Eye care is an often overlooked, but nonetheless important

It is not uncommon for the typical vision center to serve 50 to 100 clients in the course of a day. Like much of the health care industry, the success or failure of this type of center is determined by the sheer volume of their patients. Seemingly, the priority of personalized care is no longer deemed an industry standard. Thus the average eye screening process has been drastically shortened. This has increased the risk of either missing or even misdiagnosing common issues such as astigmatism, presbyopia, binocular vision, and near or farsightedness. Thus the responsibility of maintaining regularly scheduled eye exams by a licensed opthamologist has fallen to the consumer.

When searching for personalized care, it is not unreasonable to request that a potential health care provider allow you to conduct a brief interview. Once you have determined what questions you would like to have answered concerning their experience or procedures, take the time to get to know your opthamologist. If they choose not to allow you this simple courtesy, this may be an indication of the level of care commonly provided. On the other hand, if he or she is willing to take the time to answer questions or address any concerns you might have, then your search may be over. As a general rule, the population density of the area in which you are living may directly affect the quality of care available. Remember, large scale vision centers or eye wear outlet chains are required to produce revenue based on the number of people served. Whereas a local opthamologist can often avoid this kind of pressure due to the smaller size of their office.

No one can choose a health care provider for us better than we can. Even though our insurance company may be helpful in providing us with options, it is our responsibility to take the time to investigate for ourselves. Choosing an opthamologist that best suits our needs may take more time than we might have realized at first, but it will be time well spent. Our vision is far too precious to take for granted. If you currently find yourself in need of an opthamologist, the links listed below may prove helpful.