Jia Yue Eye Surgery Centre is equipped with state-of-the-art medical facilities and provides patients with considerate service. Provided to China Daily |
A Singapore-headquartered eye surgery center is blazing new trails in Beijing's medical market with its cutting edge technological strength and patient-oriented service.
A part of Singapore Medical Group, a publicly listed company in Singapore, Jia Yue Eye Surgery Centre has received nearly 750 patients since opening its doors in June 2012, of which some 20 percent were foreigners living or working in China. This is partly thanks to the clinic's equipment, said Medical Director Ann Xiong.
Targeting the more affluent, Jia Yue has equipped itself with the set of equipment for iLASIK surgery, which NASA recommends for astronauts who are nearsighted.
It is also the first and only clinic in Beijing that has introduced the latest equipment, a fifth-generation iFS150 Hz femtosecond laser device.
"Now it takes just 10 seconds to cut the corneal flap, half the time its predecessor required," Xiong said. "More importantly, the cut is much smoother, ensuring higher precision and consequently better corrective results," she added.
Another element that contributes to the center's fame is its medical team, said Xiong. Xiong, 41, has been in the profession for more than 20 years since her graduation from Shanghai's Tongji University in 1993. In 2006, she studied laser vision correction in the United States to better her skills.
In addition to Xiong, the center has hired two experienced doctors from public hospitals in Beijing. "Both of them are renowned eye surgeons across the country, and they each have done more than 20,000 surgical operations in their medical careers," Xiong said.
The center has also invited some big names in the industry to serve as its consultants, including Steve Schallhorn, who helped introduce Lasik to NASA and the US Navy Top Gun Pilots program.
A professor of ophthalmology at the University of California, Schallhorn was the US Navy's refractive surgery program manager before his retirement in 2007. One of the most famed refractive surgeons in the world, he also serves as chairman of the Optical Express International Medical Advisory Board.
In addition, the center has access to the Singapore Medical Group's talent pool.
"If necessary, we can hold consultations with five to 10 eye surgeons in Singapore," said the center's President Cheryl Baumann, who is also co-founder and CEO of the publicly listed group.
Considerate services
Following the group's patient-oriented tradition, the center pays much attention to detail in its service.
"This is how we tap into our world-class Centers of Excellence to fully benefit our patients if the need ever arises," Baumann said.
Baumann said the center's top priority is the best possible medical outcomes based on a world standard of clinical care.
"The primary reason why the Singapore Medical Group came into China and selected Beijing to set up its first Center of Excellence was because of the local government's encouragement to welcome foreign medical groups into Beijing to help raise the level of medical care," Baumann said.
The center has set up a medical counseling section where patients can learn almost anything about their eyes and surgeries, ranging from preparations they need for the operation to post-operation tips, such as when they are allowed to use cosmetics or take airplanes.
"This gives patients a better understanding of their conditions and thus helps dispel their unnecessary fears about the operations," Xiong said. "Of course, they can always come to me if they have any questions," she added.
LASIK English Forum
Date: April 20 (Saturday) 10:00 am
Venue: Room 306A, 3rd Floor, Gateway Plaza, 18 Xiaguangli, Dongsanhuan Beilu, Chaoyang district, Beijing
Tel: (8610) 84474747
Web: www.jiayuebeijing.com/eng/
E-mail: bj-doc@jiayueeye.com
lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn