I don’t want to turn this blog into one big rant, but I need to vent about my latest eye examination.
I’ve needed glasses since I was about 10 or so. Today, I went for an eye exam at Karlik Ophthalmology. I don’t recommend them.
I sat in the waiting room for about 20 minutes while the receptionists did whatever it is they do. Then, I went back and sat in the exam room for another 20 minutes. Just a-twiddlin’ my thumbs.
This place wasn’t busy–I was the only one in the waiting room at the time. I don’t know what was going on in other exam rooms, though.
Anyway, the doc walks in, says “You are Kacie (lastname)?”
“Yes.”
Silence.
“Who are you?” I ask.
“I’m Dr. Karlik,” he says, as if I should have known.
He sits down, squirts sanitizer on his hands (why he didn’t wash them with soap and water, I don’t know) and shakes my hand.
No apology for the wait time at all. I guess this is business as usual. But ya know what? My time is valuable. When it’s wasted, I feel disrespected.
“It says you’re a freelance writer,” he notices on my chart. “What’s that?”
“It means I’m a self-employed writer.”
“Ah.”
He has me read a few lines on the wall. I do it.
He then wants to put dilation drops in my eyes. In all my years of eye exams, I’ve had this done once. My friend Bethany had to pick me up from the eye doc, since I couldn’t see well enough to get myself home. I couldn’t see to read or watch TV or do anything for just about the rest of the day. I could only sleep.
Since I didn’t want to throw away my day, I asked, “Do you have to dialate my eyes?”
“If you want an eye exam,” he shoots back.
O rly? Well, then.
“I don’t want my eyes dilated.”
He didn’t seem to like that. We compromised, and he put some sort of “numbing” drops in my eyes. Never had that done before. It made them feel dry and sort of tingly. At least I can still see.
I don’t do a number of tests I’ve had done at other eye doctors: A close-proximity reading test, “follow the tip of my pen with your eyes,” the puff of air shot at my eye, the one where I look at an image and they screen for glaucoma…the exam seemed unthorough.
Maybe if I let him dilate my eyes, it would be more so, but I doubt it.
I was out of the exam room within 10 minutes. The receptionist pointed me toward their selection of frames and then left me to search for myself. Every other place I’ve been (even Wal-Mart) has someone help you pick out frames.
I decided they had nothing I wanted. I’m taking my glasses business elsewhere.
Maybe I’m overreacting, but no one in that office was kind to me. The doctor was borderline rude, and it was the first time I’ve ever been completely disappointed in an eye exam.
If someone from Karlik Ophthalmology reads this “review” of sorts and wants to get in touch with me about my dissatisfaction, go ahead.
Yeah, seriously! That’s dumb. I would go somewhere else, too. Perhaps there is a university clinic in Pittsburgh? If they have an optometry school nearby they will probably have a clinic. They’ll be thorough. I really don’t like rude medical people. Medical stuff can be uncomfortable as it is — their manners are so important! You’re paying a lot of money, even with insurance — you should get what you pay for.
Kacie, I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have my eyes dilated for an exam. I agree that I don’t like it, but it is part of the exam. I use it as an excuse to take a nap when I get home! Did you ask him about the pros and cons of the dilation or just refuse it? He may have been insulted that you were questioning his professional judgement and decided to just brush you off. That’s not right, of course; neither was his skipping services that are part fo the exam. The place doesn’t sound very pleasant at all and you’ll never go back, obviously, but you might want to write them a letter explaining how you felt and that you think he skipped standard eye exam tests and see what they say.
My daughter has a dermatologist appointment this afternoon and I have a feeling we’ll be walking out of there before we ever see the doctor. The appointment is for 3:50; I have a card that says 3:50. Their automated message yesterday said 1:10. I left a voice mail last night and called this morning because I do NOT pull my daughter out of school for non-emergency medical appointments. They had heard my voice mail and rescheduled for 4:50; didn’t call me back to tell me, though. I told them that wouldn’t work because she has dance class at 5:15, which is why I took the 3:50 appointment in the first place. She moved her to 3:50, but there are other patients scheduled as well, so she doesn’t know how long it will take. The first appointment we ever had ran almost 90 minutes late because of scheduling conflicts due to a new appointment system they were installing. The second appointment was “only” 30 minutes late. If we haven’t see the doctor by 4:20 today, we’re leaving and finding a new one. If they try to charge me for a missed appointment, I’ll tell them I didn’t miss it, they did and they can send me a bill, which I’ll send back with my bill for the 2.5 hours they kept me waiting. Trust me, my bill WILL be higher than theirs.
It has been many years since I’ve had my eyes dialated. The office I goes to does a more advanced scan of your eye that requires no dialation. All the other tests are done as normal. In fact, even in the days of dialating, I remember that being at the very end of my exam, after all the other tests. I’d definitely look for a new eye care center.