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Medical Forum / General / Vision / August 2006those of you who are optometrists: what should I expect to pay
As I said in a previous post, I have never paid for my contacts. I called around and asked at a few od offices what they charge. None of them could give a definitive answer. One said they would charge (1) for the office visit, (2) to fit me for lenses and (3) to "refit" me if we decide I should go with soft lenses. (And this doesn't include the price of the lenses. So to me, if I go and we talk decide at that visit that I should go with soft lenses, the guy would charge me to fit me and charge me for a "refit" fee, even though its the first time he would ever be fitting me? I didn't understand this, why does he have to fit me for my hard lenses first if we are going to decide to switch lens types. And then, should I expect to pay for a visit when I go to pick up my lenses and have him check the fit? Or does it all fall under the original umbrella. So those of you who are optometrists, what should I expect? (I am not asking what you personally charge, just what sorts of charges will be implemented). Thanks. > As I said in a previous post, I have never paid for my contacts. > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > So those of you who are optometrists, what should I expect? (I am not asking > what you personally charge, just what sorts of charges will be implemented). Policies vary, but most will charge a fee to see you the first time to assess your current lenses, discuss what you don't like about them, discuss what you want from contacts and to take some measurements that will be used to determine what kind of lens might work. They can't give you a price over the phone because they don't know if you will need a spherical, toric, multifocal or custom lens and fees vary with complexity of case. If you decide to get lenses, then there is a fitting or refitting fee. Refitting is usually less as you already know how to handle lenses, but in switching from hard to soft it may be more. Fitiing fee usually covers follow up visits and adjustments to the fit for some period of time (ask how long). Fees will depend upon what kind of lenses you get, some will have a "bundled" fee that includes lenses and solutions, some don't. Expect soft, multifocal disposable lenses to to cost $400 -$600/ yr for fees, lenses and care solutions. Dr Judy >As I said in a previous post, I have never paid for my contacts. > >I called around and asked at a few od offices what they charge. > >None of them could give a definitive answer. Sounds normal. Kind of like asking how much a car dealership charges for a car. Kind of like asking how much food costs at a restaurant. Kind of like asking how much an attorney charges to litigate a civil case. The answer many times is: "It depends". An office might be able to give you a range however. They could say perhapst "The minimum charge starts at 'X' and goes on up. Depending on what is needed it could be as much as 'Y'". Some offices may be unwilling to do that because of "price shoppers". >One said they would charge (1) for the office visit, (2) to fit me for lenses >and (3) to "refit" me if we decide I should go with soft lenses. (And this [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >understand this, why does he have to fit me for my hard lenses first if we >are going to decide to switch lens types. Ask him. >And then, should I expect to pay for a visit when I go to pick up my lenses >and have him check the fit? Or does it all fall under the original umbrella. It depends. >So those of you who are optometrists, what should I expect? (I am not asking >what you personally charge, just what sorts of charges will be implemented). I would expect to be charged, at least, the following: o Comprehensive eye examination o Contact lens examination o Follow-up visits For just the exam fees, I would look on the low end somewhere around $120.00 and at the high end, you could be looking at $400.00+. > As I said in a previous post, I have never paid for my contacts. Sounds like a a great plan. I'd go back there. > I called around and asked at a few od offices what they charge. Why? did your plan disintegrate? > None of them could give a definitive answer. Maybe you didn't ask the right questions. > One said they would charge (1) for the office visit, (2) to fit me for lenses > and (3) to "refit" me if we decide I should go with soft lenses. (And this > doesn't include the price of the lenses. I think you confused 2 and 3. It's a fit or a refit, but not both. > And then, should I expect to pay for a visit when I go to pick up my lenses > and have him check the fit? Or does it all fall under the original umbrella. Maybe. depends on if 2 and 3 above includes the followups. Usually they do, but if you're asking for the lowest fees possible, maybe not. > So those of you who are optometrists, what should I expect? (I am not asking > what you personally charge, just what sorts of charges will be implemented). Just the fees that apply to what is done. No more, no less, hopefully... w.stacy, o.d. I didn't have a plan. A lifelong family friend was my optometrist (my paren'ts friend) and once we kids were grown, we still went to him and he refused to let us pay. I would have been perfectly happy to pay, I didn't go to him because he was "free", I went to him because I trust him. He retired. >> As I said in a previous post, I have never paid for my contacts. > [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > >w.stacy, o.d. The current procedural terminology lists the following applicable codes: 92004 = comprehensive eye examination for a new patient 92310 = prescribing and supervision of contact lenses Additionally, there are modifiers to describe whether more work, or less work was required, as well as a different code for complex situations. So, you see that it is quite possible to be charged for two different services when going for a contact lens fitting, namely the eye examination and the fitting and the fitting fee may vary based upon the anticipated time and complexity. There are publications that list fee ranges for a given geographical area, as reported to insurance companies. However, the contact lens policies vary somewhat from practitioner to practitioner. Uniformity of fees would not be expected. Any attempt to establish a uniform fee structure could be interpreted as price fixing by the Federal Trade Commission. DrG > I didn't have a plan. A lifelong family friend was my optometrist (my > paren'ts friend) and once we kids were grown, we still went to him and he [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > Message posted via MedKB.com > http://www.medkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/vision/200608/1 |
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