a matter of why did you just give it to them."

The ex-employee's experience is disturbing for Assistant Attorney General Jackie Dowd. "That a person can't walk in and buy something for the advertised price, I'm concerned about that," says Dowd.

The state already took action against the owners of Eyeglass World for misleading ads, the same people who own Laser Vision, which just this month got a new name: Lasik Vision Institute. "I would like to take a further look at this situation," comments Dowd.

After several months, Linda Kaley Pentecost quit because of the company's sales tactics and the ads. A Laser Vision attorney told me the ad's fine print discloses that prices vary by prescription and a licensed surgeon sees the patient before the procedure. LVI also claims to have hundreds of satisfied customers.

Lasik is very popular and generally low risk, so what should consumers know about pricing? The average price is about $1,200 an eye in Central Florida. Keep that in mind the next time you see one of those cheap Lasik ads. And this is surgery, so check out your doctor's credentials and record.

LINK: http://www.wftv.com/money/1877445/detail.html