Do you live abroad and are considering being treated the ELZA Institute? What follows below is some useful information regarding your pre-assessment, travel, examination, surgery, postoperative follow-up and whether you might be able to have your health insurer reimburse your costs. Please do not hesitate to ask for our assistance regarding your travel, visa requirements or hotel recommendations. Our team will do their best to assist you.
If you are interested in a second opinion at our institute, please get in contact to make an appointment.
In a first step, please send us all available medical documents so that we can get an initial picture in order to determine whether the trip to us and a second opinion and possible therapy with us make sense. Please understand that our consultants cannot give medical advice over the internet, based solely on a subjective description of your problem.
Zurich can be easily reached by car, train or plane. More information can be found here.
If an surgery is scheduled, we recommend that you book a flexible return flight ticket so that you can postpone your departure date if necessary. This is particularly important when treating children.
In corneal disease: if you wear contact lenses, please do not wear them at all for at least 2 weeks before your visit – not even for a few minutes. The contact lenses change the shape of your cornea, leading to incorrect measurements and compromising the final therapeutic effect.
If we need to examine your optic nerve and/or retina, then we will dilate your pupils in order to assess the back of the eye. You will then not be able to drive a vehicle for the rest of the day.
In the event of eyelid and orbital changes: please bring along old portrait photos (e.g. from more than 10 years ago). In these photos, you should be looking straight into the camera – old passport photos are a good example of this. Don’t worry passport photos are big enough for us!
The preoperative examination is typically performed on Monday to allow you to travel during the weekend.
Prof. Hafezi examines your eyes in the morning. If the examination confirms the diagnosis, the surgery can be performed on Monday afternoon.
We can treat both eyes in the same session.
You will have short check-ups every day the first 4 days after the surgery. The return journey can typically be planned for the following weekend.
Please find more information in our FAQ for laser eye surgery.
The preoperative examination is typically performed on Monday to allow you to travel during the weekend.
Prof. Hafezi examines your eyes in the morning. If the examination confirms the diagnosis, the surgery can be performed on Monday afternoon.
You will have short check-ups every day the first 4 days after the surgery.
Unilateral epi-off cross-linking: patients typically travel home on the fourth day after the surgery (Friday).
Bilateral epi-off cross-linking: we can operate both eyes in the same session. You should then expect to stay for a further 7 days (until the following Monday morning).
Unilateral or bilateral epi-on cross-linking: you should expect to stay for a further 3 days after the surgery (departure on Thursday).
Please find more information in our FAQ Cross-Linking webpage.
The more we know about your eyes, the easier we can plan the cataract surgery and make your stay more efficient. To do so, we would need the following data:
The preoperative examination is typically performed on Monday to allow you to travel during the weekend.
Procedure for “simple” cataracts
Procedure for ”complex” cataracts / optics
We cover the full range of the most modern technologies and use femtosecond lasers for cataract surgery as well as the most modern intraocular lenses.
Please find more information in our FAQ Cataract Surgery.
Depending on the surgery performed, follow-up examinations are necessary after 1 week, 1 month or later. Of course, we would be delighted if you would like to come to us for this.
However, if the journey is too far, we will work with your local ophthalmologist to ensure your follow-ups.
We usually create detailed invoices listing all items.
You would have to clarify directly with your health insurance company whether such a Swiss invoice is recognized / partially recognized by your national health insurance company. You settle the bill with us on-site and then contact your health insurance company.
In Switzerland, the law does not include an exact diagnosis on the invoice. However, if you want / need this, please let us know.
