Planning Your Office Visit

Appointments

Appointments may be scheduled by calling the office during regular hours. Please call WELL in advance to make an appointment. Urgent and emergency problems will be given a prompt appointment. We do appreciate a telephone call if you are not able to keep an appointment.

When calling the office, please tell us the reason or need for your visit. This is very important in order to reserve sufficient time for your visit with us.

All patients coming for a complete examination should expect to be in our office for about one to one-and-one-half hours. Please plan accordingly. Most patients do receive dilating drops to allow the doctor to examine the interior of the eye; these drops require additional time to take effect. If you feel you cannot drive after dilation, please arrange for transportation.

Bring your most recent pair of eyeglasses, even if they are damaged.

An effort is always made to see you at the time of your appointment, however patients with special or urgent problems must take precedence. Also, additional testing is being done in the office so you may not be called back in the order your arrived.

Office Hours

• Monday & Tuesday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
• Wednesday 8:00 AM to 1:30 PM
• Thursday 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM
• Friday 8:00 AM to 2:30 PM

Telephone

Our telephones are answered during normal business hours. There are times when we will ask if you can hold; if you cannot hold please inform us. If you need the doctors after normal business hours, call the office and listen to the prompts.

If your injury is so acute that you cannot wait to telephone, go directly to the nearest emergency room.

Office Visit

You should arrive shortly before your appointment and check in with the receptionist. We will ask for picture identification at the initial visit and insurance cards at every visit to make sure we have the most up-to-date information and no typographical errors were made.

When your appointment time arrives, an ophthalmic technician will do appropriate testing and guide you to an examining room. You will be asked your medical and ocular history as well as allergies. You will need to bring a list of all medications you are currently taking. If you are taking eye drops, please bring the bottles with you.

If the doctor is prescribing new eyeglasses/contacts, we do have an on site optical department for your convenience in filling the prescription. For contacts, if we have given you a trial pair, we will not dispense the contact lens prescription until you have worn the lenses for 5-7 days to make sure they are the correct fit. If they are not, we continue to see you until we have achieved the best vision possible for you.

Medication Refills

We request that you try to foresee the need for medication refills. If you wait until your prescription has completely run out before telephoning us, there is a possibility you may not get the medication in a timely manner to avoid missing a dose.

Insurance

We participate with Medicare, Highmark, UPMC, Health America and many HMO’s and most vision plans. We will file claims for insured services that fall under insurance programs we participate with. The payment will come directly to our office. You should receive an explanation of benefits from your insurance company. If you are NOT a member of one of the insurance programs we participate with, payment in full is expected at the time of your office service. Surgical procedures will be billed to all carriers, with the exception of LASIK and PRK  which are usually non-covered services. All co-payments, deductibles, and non-covered services or materials must be paid at the time of service.

Finances

Payment is expected at the time of service for patients we are not members of the insurance programs we participate with, as well as co-payments, deductibles and non-covered services. We accept cash, MasterCard, Visa and Discover.

We do not withhold services because of financial difficulties. Please discuss any financial concerns with our billing office.