Eye Dork - Eye Have the Answer

The main difference between eye and health insurance is in the findings during the eye examination. For most patients during the eye examination we find a new glasses or contact lens prescription to correct their vision problems. With these general exams, eye insurance covers most of the cost of the exam and part of the cost for the glasses or contacts. All vision or eye insurance coverages vary. Depending on the plan, the amount of the co-pay and materials coverage can be different. The co-pay is the amount the patient has to pay for the visit. Certain plans will cover the fee for fitting contact lenses, but most don't. Materials coverage or the amount insurance will pay for glasses or contacts varies also. Most vision plans offer around $100 towards glasses or contacts. There can be additional rebates with glasses, since most plans offer lower rates on glasses add-ons such as no-line bifocals, transitions, anti-reflective coatings, etc. Eye insurance can help pay for a general ...

The tests and procedures performed during an eye exam depend upon the patient and the situation. For a regular eyeglasses eye exam the following tests are done: chief complaint, ocular history, medical history, visual acuity, intraocular pressure measurement, extraocular muscle evaluation, visual field evaluation, pupil testing, eye alignment testing, refraction, slit lamp examination of the front surface of the eye and its internal structures. Certain complaints or findings on the general examination can show a need for additional testing. Patients with Diabetes or those who notice flashes of light or a shadow over their visual field often need to have their eyes dilated to completely evaluate the retina. If the optic nerve doesn't appear to be healthy, then a glaucoma evaluation may be necessary. Patients with double vision often require more extensive eye alignment testing. Those with unexplained vision loss or headaches which don't seem to involve the eyes or vision corr...

The tests and procedures performed during an eye exam depend upon the patient and the situation. For a regular eyeglasses eye exam the following tests are done: chief complaint, ocular history, medical history, visual acuity, intraocular pressure measurement, extraocular muscle evaluation, visual field evaluation, pupil testing, eye alignment testing, refraction, slit lamp examination of the front surface of the eye and its internal structures. Certain complaints or findings on the general examination can show a need for additional testing. Patients with Diabetes or those who notice flashes of light or a shadow over their visual field often need to have their eyes dilated to completely evaluate the retina. If the optic nerve doesn't appear to be healthy, then a glaucoma evaluation may be necessary. Patients with double vision often require more extensive eye alignment testing. Those with unexplained vision loss or headaches which don't seem to involve the eyes or vision corr...

The terms Optometrist and Ophthalmologist sound so similar. For those who don't speak our dorky eye language it can be difficult to differentiate between the two. This article will attempt to describe the differences and similarities between these professions. Let me start by saying this post intends to only highlight the educational background of these two professions. I do not intend take anything away from either profession. Every individual practitioner Optometrist or Ophthalmologist has their own unique skill set and billing schedule. For this blog, I will only discuss general trends of each profession. Optometrists are similar to a primary care physician for the eyes, or the Doctor you see on a yearly basis for your physical. Most Ophthalmologists are surgeons, who specialize in different surgeries for the eye. The greatest skill Optometrists possess is in the art of refraction (the 1 or 2 test) and concepts for prescribing glasses and contacts. In their education, Optome...

A copy of the medical history form for our office can be downloaded and printed here. A lot of information is required for this form. It is a bit annoying to fill out, but all of the information does serve a purpose. Your name, address, phone number and identification numbers are required for your insurance company to pay for the eye exam. Also, this information is used to communicate with your primary care Doctor or other specialist (such as a retinal specialist) in the event of an emergency. Medical History is a comprehensive listing of any medical conditions a patient or their family may have. Proper function of the eye is significantly affected by the health of the rest of the body. Also, certain signs identified in a patient's eye can indicate various systemic conditions. Many health conditions can be linked to genetics. For genetic conditions, when one family member has a condition, this represents increased risk of this condition for other family members. Symptoms are ...

The retina is an incredibly complex structure.  This entry will be about the larger structures involved in processing an image. To learn how an image is focused on the retina, check out anterior eye anatomy. If you want to learn about the individual cells of the retina, check out phototransduction (conversion of a light ray into a chemical message for the brain). For information on the utilization and regeneration of vitamin A in the retina, check out the biochemistry of the visual process. The goal of glasses, contact lenses or refractive surgery is to get images focused on the fovea of the macula. The macula is the general pigmented area surrounding and supporting the fovea. The fovea is the specific structure that processes all of the detailed (letters, print) visual information we see. The fovea is a small structure, seen on examination only as a small pinpoint of light. In this small space, the fovea packs in over 10...

For vision to be a continuous process the photoreceptors (rods and cones) must continually regenerate 11-cis retinal. Rods and cones have slightly different ways of doing this. WARNING: this is only for the extremely nerdy. If you aren't very interested in the biochemical processing of vitamin A in the retina, this entry probably isn't for you. For rods: A photon (light ray) is absorbed by pigment within the opsin in the outer segment of the photoreceptor cell. Inside the activated opsin, 11-cis retinal is converted to all-trans retinal and released to the disc of the inner segment of the photoreceptor. Within the disc, all-trans retinal binds phosphatidylethanolamine. This produces N-retinylidine-phosphatidyl-ethanolamine (NRPE). ATP binding cassette transporter carries the NRPE complex to the cell membrane of the disc. At the cell membrane the all-trans retinal portion of the NRPE complex is transported to the cytoplasm within the cell body of the photoreceptor. Insi...