If you are having elective eye surgery such as premium cataract or premium lens replacement surgery that is not paid for by your insurance company then you have a choice to have one eye treated one day and the other eye treated on a different day OR you can choose to have surgery to both eyes on the same day.

In 2023, we started performing same day bilateral premium lens replacement surgery in our ambulatory surgical center here in Austin. (Our ASC is fully accredited by medicare, the state of Texas health and human services commission and AAAHC).

For what circumstances do we perform same day bilateral (simultaneous bilateral) premium lens replacement?
1 To reduce patient anxiety. Let’s face it, if you are having surgery, do you want to go through the surgery process twice on two different days or would you rather go through the surgical process once in a single day? Patients choosing same day bilateral surgery just want to have a one and done type of experience.
2 Patient convenience: If we perform surgery to one eye, then have that patient return for a followup visit or two before performing surgery on the second eye, then perform additional followup visits for the second eye, then we are asking the patient to make twice the number of visits to our offices than we would if we simply did surgery to both eyes on the same day. Same day bilateral surgery patients get back to a normal routine sooner and have to take less time off from work than patients who have separate eyes done on separate days.
3 Patients that are very dependent on glasses or contacts to see. If a patient requires a high or strong prescription to see and we bring one eye into focus, then their visual experience will be imbalanced in the time period between surgeries if performed on different days. Same day bilateral surgical patients can get back to a normal schedule of activities sooner because their vision will be more balanced and their eyes will work together within one day.
4 Elective surgery only. For patients using their medical insurance or medicare, we only do surgery to one eye on one day and for insurance reimbursement reasons do not offer same day bilateral surgery.

In this video, we’ll show you our process for a patient undergoing same day bilateral premium lens replacement.

Financial disclosure: I have no financial interests in the products discussed in this video.

0:01 Introduction and explanation why patients choose to have same day bilateral premium lens replacement surgery
6:24 ASC preparation and setup for 1st eye surgery
7:02 Premium lens replacement surgery to the 1st eye and surgical technique
17:52 ASC prepration and setup for 2nd eye surgery
18:47 Surgical pearls and premium lens replacement surgery to the 2nd eye
21:17 Postoperative day one patient experience with same day bilateral premium lens replacement

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#same day sequential cataract surgery
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