[yukistar]

Optometry student here. The field of optometry is trying to move towards optometrists being like "primary care providers" for the eye. To me it makes sense that while we are refracting (providing a glasses prescription) we also look at the general health of the eye. It doesn't take much longer and the signs and symptoms of pathology can be quite subtle and we are very of ten the first people to notice eye conditions. Many people come in for check-ups to follow up on common conditions such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy. Glasses and contact lenses are only a part of what we do. I'm only a second year student, but the nuances that you see in the field are really quite incredible. I agree that most times a person's prescription is fairly straight-forward, but having an understanding of the optics of the eyes and lenses allows us to tailor glasses or contact lenses for an individual's personal needs. This is particularly important for higher prescriptions where the patient may experience discomfort if the glasses are not made for their particular face due to the optical centers of the lenses not being directly over their pupils (prismatic effect). There have been a lot of disruptive new businesses in the area of optometry, but I personally am not worried. I am convinced that the services that optometrists provide are far superior to anything these new services provide. I do worry for consumers when it comes to cheap contact lenses (such as Hubble), because the materials they use are not as good at letting oxygen penetrate them as the well-known brands. I just learned that HIV patients can wear contact lenses but we must tell them to avoid these brands! Online eye exams to me seem OK but definitely a compromise on time vs quality and would not work well for people with more complex problems. As far as money goes, I'm fairly ignorant as of now about how billing/insurance plays into all this. I know that some medical insurance plans cover glasses and contact lenses. As long as your optometrist has your insurance information they should be able to tell you how much your exam will cost!