Meet Dr. McIntire

Hello everyone, I am Dr. Lisa McIntire. I am one of the surgeons at Mann Eye Institute and am relatively new to the team. I joined Mann Eye Institute in January and spend most of my time treating patients in Austin. When Dr. Gus Stern introduced me to the other doctors at Mann Eye Institute, I knew right away that this was the right group for me. The doctors are genuine. The staff is phenomenal. And, they always have the latest and most advanced surgical equipment.

I feel very fortunate to be an Ophthalmologist. As medical students, we didn't have much exposure to Ophthalmology. Most of our time was spent in primary care and general surgery. Fortunately, I had friends in years ahead of me who were studying Ophthalmology. They showed me the light and helped me see that with Ophthalmology we are able to make these drastic positive changes in peoples lives, but not say goodbye to them after its done. We get to treat people throughout their life and sometimes their families too.

When I’m not working or talking about how awesome my job is, I like to bike ride and play outdoors. My husband and I met in college at the University of Southern Mississippi. We bonded instantly over our love of mountain biking. When it was time to start medical training, he pulled up his roots and traveled with me. Our first stop was LSU – Shreveport, where I went to medical school. Then we spent a year in Chattanooga where I did a transitional internship at UT - Chattanooga. (There is lots of great bike riding there!) Next, we headed over the Blue Ridge Mountains to Winston-Salem, where I did an Ophthalmology residency at Wake Forest. Then back to my hometown, New Orleans, where I did a Cornea and Refractive Surgery fellowship at Tulane. During all of that training I managed to have two sons. They are 7- and 4-years-old now and SO much fun!

I’ve spent the last six months here in Austin and they have been great. Before I started at Mann Eye Institute, the Austin office treated mostly LASIK patients. Now, we’re able to treat patients with cataracts, glaucoma, diabetes or any other ocular problem, as well. It’s been exciting to open the practice up to a whole other segment of patients… not to mention, Austin rocks!

If you’re interested in LASIK, Active Life Lenses or another procedure, give us a call at 800-MY-VISION. I look forward to meeting many of you very soon.

Can I use my insurance to pay for LASIK?

I hope everyone is having a great summer. I have been busy starting my training plan for a triathlon in Austin at the beginning of September. When the sweat is pouring down my face in this heat, I am so glad I had Lasik surgery to get rid of my glasses and contacts. Lasik is definitely the best thing to do for yourself if you are into sports.

Mann Eye Institute recently ran a Groupon special in Houston. It became apparent after talking with our team, based on the hundreds of calls we received that there is some confusion out there on the financial aspects of LASIK surgery. I am going to attempt to clear up some of the confusion below, but remember you can call any of our Lasik specialists if you have any additional questions.

LASIK surgery is am incredible life-changing event, BUT most medical insurance companies don’t see it as a medically necessary procedure. There are few to no insurance companies that will pay for the complete LASIK procedure. To them, LASIK is an elective procedure. For an insurance company to pay for any surgery, they require the patient to have a disease or limiting condition, one example would be a cataract. Surgery can indeed fix the cataract diseased eye in almost every case. Unfortunately, being nearsighted or farsighted is not considered a disease, rather it is looked at more as an inconvenience.

That being said, there are vision insurance companies that offer discounts through their policies. Again, there are few to none that will cover the full cost of the procedure. Mann Eye Institute has agreements with several traditional and vision insurance companies so be sure to ask if you have any special pricing for your lasik with your individual insurance provider when you call for your complimentary screening appointment to learn if you could be a candidate for LASIK.

One silver lining is that there are financing options to help those who want to spread the payments over time. For example, you can request two years with ZERO PERCENT interest financing and pay around $150 a month if you meet the financing company's criteria.

Hopefully, some of your questions have been answered as it pertains to the non-medical side of LASIK. Please call 1-800-MY-VISION if you have any other questions.