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What is the cost of a comprehensive eye exams?
A comprehensive eye includes an in depth evaluation of the health of the eyes including various tests to determine eye focusing, eye teaming, eye muscles alignment and movements, and overall health of the external and internal retinal structures. The cost can vary depending on the current health of your eyes, and insurance plan. Contact our office for specific details pertaining to your eye health needs.
Why is contact lens evaluation fee separate from the comprehensive exam fee?
Did you know what contact lenses are actually FDA approved medical devices? Wearing any kind of contact lenses, including decorative ones, can cause serious damage to your eyes if the lenses are obtained without a valid prescription or not used correctly.
Your doctor must spend additional time and expertise to determine the prescription and parameters that is best for each patient’s vision and health interests. Most patients will require additional follow-up visits to ensure the comfort and fit of the contact lenses.
Contact our office for specific details pertaining to your specific vision plan.
Why do I need a contact lens evaluation every year?
Contact lenses are worn directly on the surface of the eye called the cornea. Wearing contact lenses puts you at risk of serious conditions including eye infections and corneal ulcers. Much like other medical devices or medications, a yearly contact lens evaluation ensures the continual safety of your eyes and vision.
Why is my contact lenses prescription different from my glasses?
Contact lens is a medical device that comes in contact and conforms to the delicate surface of the eye. Determining the prescription requires a more comprehensive approach and specialized expertise. Contact lenses require parameters such as the refractive status, front and back curvature, tint, thickness, diameter, material and other curvatures depending on the design. Eyeglasses, on the other hand, have information on the refractive status of the eye alone.
How many types of contact lenses are there? How will I know which one is right for me?
Conventional contact lenses are standard lenses that correct vision for one standard challenge such as near sightedness and farsightedness.
Many patients require correction of astigmatism, bifocal/multifocal or presbyopia or other customized treatment for their vision. Our fee structure includes the necessary follow up to determine the final prescription.
The doctor will determine the right contact lenses for you based on your visual needs, lifestyle, health of your eyes, curvature of your corneas and other necessary measurements.
How long is an appointment?
We strive to provide each patient with the utmost attention to detail and care. Patients typically spend about 90 minutes at our office including the 30 minutes designated face to face time with Dr. Dau during a comprehensive eye exam. While most patients will not need all the time, we do not want patient to feel rushed or problems ignored. Time for frames styling and selection in our optical can vary depending on each patient preference and needs.
What is dilation? Why do I have to come back for dilation?
An eye drop(s) is used to enlarge the pupils to obtain a better view of the eye’s internal structures with a condensing lens and light. The drop(s) takes about 20-30 minutes to take affect and can last up to several hours. You will be light sensitive and may notice difficulty focusing on objects up close. Some patients feel uncomfortable driving after therefore will choose to reschedule at another day.
Pupil dilation is very important for people with medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid, cancer, autoimmune, taking certain high risk medications and those at risk for eye diseases such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, cataracts, and symptoms of retinal detachment.
Dilation is included in a comprehensive exam at no cost. Should the doctor determine a need to use other equipment or special testing to evaluate a dilated eye, there is a fee for that special testing, which occurs in conjunction with the dilation. In other words, routine exam with dilation has no separate fee for the dilation portion, but there may be fees for subsequent testing. Medical plan may cover additional testing when ocular pathology is suspected. Our staff will review all fees with you beforehand.
What is the difference between a Vision Plan and Medical Insurance?
Vision coverage is designed to determine a prescription for glasses or contacts and the general health of the eyes. It is not equipped to deal with complex medical eye conditions and/or diseases. This is often referred to as a well-visit exam.
When a medical condition or diagnosis is present (diabetes, high blood pressure, cataracts, glaucoma, red eyes, etc), it is necessary to file with your medical insurance. Any copays you have for medical specialists will then apply. There are varying levels of medical eye exams with varying fees. Some components of medical eye exams may not be covered by your medical insurance; therefore you would be responsible for those fees. This fee may be higher than a well-visit exam.
Some insurances consider a vision exam to be medically based and thus we have to file those exams with medical codes. This results in a higher fee and specialist copay.
Our office does not make these rules; they are defined by your insurance companies. We try to accept as many insurances plans as possible but often insurance companies will limit the number of providers in certain geographical area.
Can I still get an exam if you don’t accept my insurance?
Absolutely! We will provide a printed detail copy of your exam fees and you can submit to your insurance for out of network reimbursement.
What if I don't have insurance?
We strive to make eye care affordable for everyone. We offer an exclusive Direct Vision Care Plan for patients without medical or vision coverage. Click HERE to learn more about our exclusive plan.