From the moment a patient walks into west Omaha’s Kugler Vision for a consultation or a scheduled procedure, it’s clear that every detail—things like little to no waiting, Omaha neighborhood-themed private exam rooms (think Benson, South Omaha, Happy Hollow, and Blackstone), a state-of-the-art testing suite, pre-procedure massage chairs and custom music to calm nerves, and a mobile app to alerts patients when it’s time for post-surgery eye drops—has been designed to deliver much more than modern vision correction at the internationally recognized center of excellence.
“Having your vision corrected is a transformational experience,” said Lance Kugler, MD, founder, CEO, and surgeon at his practice. “If you talk to people about transformational experiences in your life—such as having a baby or getting married—there are very few in a lifetime. For people who have had LASIK or other vision correction procedures, it shows up on their list. What we’ve tried to do here is treat the entire process, not just the procedure itself, with that level of respect. We’re able to focus on that because vision correction is all we do. We’re able to provide that transformational experience.”
Since opening the surgical center in 2011, Kugler has honed the practice to become a global leader in modern vision correction procedures. The clinic’s staff has developed its skills to build the first practice in Nebraska or Iowa to offer all seven modern vision correction procedures available to reduce or eliminate dependence on glasses and contact lenses. In addition to LASIK, Kugler Vision can offer other procedures such as EVO ICL (implantable collamer lenses) and refractive lens exchange (replacing the natural eye lens).
“It’s a completely different process now,” said Kugler, one of the founders and the first president of the Refractive Surgical Alliance. “It’s no longer, ‘I came in for LASIK and I’m not a candidate, what do I do now?’ If someone wants to fix their vision, we’ll determine the best way to do it based on their visual needs, what they want their outcome to be, how they use their vision, and the specifics of their eyes and visual system.”
LASIK continues to be Kugler Vision’s most performed procedure, however, Kugler and his associates have ridden the wave of rapid and continuous innovation in the field. Since LASIK was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1998, laser vision correction has become the most studied procedure of any sub-specialty in medicine, according to Kugler Vision surgeon Drew Dickson, M.D.
The developments in LASIK have been as rapid as another must-have device we can’t live without. “Look at a cell phone in 1998 and look at an iPhone 15 Pro now,” Kugler said. “You would be hard-pressed to say it’s the same category of product. And that’s true of LASIK. It’s evolved to the point that you can’t even recognize it from where it was before. You’re not comparing apples to apples.”
Developments in the field and the expertise of Kugler Vision’s dedicated staff has raised the acceptance level for vision corrective surgery to an all-time high and is making LASIK and other procedures a “rite of passage,” according to Kugler. “It’s kind of like braces,” added Kugler, an Omaha native with deep roots in the community. “Many parents know that at some point their child is going to have braces—it’s simply a life cycle event. That’s what vision correction is becoming. If you survey Millennials and Generation Z who wear glasses, 75 percent of them say they are going to have their eyes fixed someday. It’s just a matter of when.”
Even more reason why Kugler Vision’s staff focuses on creating that life-changing experience for their ever-growing number of patients. “One of the things that’s unique about us is we don’t want it to feel like a regular doctor’s office,” said Dickson, who completed an international fellowship while studying under Kugler. “People expect to have good outcomes if you’re advertising yourself as someone who can help fix your vision. They accept that. But being able to help them have a good time while they’re here and feel valued and cared for is paramount for us. It’s one of the things that help set us apart. Happy patients are what fuel us. The whole team gets excited the day after surgery when we’re checking on patients who couldn’t see the big letter ‘E’ on the chart and now they’re reading the smallest line 24 hours later.”
To schedule a private vision correction consultation at Kugler Vision, visit KuglerVision.com.
