Are You Getting the Eye Care You Deserve?

Medical care, like any other service, leaves patients at the mercy of the provider.  Unfortunately, most people don't know what good eye care service looks like.  You may think that you are getting a good value for what you have purchased, but are you really?  Here are a few of the most common areas that some eye care provider's may take advantage:

1. A complete exam

Many optical shops advertise a complete exam and glasses for a very low price.  Since you walk out with what you came for - a pair of glasses or contacts - you feel that you got a good deal. These "complete" exams, however, do not always contain all the elements that a genuine complete exam does.  A genuine complete exam is very thorough and looks at not just your prescription but also the surface and interior of your eyes.  These exams can catch many sight threatening diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration.  Also, a thorough exam can even catch a variety of other things such as Multiple Sclerosis, High Cholesterol, or tumors. Make sure your exam includes:

• Visual Field Screening
• Tonometry
• Retinoscopy
• Refraction
• Cover Test
• Slit Lamp
• Dilated Fundus Exam

2. Insurance Benefits

Insurance is confusing, it's true, and many offices, including ours, will offer to find your benefits for you.  Beware, though.  Insurance is ultimately a patient's responsibility, and truthfully, insurance companies work better with you, the patient, than with us, the provider.  Someone recently told me she paid $120 out of pocket for a kerataconus contact lens at another provider's office.  When I helped her research her insurance we found that she had complete coverage not only for the lens but for the contact lens fitting as well.  She had just trusted that the provider when they said she had no benefits and unfortunately was misled.  Go ahead and let your provider verify your eye benefits, but the key word is "verify" - you should find out as well!

3. Not all glasses are made alike

When you go to an optical that provides glasses at a very cheap price, you get a cheap pair of glasses.  A great percentage of our optical customers come to us after they went some place else and never got a good prescription of fit.  These customers then end up spending their original dollars at the cheap place, plus whatever the cost for glasses from us.  This is not to say that cheap glasses are never appropriate, but there are several instances where you should avoid them for sure such as:

• If you have a high prescription - these prescriptions are trickier and also can be quite heavy to wear. More qualified technicians can make sure you get the most accurate, lightest glasses possible.
• You are in need of multifocal or progressive lenses - advances in multifocal lenses are often only available at more upscale opticals.  Having the best multifocal lenses can reduce headaches and eye strain.
• If you have had trouble getting a good prescription in the past - some states, such as Colorado, do not require opticians to be licensed. This means your optician may not be highly trained. Check out the qualifications of the opticians you work with.
• If your frames don't seem to be durable/frequently break - a good quality frame should last you several prescription changes.  This means you spend the money once and get the benefits for years to come.