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A Medical Eye Care Practice

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Frequently Asked Questions

Insurance

  1. What insurance do we take? We are providers for most major PPO insurances along with Medicare and VSP. Please complete the on-line forms and include your medical insurance details our staff can look this up any co-pays, deductibles and benefits in advance of your visit. Our practice is a medical eye care practice. Identifying and treating eye disease is our specialty. Knowing your insurance helps us provided appropriate care.
  2. Is my visit going to be covered under my medical insurance? If you have a medical issue (complete the medical history questionnaire and if you have symptoms related to vision, diabetes or systemic disease that involves vision) or require a vision exam as part of ongoing care the answer is usually yes.
  3. Will I be dilated? We are a medical eye care practice and we feel dilation provides us with the highest standard of care. You can elect to return at a later date for dilation if the day of your exam it is not possible. Please remember we offer reversing drops and sunglasses to patients that are dilated. In most cases (thanks to newer medicine and the above) you will not require a separate driver.
  4. Will insurance cover additional testing? When medically appropriate (in the diagnosis and management of eye conditions) most insurance will cover testing. For example we use scanning lasers and visual fields to help diagnose and treat glaucoma. These tests among others would be covered as appropriate for glaucoma suspects and glaucoma patients. Our practice also offers additional testing called “exam plus” for wellness vision patients. If you have a vision wellness benefit the exam plus testing is an additional fee. If you have a vision wellness benefit and one or more the exam plus tests are medically appropriate and are billed towards your medical insurance then the fee for exam plus will be reduced.

Medical

  1. I am diabetic and have been told I need annual eye examinations? Yes, we perform comprehensive diabetic retinal exams on all diabetes. This includes assessing any diabetic retinopathy as well as diabetic macular edema and other associated diabetic complications. As part of this care we also have retinal imaging and scanning lasers (ocular coherence tomographers) to help us with diagnosis and treatment.
  2. Do you treat glaucoma? Yes, we are very experienced at glaucoma and offer many options for the treatment including Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT). SLT is a minimally invasive laser procedure that is used to supplement, replace or reduce the need for drops. In addition to SLT we offer topical medication treatment and surgical treatment options.Glaucoma is a chronic disease with the best outcomes when diagnosed early and managed properly. To do this we utilize the latest diagnostic testing for early diagnosis as well as up to date progression analysis to allow appropriate long term management.
  3. I have a red sore eye care you help? Yes, we offer treatment of infectious disease, corneal abrasion, ocular pain management, and most anything that’s going to help you heal fast. In addition we offer in office rapid diagnosis of viral infections; cultures and smears for differential diagnosis of bacterial and fungi infections and keep fortified antibiotics available for those cases where we need medications that require special compounding.
  4. I have been told I have cataracts can you help? Yes, we can help if you have cataracts. Our practice has the latest diagnostic tests for specialty cataract lens surgery. Whether it’s monovision, multifocal, astigmatic correcting lenses, post lasik or laser assisted cataract surgery you need we will guide you through the process and make sure your choices are the most appropriate for you. We feel each patient should be looked at individually and no two situations are the same. Often there is more than one approach to cataract surgery. Having the doctor and the patient involved in the decision making process is critical to successful outcomes.
  5. I have a corneal condition called Keratoconus. Can you help me? Yes, along with Keratoconus we also treat other corneal conditions such as post Radial Keratotomy (RK), post Lasik, Ectasia, Pellucid degeneration and corneal transplants. As part of that care we offer custom RGP lenses, scleral contact lenses both rigid as well as hybrid sclerals.

Office Visit

  1. Will I be dilated? We are a medical eye care practice and we feel dilation provides us with the highest standard of care. You can elect to return at a later date for dilation if the day of your exam it is not possible. Please remember we offer sunglasses to patients that are dilated. In most cases you will not require a separate driver.
  2. How do I get to the office? We are located on Magnesia Falls in Rancho Mirage on the south side of Highway 111.
  3. What are your hours? We are open 7:30am to 4:00pm daily and do not close for lunch. On Wednesdays we open later 8:30-4:00pm.
  4. Do you see urgent care cases? Yes, for our patients we provide 7-24 coverage for urgent care. For new patients we will provide care during our normal business hours. We make every effort to be accessible to help patients but also realize that our scheduled patients have made an effort to be there on time and it’s our duty to make sure we respect this. We will do our best not to rush the examination process or to keep you waiting. In medical eye care it is a goal that we strive to meet but sometimes don’t. If we don’t stay on time we will make sure you are notified and kept informed. We really do want your experience to be pleasant and timely.
  5. How long should I expect my examination to take? Please plan on being their for an hour to and hour and half. You can help us make stay on time by filling out your forms on-line. See the patient forms link for this.
  6. Can I make payments for my glasses or contact lenses? Yes you can. We offer several payment plans through Care Credit including 6 and 12 month no interest. Co-payments, deductibles and contact lens fees must be paid at the time of the examination.