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For eye doctors in Tulsa OK, as well as other states, a regular review of the plans you’re currently accepting, and their ins and outs, is something you should be doing. By understanding the vision plans you accept, you can better identify how you are paid and the means by which you’re able to provide quality care to your patients. Here are some things to consider.
Understanding the Vision Plans You Accept
Understanding the vision plans you accept is vital. In doing so, you gain insight into how they affect your revenue and, just as importantly, how they impact your patients’ experiences while under your care. Consider reimbursements and lab limitations, for example.
Reimbursement
Some plans pay a percentage of services and eyewear, while others have a capped amount. What is your optical reimbursement? Know which type you accept and how it affects the out-of-pocket costs for your patients.
Lab Limitations
Not only eye doctors in Tulsa OK, but eye doctors nationwide should be happy to know there are currently 14 states that have patient protection laws in place. However, some of the major providers of vision plans limit your choice of lab and oppose these protection laws.
Do your plans limit your choice of labs? Or do you have the freedom to choose? As a medical provider capable of diagnosing and treating patients, you should have the ability to decide where the materials for treatment come from.
Questions to Ask
When you start looking into your vision plan’s policies and reimbursements, here are some questions you need to ask:
- Do you accept plans that reimburse a percentage of the eyewear and services offered or focus on plans that reimburse a capped amount? How does this affect the typical out-of-pocket cost for patients?
- What are the plan provider’s policies regarding chargebacks and bill backs? How do these policies affect your revenue?
Then, when you start looking into your vision plan’s lab limitations, these are some other types of questions you should ask:
- Do the plans you take limit lab choices?
- Are there any limits on frame choices? How does this affect your inventory?
- Is there an allowance to choose frame or contact lenses? How much is this allowance, and does it align with the price ranges you have in your inventory?
- If a frame exceeds this allowance, are you required to offer a discount on the overage?
These are all important questions that you should be asking in order to know the ins and outs of the vision plans you accept. Regularly reviewing and comparing your costs versus coverage will ultimately save you more in the end. This is true whether you are in Tulsa or elsewhere.
The Vision Care Direct Difference for Eye Doctors in Tulsa OK, and Other States
For 14 years, Vision Care Direct (VCD) has provided pre-paid plans that focus on patient care and satisfaction rather than profitability. Because high out-of-pocket costs at the time of service are a problem, our mission is to provide plans without surprises when at the doctor’s office. So, to counter some of those costs, Vision Care Direct covers additional charges like AR glare coating, scratch-resistant coating, and UV protection with no extra cost for progressive lenses either, which many companies charge for. VCD also does not own any labs or materials and allows you the freedom to choose your own.
Regularly review the plans you accept and ask the right questions for a better understanding of them. After you have a better understanding of the ones you accept, come take a look at what VCD can provide!
