How Much To Charge 'Refraction Only' Patients?

 Hi Jerry,

I wanted to ask your opinion on the practice of allowing patients to come in for a ‘refraction only’ without an eye health exam.  

Last week I had a patient who refused any part of an eye exam due to her religious beliefs. Our normal full exam fee is $100, but, we only charged her a refraction fee of $25.  

I did have her sign a waiver we made up stating that the eye health exam was not performed at her request.  

We also get an occasional request for refraction with patients who are seeing a retinal specialist for their eye health exams on a regular basis.  

We still have patients who sometimes complain about paying $25, so I hesitate to raise it a whole lot more all at once. My colleague charges $108 for his exam and $50 for the refraction. 

After my recent experience, I am considering not seeing patients for ‘refraction only’ without an exam.   

It hardly seems worth my time to see a patient for a refraction only visit given our current fee structure. What is your opinion on refraction fees? 

Thanks! 

Ranell Nobin, OD (name changed)  

Dear Dr. Nobin,  

There are really two questions here.  What should an OD charge for ‘refraction only’?   

And, are you putting yourself at risk to provide less than standard of care, even at the patient’s request?

I don’t give legal advice on my blog, but I think the bigger issue is less what to charge and more how to protect yourself from a liability standpoint.   

I want to hear from our readers:

A) Do you accept ‘refraction only’  patients at a reduced fee and have them sign a waiver that an eye health exam was not performed at the patients request?

B) If so, how much do you charge for ‘refraction only’ services?

C) Or, do you make it your policy that everyone has to get an eye health exam and refuse to see ‘refraction only’ patients?  

Readers of drhayesblog.com are invited to give feedback by email or Click the red 'Click To Discuss' link below to share your thoughts. How would you handle this situation in your practice? 

Regards,  

Jerry Hayes, OD 

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Disclaimer: The information and opinions contained on this site are for discussion purposes only and are NOT intended to serve as legal, accounting or investment advice. ©2010 Jerry Hayes, OD. Not to be reproduced without written permission of the author.