If your eye doctor has told you a cataract is forming, or you have asked about LASIK and been sent our way, you may be wondering who you will see from here. With co-management, you keep your own optometrist. Your optometrist takes care of your eyes before surgery and can see you for most of your visits afterward, and our surgeons perform the surgery. That is the arrangement Commonwealth Eye Surgery runs with local eye doctors in the Kentucky communities we serve, and it is built so that most of your visits after surgery can happen close to home.
Co-management at a glance
- Who you see first: your own optometrist, or one of our optometrists if you call us directly.
- Before surgery: an exam with your optometrist, then an evaluation at one of our offices with one of our optometrists. One of our surgeons consults with you when your case calls for it.
- The surgery: performed by one of our ophthalmologists. LASIK and PRK are done in our offices; lens surgeries are done at a surgery center.
- After surgery: most visits can be with your own optometrist. You can also come back to us. The choice is yours.
- Who to call with a question: your optometrist or either of our offices.
What co-management means at Commonwealth Eye Surgery
Co-management means your optometrist and our surgeons share your care. Your optometrist provides your primary eye care: annual exams, glasses and contact lens prescriptions, and finding eye disease early, often before you notice anything. We provide the surgical side: the testing and evaluation for surgery, and the surgery itself. Between the two, we stay in touch with your optometrist about your care.
We are locally and privately owned, and decisions are made within the practice. Working with your local eye doctor is part of that. Keeping your care with your optometrist keeps your travel time down and means most of your visits can be close to home. If you want the short version first, start with what co-management is.
Before surgery: your optometrist's exam and your evaluation with us
Co-management starts with an exam. Most of the time it goes like this.
- Your optometrist examines your eyes and talks with you about surgery. A cataract is often found at a routine exam. If you are interested in LASIK or another way to reduce your dependence on glasses and contacts, your optometrist can tell you whether an evaluation makes sense.
- Your optometrist refers you to us, or you call us yourself. It can start with your own eye doctor, who may work with us through co-management, but you can also schedule an evaluation at either of our offices on your own.
- You come to one of our offices for an evaluation with one of our optometrists. At our Louisville office that is Christopher J. Kuc, OD, who does the consultations and exams for LASIK, PRK, cataract surgery, the EVO ICL, refractive lens exchange, the Light Adjustable Lens, and YAG capsulotomy. At our Lexington clinic, the optometrists there do the same. Evaluations are done every weekday at both offices. The evaluation confirms whether you are a candidate and which procedure fits how you use your vision day to day. One of our surgeons consults with you when your case calls for it.
- If surgery is the right next step, we schedule it with one of our ophthalmologists. Scheduling is handled in our office.
The day of surgery: where it happens
Where your procedure happens depends on the procedure. Our ophthalmologists perform LASIK, PRK, cataract surgery, the EVO ICL, refractive lens exchange, and the Light Adjustable Lens. LASIK and PRK are done in our offices. Cataract surgery, the EVO ICL, refractive lens exchange, and the Light Adjustable Lens are done at a surgery center, not in the office.
For patients of our Louisville office, that surgery center is Dupont Surgery Center in Louisville, a separate surgery facility; for patients of our Lexington office, it is Commonwealth Eye Surgicenter in Lexington.
After surgery: follow up close to home
Most of your visits after surgery can happen with your own optometrist. Our model is to send you back to your local optometrist for follow up care. You may also be seen by one of our optometrists at either of our offices. The choice is yours.
For most procedures, that is the whole of it. One procedure is different: if you choose the Light Adjustable Lens, the light adjustments after surgery are done at our Lexington clinic by one of our optometrists, for every Light Adjustable Lens patient, including Louisville patients. Your surgeon sees you as needed, and we may also see you at regular intervals. Whoever you see, we stay in touch with your optometrist about your care.
If something concerns you between visits, call us. We are available to see you or to talk with you by phone, and your optometrist can see you too.
Co-managed LASIK and co-managed cataract surgery: what is different
The steps are the same for both. What changes is where the surgery happens and what the evaluation looks at.
With co-managed LASIK, your optometrist's exam comes first. You will also have a thorough LASIK evaluation with one of our optometrists, which confirms that you are a candidate; that generally means healthy eyes and a glasses prescription that has been stable. One of our surgeons performs LASIK in our office on the WaveLight laser platform, and your follow up visits can be with your optometrist or with us. Read more about LASIK at Commonwealth Eye Surgery.
With co-managed cataract surgery, your optometrist usually finds the cataract first. At your evaluation we look at your eyes and talk through the lens options with you, including how you use your vision day to day. One of our surgeons replaces the clouded natural lens at a surgery center, and your follow up visits can be with your optometrist or with us. Read more about cataracts and cataract surgery.
Questions patients ask about co-management
Do I need a referral from my optometrist to see you?
It can start with your own eye doctor, who may work with us through co-management. You can also schedule an evaluation at either of our offices yourself. Either way, your optometrist stays part of your care.
Will I still see my own eye doctor after surgery?
That is up to you. Our model is to send you back to your local optometrist for follow up care, and most visits after surgery can happen there. You can also come back to us. If you choose the Light Adjustable Lens, the light adjustments are done at our Lexington clinic.
Who performs the surgery?
One of our ophthalmologists. Our optometrists do the evaluations and can do much of the follow up care, and the surgery itself is performed by one of our surgeons.
How do you and my optometrist stay in touch?
We communicate with your optometrist about your care, before surgery and after. Co-management depends on that communication, and we are available by phone if you or your optometrist has a question.
What if I have a question between visits?
Call us. We are available to see you or to talk with you by phone if you have questions or concerns, and you can also call your own optometrist. In Louisville, call (502) 306-9551. In Lexington, call (859) 224-2655.
Schedule an evaluation
You do not have to decide everything today. Start with your own optometrist, or call us. Call Commonwealth Eye Surgery in Louisville at (502) 306-9551 to schedule an evaluation. Our Louisville office is at 9780 Ormsby Station Road #200, Louisville, KY 40223, open Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. If Lexington is closer, call (859) 224-2655.