Preparing Kids for Optician Appointments

During elementary school, my sister’s teacher scheduled a consultation with my parents. At this meeting, this caring educational professional talked with my parents about my sister’s potential eye problems. My teacher felt my sibling couldn’t see the board in the front of the classroom. My parents sat down with my sister and talked with her about seeing an eye doctor. Thankfully, my sister visited a trusting optician who knew how to successfully work with younger kids. After receiving her new pair of glasses, she began excelling in school. On this blog, I hope you will discover ways to prepare kids for successful appointments at an optician’s office. Enjoy!

Why You Still Need An Eye Exam To Buy Eyeglasses Online

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If you are perusing eyeglasses for sale online, there are a few things you should know prior to making your purchase. First and foremost, you need to have an eye exam before you can buy any prescription eyewear, regardless of where and how you buy it. Then you need to give the online eyeglasses company permission to speak to the optometrist that did your eye exam. Here are the reasons why.

You Cannot Do an Online Eye Exam--Yet

Despite the fact that teleconferencing with a doctor and providing one's vitals is a current thing in some parts of the country, you still cannot do an online eye exam. That technology does not yet exist, which means that you still have to go see your own eye doctor to have your eyes checked. At any rate, your eyes could not be accurately tested online anyway.

You Have to Have a Current Prescription to Buy Glasses

All optical goods offered for sale online still require an eye exam because you need a current prescription to make a purchase. Most of these eyewear e-tailers want to be sure that they are selling you glasses that will help, not hinder, your vision. Sending you the wrong prescription in your glasses is a recipe for trouble, for both you and the online company that sold you the glasses. Therefore, the first question you will often see when you check out online is in regards to your current prescription and how recently you have had an eye exam. You can check out a website like glassessavemoney.com for more information.

HIPAA Laws Prevent Communication Between the Seller and Your Optometrist

There are medical privacy laws which prevent your optometrist from speaking to other parties about your prescription. These laws are commonly referred to as HIPAA. If you want to purchase glasses online, you may be required to sign a patient release form so that the online opticians can speak to your optometrist regarding your recent eye exam and confirm your current prescription. Thankfully, you may be able to do this electronically, and then just give your optometrist a heads-up about the contact coming in from the online opticians.

Exceptions

One big exception to the above is reading glasses. If you need low-power reading glasses and you cannot find or buy these locally, you can buy them online from an online optician without a current prescription or signing any release of information forms. Also, non-prescription eyewear, such as sunglasses, are also excluded from the above rules. 

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3 April 2017