Direct Eye Care

Direct Care is a relatively new model for healthcare practices to increase accessibility to providers for their patients.  It’s a way of putting patients and doctors back together by eliminating all the drawbacks of being contracted (in-network) with insurance companies.

Primary Care Providers (PCPs) were the first to adopt this model. In recent years, being in-network with insurance companies has led to increased financial burdens for smaller healthcare practices, like your local PCP. The reduction of insurance reimbursements (many due to the recent changes in our national healthcare system) has put increased pressure on small practices to increase the number of patients seen and thus, reduce the amount of time spent with each patient. This affects the overall quality of care that can be provided.

To help remedy this, these practices drop all insurance plans and charge flat fees up front in return for the increased access to the doctor. These PCPs are now able to provide the highest quality of care to their patients by spending more time with them.

At EyeCare for You, we have adopted the Direct Care philosophy and applied it optometry. We call this new approach Direct Eye Care.

We believe that all of our patients deserve the highest quality of care and that starts with having the time with the doctor.

We can help file your out-of-network benefits for almost all insurance plans.  The one exception is Medicare and Medicare-related plans (like Humana).  By law, we are not allowed to aid with any out-of-network claims concerning Medicare. Most of the time, our self pay rates are either extremely competitive or better than the out-of-pocket expenses even with Medicare.

For other insurance plans, we can look up your out-of-network benefits prior to you coming in, so you have an idea of what your reimbursement will be. For most insurance plans, we can also assist in filing for your benefits.  After that, you’ll receive your insurance reimbursement in the mail in addition to receiving the reduced Direct Eye Care rate.

With our Direct Eye Care approach, we were able to lower the prices of all our services across the board.  Here is a complete list of our rates for services.

We include follow-up visits, free of charge, for prescription checks and any medical office visits. If we were in-network with insurance companies, we would be obligated to charge co-pays on every visit. This can add up quickly for patients, especially if the pink eye fairy visits the entire family.

We are also able to extend discounts to special populations. For example, we have a reduced rate on annual eye exams for any patient over the age of 60. Active-duty military service members and their families also receive discounts as a thank you for their service.

If you have any questions on our rates, please give a call at 919.249.2020.

Unfortunately, every insurance plan is different and we cannot say one way or the other.  We encourage all patients with vision insurance to review their plans to see what the actual benefit of having the insurance is. Often times, we are more economical for our patients rather than paying a monthly insurance fee and co-pays per visit (especially for any follow-ups).

We can get most patients in to see Dr. Ramsey within a few days. Call 919-249-2020 to check for availability.

The contact lens fitting includes an initial exam of the shape of your eyes and an evaluation of how selected contacts fit on the surface of your eyes.  At the initial exam, you will be given contact lens samples to try.  A follow-up exam is scheduled, to review your progress with the provided samples for clarity, comfort, and fit of the lens.  Based on the results of the sample testing, either more samples are provided to test or your contact lens prescription is finalized by Dr. Ramsey.

Yes, absolutely!  The Direct Eye Care approach increases our patients’ access to the doctor.  For after hours eye care, call 919-249-2020 and hit option 9 to reach our emergency line. Dr. Ramsey is available 24/7 for any eye emergencies. In most cases, Dr. Ramsey can treat these cases and save you an Emergency Room or Urgent Care bill.

We take Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. Cash and checks are also accepted.  We also offer a 6-month, 0% interest plan through CareCredit to help patient spread out the costs. To learn more about CareCredit, please click here.

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are also accepted for all exams and eyewear. Prescription glasses, sunglasses, and contact lenses are medical devices in which FSAs and HSAs can be used.