VCR congress leading the way with LASIK marketing in Italy
This October, we happily accepted an invitation to speak about LASIK marketing in Italy at Lucio Buratto’s VideoCatarattaRefrattiva (VCR) event for over 700 ophthalmologists in Milan. Known to most as VCR, it is the most important congress of refractive and cataract surgery in Italy, and among the most important in Europe and in the world. Since 1981, pioneering ophthalmologist Lucio Buratto has organised and directed VCR and he continues to innovate by bringing our LASIK marketing workshops to Italy.
Rod Solar presented two talks at VCR. The first was 10 minutes in the main symposium theatre which focused on how refractive surgeons market their services to today’s health consumer better.
Over 70 ophthalmologists take part in our comprehensive workshop on LASIK marketing in Italy
The second talk was a two-hour long deep-dive into the 5 Steps to Grow a Refractive Surgery business. This was attended by 70 ophthalmologists. Both talks were live-translated into Italian.
Thanks to Lucio Buratto, a LASIK pioneer
We hope that this interest in LASIK marketing in Italy among Italian ophthalmologists continues and we were pleased to meet many new contacts enthused towards furthering this effort.
It’s worth mentioning that Lucio Buratto, the conference producer, was one of the key figures in the development of LASIK, as London Vision Clinic describes in their blog post on the history of LASIK:
Burrato was performing classical keratomileusis, but from October 1989 he used the excimer laser for ablation on the underside of the cap and published his first 30 high myopic eyes with few complications and 1 year follow-up in 1992. In December 1989, Buratto had a case where the cap was too thin for the required tissue removal, much like Ruiz previously with ALK. He decided instead to perform the excimer laser ablation directly on the stromal bed.”
To those familiar with the history of LASIK, you’ll note that this was, in fact, the very first time a surgeon fired a laser directly on the stromal bed. This event just pre-dated Pallikaris’ independent conception of using a hinged flap using a microkeratome – which led to him doing the first LASIK procedure 40 years after Jose Ignacio Barraquer Moner first dreamed up the whole idea.
Everyone involved in LASIK today owes a lot to these early pioneers, so thank you Lucio Buratto for your role in the nascent development of LASIK! |We were very pleased to be invited to Milan to share how to bring this life-changing technology to even more people using LASIK marketing in Italy. (And a big thanks for the unexpected treat of private balcony seats at an evening’s opera performance at Teatro alla Scala following the conference!)
In bocca al lupo
To our new Italian friends: Vi auguro buona fortuna con il vostro marketing di chirurgia dell’occhio del laser in italia!
Related Posts
Meet our Co-Founders

Rod Solar
Founder & Scalable Business Advisor
For over 20 years, I’ve helped ophthalmology entrepreneurs scale their private practices. I specialise in doubling revenue within three years by offering a proven framework, hands-on experience, and a team of experts who implement what works. We take the guesswork out of growth and scale, so you can focus on delivering exceptional patient care while maximising the value of your business.
LiveseySolar completely transformed the way we were approaching this… We’ve gone from having just the dream of having a practice to having a practice up and running with people making inquiries and booking for procedures… It’s extremely pleasing. We feel lucky we connected with LiveseySolar.
— Dr Matthew Russell, MBChB, FRANZCO, specialist ophthalmic surgeon and founder of VSON and OKKO

Laura Livesey
Founder & CEO
I’m the co-founder & CEO of LiveseySolar. I’ve developed powerful eye surgery marketing systems that increase patient volumes and profits for doctors, clinics, and hospitals, since 1997.
Rod and Laura know as much about marketing surgery to patients as I know about performing it. They are an expert in the field of laser eye surgery marketing. They know this industry inside out. I believe that they could help many companies in a variety of areas including marketing materials, sales training and marketing support for doctors.
— Prof. Dan Reinstein, MD MA FRSC DABO, founder of the London Vision Clinic, UK