Is it good enough that your surgeon was trained in the US? Dr. Shah was trained at the finest ophthalmic institutions in the country including the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA which has been ranked number one in the western United States for the last 20 years by U.S. News & World Report, and Johns Hopkins Hospital, which is the number one hospital in the United States for 21 out of the last 23 years.
2. How much experience does your surgeon have?
Did they just complete their training or have they been doing this on a regular basis for quite some time? Dr. Shah performs cataract surgery frequently and with great success. Complication rates are under 0.5%. He is one of the busiest surgeons in Orange County and thrives primarily from the word of mouth referrals of satisfied patients.
3. Is your surgeon skilled in the latest technology?
Does the surgeon offer ALL premium intraocular lens options or only the ones they feel comfortable with? Some surgeons perform only certain types of procedures and only use certain types of intraocular lenses based on the cost for the surgery center and/or lack of familiarity with certain technology. Dr. Shah performs surgery to give you the best outcome based on what you need. He has the skills to use ALL the latest intraocular lens technology that is currently available including multifocal, toric, and accommodating, pseudo-accommodating, and wavefront-optimized intraocular lenses that are best suited to you.
4. If your surgery fellowship trained?
After a rigorous residency program that lasts four years, many ophthalmologists go into practice. A select few choose to further hone their skills and become experts in a niche for what they do. Following residency, Dr. Shah was selected for a highly coveted fellowship at the Wilmer Eye Institute at the Johns Hopkins Hospital to specialize in Cataract, Refractive, and Cornea Surgery. Only 4 surgeons in the country are selected for this every year. Johns Hopkins Hospital is the same place where Presidents of the United States, Saudi royalty, casino moguls, and oil tycoons choose to receive their care! Dr. Shah then became a professor of ophthalmology in Detroit, Michigan (his home town) at Henry Ford Hospital and Wayne State University.
5. Is your surgeon a teacher?
Dr. Shah has the skills and expertise to make him a sought after lecturer, writer, and teacher. He has trained the next generation of ophthalmologists in surgery and in the clinic both in the United States and abroad. Dr. Shah has lectured internationally including at the world famous Aravind Eye Institute in South India, which has the mission to eradicate world blindness. Industry leaders have sought out Dr. Shah to teach other physicians how to utilize the latest advances in eye care. Dr. Shah is also well published in peer-reviewed journals.
6. Is your surgeon able to perform glaucoma surgery during cataract surgery to treat both?
An example of one of the latest advances that has developed in ophthalmology is the iStent – a small titanium stent can be placed in the eye during cataract surgery to help keep the pressure lower for glaucoma patients after surgery. The majority of physicians do not offer this option. Dr. Shah is one of only 20% of surgeons that is able to offer it for the right patient.
7. Does your surgeon perform ORA intraoperative aberrometry?
This is an intraoperative measurement that is taken to provide precision outcomes, especially for those patients that have had prior LASIK or PRK and for those having custom/premium intraocular lens surgery. Dr. Shah is one of the top users of this technology while most other surgeons do not offer it.
8. How does your surgeon perform surgery?
There are different methods to perform cataract surgery. For surgeons that are skilled in these latest techniques and for patients that desire the least downtime, cataract surgery can be performed with topical anesthesia, which means that the eye is numbed with just a few eyedrops. In the past, injections were given behind the eye to numb the eye in a procedure called the retrobulbar block. Still, many surgeons use a retrobulbar block and have not yet transitioned to topical anesthesia to perform cataract surgery. Some surgeons still perform routine cataract surgery under general anesthesia. In rare cases, a retrobulbar block can lead to a retrobulbar hemorrhage, bleeding behind the eye, that can cause permanent vision blindness. Dr. Shah can avoid this complication because he performs topical, no needle, no stitch cataract surgery. For an even faster recovery with 10x improved precision, an elite minority of surgeons on the country, including Dr. Shah, perform laser cataract surgery.
9. Has your surgeon had any malpractice claims against him?
You can search for this information by clicking on the following link and searching your doctor by name:
http://www.breeze.ca.gov
Dr. Samir Shah has never had a claim or judgement against him.
10. Does your surgeon ‘co-manage’ with your optometrist?
Co-management means that when you are referred by your optometrist to the operating surgeon, your referring optometrist will be paid. This may incentivize your optometrist to only refer to a surgeon that comanages with them, not necessarily the very best surgeon.
Cataract surgery is a very important decision to make. It can be a life-changing procedure that can go very smoothly when performed by the right surgeon in the right way. If you have an eye doctor that you normally see, we can and will work with them to ensure you get the very best care for your cataract surgery and inform them to resume your care when you are stable after surgery.
Call us today to schedule your appointment!
Beach Eye Medical Group – See The Best!
We serve patients in Huntington Beach as well as other Orange County communities, including Newport Beach, Irvine, Fountain Valley, Westminster, Costa Mesa, and Tustin.