CURTIS EYE CARE IS A PRIVATE OPTOMETRY PRACTICE
Owned and operated independently by practitioners, rather than by government, hospitals, or large corporations. This means we have established our own policies and procedures to create and maintain proper standards of patient care. Optometrists exam eyes for both vision and health issues, monitor and treat conditions, and manage systemic diseases affecting the eyes. As licensed and accredited professionals, we make every effort to ensure that the services we provide include preventative care, active treatment plans, and/or the most well-suited fit in eyewear; all based on the patient's eye health and vision quality.
This is not an exhaustive list of our policies and procedures. For further information, please contact our office to request information at least 48 hours prior to your visit with us.
Privacy Policy
Thank you for visiting our website and for reviewing this privacy policy. Curtis Eye Care is committed to quality patient care first and foremost. Our goal is to maintain compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This means we will comply with the highest standards of website privacy, so visitors can feel comfortable and safe in using this site for their health care information needs.
Other than routine wedding transaction information that is automatically collected and stored (see below) — we do not collect information about you unless you choose to provide information to us.
Information Collected:
Once we receive your transmission of personal information, Curtis Eye Care treats the information as confidential. Our system routinely collects information about site navigation and browser of website visitors. We also collect data on search terms you used to find information on this website, the pages you visited, and the address of the website from which you came to visit. This information is used for trend analysis to help make this website more useful to visitors. We do not collect any identifying or personal data on site users unless that information is submitted to Curtis Eye Care in request for services, programs, or information.
Visitor-Provided Information:
You do not have to give us personal information to visit this website. If you choose to provide additional information via an email message, form, survey, etc. We only maintain the information for as long as needed to fulfill your request, or to track surveys and forms on the website.
Disclosure:
Curtis Eye Care does not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information about our website visitors, unless required by law enforcement or statute.
Online Credit Card Payments:
Curtis Eye Care uses Charge One secured virtual gateway to process online credit card payments. Charge One adheres to strict PCI compliance standards for encrypted transmission. Directly from our processor, "At charge1.com, we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of the personal and financial information entrusted to us by our merchants and their customers. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our credit card processing services, visit our website (charge1.com), or otherwise interact with us." Sensitive card information is not stored by Curtis Eye Care within Charge One, nor within the EMR system, nor visible to staff once the payment has been captured.
Other Websites:
This privacy policy addresses only uses of your personal information by Curtis Eye Care as obtained through this website. This privacy policy does not extend to other websites and Curtis Eye Care makes no warranties regarding the use of personal information you disclose to other websites, even if those websites are linked to the Curtis Eye Care website. We encourage you to review the privacy policy(ices) of all other websites you access. Curtis Eye Care makes these links available to provide additional health care information and services. Links to third party sites are provided as a convenience to you. Curtis Eye Care does not exercise control over content, software, or products found on linked sites.
Changes to this Website Privacy Policy:
Curtis Eye Care reserves the right to revise this privacy policy from time to time. Curtis Eye Care reserves the right to make any revised policy effective for personal information already collected through the Curtis Eye Care website, as well as personal information collected in the future. Your continued use of the Curtis Eye Care website constitutes acceptance of any changes to this privacy policy.
Curtis Eye Care HIPAA Privacy Practices:
For information about how Curtis Eye Care uses and discloses health information collected as a result of services you obtain at Curtis Eye Care (not through this website), please review the Curtis Eye Care HIPAA Privacy Policy, a copy of which is provided for you on this website.
Disclaimer:
Curtis Eye Care offers information on this website for general educational purposes only. This information should not be used for diagnosis and treatment, nor should it be considered a replacement for counsel by your physician or other health care professionals. If you have questions or concerns about your health, contact our office or your health care provider. While Curtis Eye Care makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of information on this website, we do not guarantee the accuracy, and the information is provided without warranty or guarantee of any kind.
Scheduling Policies
Curtis Eye Care has organized an existing structure of scheduling availability based on appointment type, patient status, patient eye history, and estimated time needed per patient encounter. Our staff will make every effort to get you scheduled within a timely manner and will utilize the use of a cancellation list if requested. Urgent medical appointments will be accepted on an as-available basis. Patients unable to get scheduled within a timely manner for health concerns are advised to seek medical care at their nearest urgent care facility. Due to the estimated time of care, patients are expected to manage their arrival time based on what has been communicated from Curtis Eye Care. Any patient arrival five or more minutes late will be subject to review of availability. At that time, staff may state that you will need to reschedule to another day/time. No-show fee(s) may apply.
Cancellations are expected within 24 hours of the scheduled appointment time. Anytime you fail to give us 24-hour notice of a cancellation, the appointment will be considered a no-show. More than three no-show appointments in a one-year period may result in future scheduling privileges being limited/revoked. Reminder messages are considered a courtesy. It is ultimately the patient's responsibility to maintain all appointments. See "Billing Procedures" for the listed no-show fee(s).
New clients are not considered patients until they have been seen by a provider. Any patient that has had a three or more year absence will not be considered an active patient, and under the American Medical Association (AMA) regulations for CPT, will be coded as a new patient upon return.
Curtis Eye Care is not an ophthalmology practice. Our providers can assess your condition(s) and work toward resolving them with you. However, we will refer to specialists like ophthalmology, neuro-ophthalmology, or other fields when surgical or specialized care is needed. Co-Managed patient care may be organized between Curtis Eye Care and the other facility you are referred to.
We will accept medication refill requests via fax, phone, or in person, but it may take up to 48 hours to process if Doctor approval is needed. It may also be required for you to have an office visit with your provider in order to process a refill request depending on the medication(s), medication history, or your symptoms.
Combining appointment types is limited to doctor availability, patient needs, and billing restrictions.
Billing Procedures
While Curtis Eye Care makes proper effort to verify your insurance, patients are responsible for understanding the terms of both their vision and medical insurance contracts and if a service we provide is a covered contract benefit. Coverage is not a guarantee of payment. Patients are responsible for payment if a service is rendered and insurance denies payment. Co-Payments and any outstanding balance will be collected on the date of service. Balances incurred after a visit are mailed to the patient as a statement. After three consecutive statements are sent without payment made, the balance will be sent to a collections agency.
Curtis Eye Care reserves the right to reschedule or cancel your appointment if you do not have a method of payment for an overdue balance on the day of your appointment. We may not process medical requests for service(s) if there is an outstanding balance in collections for the patient or patient guarantor's family.
Cancellations without at least 24 hour notice and no-show appointments will be subject to a $25.00 fee. See "Scheduling Policies" for further details.
Services provided at Curtis Eye Care and billed out based on the patient's eye health findings. Routine vision insurance can only be used as designated; for patients with no vision complaints and no ocular health findings. Patients with "Medical Findings" during the time of their visit will have their service(s) billed to medical insurance. Eye doctors are legally required by federal law to bill health (medical) insurance instead of vision plans when a visit involves diagnosing, treating, or monitoring a medical eye condition or disease. Billing vision insurance for non-routine service(s) or medical insurance for routine service(s) is considered insurance fraud.
What is the difference between Medical and Vision Insurance?
Regular medical health insurance protects you from unexpected costs for eye injury or disease. In contrast, vision insurance provides an added wellness benefit for healthy eye exams, which includes routine eye care, prescription eyewear and contact lenses, and other vision services. Optometry is unique in that it is one of the few areas that bill two types of insurance.
Vision Exams and Billing:
Vision exams or “well vision” or "routine vision" exams for people who do not have eye disease or symptoms of eye disease are billed to vision insurance plans. Your doctor will examine your eyes and determine the need for any correction (glasses or contact lenses) or any signs of eye disease. If your doctor finds anything abnormal during your vision exam such as eye disease, an injury, or other issues outside of a routine eye exam, your medical insurance will be billed. If medicine is needed to treat your eye condition, the prescriptions would also need to be billed to your medical insurance. When your medical insurance is billed, you will be responsible for any copays, deductibles and co-insurances if applicable.
Medical Exams and Billing:
Medical exams are used to diagnose and treat and monitor diseases of the eye. There are many reasons a medical eye exam may be performed. Diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, contact lens intolerance and many other potentially sight-threatening conditions. Sometimes, during a routine vision exam, a medical problem may be identified. In this case, your medical insurance will be billed. When your medical insurance is billed, you will be responsible for any co-pays, deductibles and coinsurances if applicable.
Coordination of Benefits:
Sometimes, insurance companies need to work together to pay claims for the same patient. It is important to understand that not all insurance companies work together. When they do, it is called Coordination of Benefits. If you have more than one insurance policy, there is usually one policy considered the “primary” policy, while the other policy is considered “secondary.” Insurance laws dictate which rank each policy will have. Coordination of benefits does not permit multiple policies to cover more than the total amount of the claim, but instead one policy may cover what the other does not. When you have coordination of benefits, our goal is to make sure you receive the complete benefit from each policy. Be sure you share all insurance policy information at the time of your visit. We will help to determine if your insurance policies will work together under coordination of benefits.
• Medical or Vision Billing: If you have questions about how your visit will be billed, your doctor can discuss with you if your visit will be billed to your medical or vision insurance at the time of your exam. Since billing is based of findings, Curtis Eye Care cannot guarantee how a visit will be billed until the doctor has seen the patient.
• Insurance Coverage: If you have any questions regarding your insurance benefits, it is best to contact your insurance company directly. Most insurance cards have a customer service phone number listed on the back of the card. Active coverage is not a guarantee of payment.
• Billing Questions: If you have questions regarding your existing bill, please reach out to our office at (616)878-3600.