What are you doing about COVID-19?

COVID-19, amongst other respiratory viruses, is an important consideration when visiting a medical practice. Your health and safety as well as that of the staff and physician are held in utmost importance. The following will apply to visitors to our practice:

• Masks are STILL required in the office regardless of vaccination status when in front of our physician. If you come to the office without a mask, we’ll offer one for you. However, please understand that we’re in each other’s faces.

• Patients will be allowed one additional person to accompany them inside the office, but will remain distant from staff.

• If you have a persistent cough, feel ill or have any concerning symptoms of an upper respiratory infection, please reschedule your appointment BEFORE YOU COME for the health of everyone you’ll come in contact with. We can’t help people if we get sick from you.

• We ask all patients to still remain conscious of social distancing. There are floor stickers to show distances when near reception.

• We’re continuing to do our part as well: Each exam room, piece of equipment and reception area will be consistently and throughly disinfected.

• We will follow guidelines of the American Academy of Ophthalmology as well as the Centers for Disease Control on best practices to minimize spread.

Bottom line is this: Even though many patients are triple vaccinated and boosted, we ask for your continued participation, even if you feel this is overkill at this point in time. The reality is that all of us are coming together in a small office from different parts of our community. Any single person can pass any contagious virus to any of us at any time and we may not even be aware we have it. Many people with COVID-19 do not have symptoms.

What should I bring?

Appointments run best when you do a few things:

• Bring a mask, your insurance cards and identification.

• Bring a list of all of your current medications and medical history.

• Bring your current glasses and contact lens boxes (if applicable).

• Bring a smile. Friendly people are just more pleasant. Remember, we’re here to help.

Can I have my records sent prior to your visit?

It is tremendously helpful to review records PRIOR to your visit. It’s fine if you don’t have them, but, it gives us a chance to prepare for your visit AND it help speed things along. You may have any records faxed to our office at 828-242-6989 after your appointment is made.

Will I be dilated?

Most probably, yes. If driving after dilation bothers you, please bring a companion to drive you home and sunglasses. All surgical consultations mandate a dilation. Minor urgencies may not require dilation, but depending on what we find, we may want to dilate you. So, better to guess you will be dilated than not.

Can I wear my contacts to the appointment?

If you’re coming for a cataract consultation wearing contacts, your appointment will be cancelled. We simply can not take accurate measurements. Examining you without reliable information just won’t work. It just runs up your bill and could cause an inaccurate outcome. No one likes that. Our advice is to discontinue soft contact lens wear a minimum of 48 hours in advance, preferably longer and rigid contact lenses a minimum of 2 weeks in advance of your appointment. Please don’t think you can put them in for “just an hour.” We may not catch it, but it could affect the accuracy of your measurements without alerting us until the surgery is completed. Think of it this way: you have one time in your life you’re going to have this procedure. Do you want the most accurate outcome possible? Or would you rather risk it because you don’t like how you look in glasses. Please, do yourself a favor and stop wearing the lenses. You’ll thank us later.

If you’re coming for a routine exam, there is not a requirement to discontinue your lenses, but please bring a back-up pair of glasses and your contact lens boxes so we know the powers you are currently wearing. It gives us a place to start.

How long will my appointment take?

Many urgent appointments are quick and, for established patients, are mainly in and out. For new patients, due to Medicare/insurance documentation rules, we have to go through and document your full history and this frankly takes time, no matter if coming for a small scratch or the most involved surgery. So, please be patient with us. It’s not our fault. Surgical patients tend to be more complex and take more time due to testing, examination and counseling. As it should be, right?

Consults for surgery usually last an hour, maybe more, depending on the complexity of your case and surgical counseling. We want you to be comfortable and go home with information that helps you prepare for your surgery.

Routine exams typically are about an hour or less, so long as a contact lens fitting is not requested.

Please be aware that any in-clinic emergency or someone requiring special care is almost impossible to prepare for. These may cause delays. We do our best to focus on each person individually. Time becomes less of an issue if you have a large problem. So, we’ll let you know if this is going on, but ask you for your understanding on those days. They will occur. If it’s you, you’d want the time necessary.

What if I need to cancel my appointment?

Our clinic policy regarding cancellations and no-shows, as noted in our treatment consent forms that all patients sign, is an agreement to notify the clinic 48 hours in advance of a need to cancel. Please call us to cancel if you are unable to keep your appointment. Failing to notify the office 48 hours in advance or not showing for your appointment will result in a $50 charge and must be paid before scheduling another appointment.

Further, if you have 3 or more incidents of canceling appointments (including no-shows) within a year, you will be dismissed from the practice without an opportunity to return. Please know that we understand there are extenuating circumstances and will be considered within our policy.

Our aim is to see people in our office that respect our efforts as much as we respect them being a patron of our practice. Our policies align with other practices in the area to ensure we best utilize our clinical time in order to serve patients needing to be seen. We appreciate your understanding and compliance with this policy.