Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance

The Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance, or USAEyes, is an independent, nonprofit, patient/consumer health organization that provides detailed information about LASIK and certifies refractive surgery doctors based upon patient outcomes. USAEyes was founded by healthcare consultant Glenn Hagele in 1997.

USAEyes' website provides patient information and surgeon recommendations for conventional and wavefront LASIK, IntraLASIK, PRK, LASEK, Epi-LASIK, RLE and other refractive surgery procedures. USAEyes also operates a sister website ComplicatedEyes.org that provides information for patients who are experiencing difficulties with LASIK-related complications.

Surgeon certification
To become certified, doctors must meet or exceed the national norm as defined by a USAEyes advisory committee. Patient outcomes from doctors seeking certification are compared against the current national norms for refractive surgery patients.

According to USAEyes, refractive surgeons applying for certification must provide documentation stating that they meet certain professional and surgical standards. Documentation is subject to review and audit, which the organization says are reevaluated every three months.

Funding
USAEyes is funded through the certification fees required of ophthalmologists. These fees amount to 3,250 for the initial evaluation and certification process, then 1,250 every three months thereafter for reevaluation and recertification.

CORE Lasik patient survey
Preliminary results of the organization's Competence Opinion Relative to Expectation (CORE) vision correction patient survey were presented to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on April 25, 2008.

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