Letter written to office of See Clearly Vision, McLean VA. On Friday, September 19, 2014, I called your office to get some pricing for cataract surgury. I was already diagnosed to have a cataract in my right eye (by your office), but at my last visit some time ago (I think in 2010), the cataract was not bad enough to warrant surgery for insurance coverage. at this time, payment for correction of this eye was going to be Self Paid. This is the reason for calling to get pricing so I would know what to expect. During my call to your office, I explained specifically the procedure that was going to be required (eye exam, and cataract surgery), and asked for pricing. The person that I spoke to did not have all the answers. She did call me back that afternoon, and this is the pricing provided to me: - Full eye exam prior to surgery $225.00 Surgery - Hospital charge $1210.00 - Anesthesia $400.00 - Lens $2500.00 Total Surgery $4110.00 Upon reviewing this pricing, I immediately decided to move forward with the process. An eye exam appointment was set up for the following Monday, September 22, 2014. On Monday, I had the office visit and eye exam. Immediately at the end of the visit, I was told that I would have to come back to be examined by another doctor. My first question was, why wasn’t my appointment made on a day where both Doctors where in the office? Or, why wasn’t my appointment made with the Other Doctor to begin with, if he was the expert for the exam? This exam cost $225.00, as expected. So now, I asked how much this Second Exam was going to cost me. Here is what I was told: - Visual Field Exam $150.00 - Measure Eye $250.00 Total $400.00 Being only $400.00 extra, I decided to make an appointment for the second eye exam. This exam was set up for Wednesday, September 24, 2014. On Wednesday, I went to the second eye exam. Upon completion of the eye exam, I sat down with a surgery coordinator, to review costs and schedule a surgery. Now my expected costs doubled from what I was told in the beginning. Here are the new costs: Surgery - Hospital charge $1210.00 - Anesthesia $400.00 - Doctor Fee $2500.00 - Lens $3100.00 (slightly higher do to lens selected) Total Surgery $7210.00 On top of everything else, I now find out that there are tests required by the hospital, tests that have to be completed prior to surgery. There was no cost provided by your office for these tests. But this is just another cost that was not estimated in the beginning, nor was it informed as a requirement prior to surgery. When I finally received my invoice for the second eye exam, it was for $755.00, nearly DOUBLE than the $400.00 that I was quoted. Why? Worst of all, I have several items of concern with my eye(s) which I brought up during my eye exam(s), ALL of which were ignored, or not discussed, or not treated. - #1, I have, on a daily basis, extremely red eyes at times. And I believe I have not been considered for job positions because of it. I have had new people that I have met explain, that they thought I was High all the time, and are completely surprised when they find out that I do not smoke. No script for eye drops was provided. - #2, I quite often have Burning eyes. I find that the only way to get them to stop burning is to wash my face and eyes. I do know that I have excessive acid in my skin, I cannot were anything metal as it will degrade and turn my skin green. I was wondering if this is a serious problem or not, of if there was anything I should do. No information or solution was provided. - #3, During my eye exam, I was told that the pressure in my eyes was high. Yet no script was provided for eye drops to reduce the pressure. - #4, At the end of the eye exams, the Doctor could not provide my current eyesight visual acuity, as it was not tested or recorded during either of the eye exams. Something I thought was quite wrong. It seemed to me the only concern was how well I can see thru pin-holes, like I am going to walk around with glasses with nothing but pin-holes. So now, I am looking at $8220.00 for your costs, PLUS the costs of the tests required by the Hospital. These costs are more than DOUBLE that the original quote of $4110.00. So please answer these questions for me (I respectfully request a reply by email): - Why are the costs more than double than what was quoted? I am looking for a sincere answer here, verses just re-quoting the costs of each item back to me. In other words, why was I miss-lead so drastically? - Why did I have to have 2 eye exams? Why wasn’t my appointment made with the correct doctor the First time? - Why were all of the items of my concern so Ignored or not treated? - Provided the experience that I have had with your office recently, Why should I continue with this surgery with your office vs. finding more respectful and thorough doctor? To this date of 2/1/2015, I have not heard any reply. Sincerely, Byron