Patient Services

Consultations:

Most of the patients seen in our practice are referred to us by an ophthalmologist or optometrist. On occasion, an internist, dermatologist or rheumatologist familiar with the diseases seen by a corneal and external disease subspecialist will be the source of a referral. We are happy to see patients on a non-referral basis: We do, however, try to screen non-referral patients to be sure that their ocular problem is one which falls within our area of expertise.

New patients to our practice break down roughly into three groups; those with an acute, sight threatening problem (i.e., corneal ulcer, trauma), those with an ongoing non-acute problem (i.e., scleritis, keratoconus, pterygium and corneal edema) and those with a chronic disease (i.e., dry eye syndrome, corneal dystrophy).

Acute problems require immediate attention and will be scheduled the same day. In most cases, the referring doctor will have called to personally communicate with us and make arrangements for the patient to be seen. We will make every effort to schedule patients with non-acute and chronic problems within 2 weeks of their initial contact. We will try to accommodate the special needs of patients regarding the time and date of an appointment, however; the more flexible a patient can be the sooner she/he will be seen.

In all cases, we will sit down with the patient and their family at the end of our evaluation to discuss our findings and the different treatment options. We encourage questions and an open discussion. A consultation letter will be dictated and sent out to the patient's referring doctor within a few days of the visit.