What is Vision Therapy? Vision therapy is a highly effective non- surgical treatment for many common visual problems such as lazy eye (including amblyopia and/or strabismus), double vision, convergence insufficiency and other visual problems that can cause reading and learning difficulties. Many patients who have been told their eyes are healthy and they see "20/20" have benefited from vision therapy. Who benefits from Vision Therapy? We see a variety of patients, from school age children to adults! What is the difference between your therapy and other clinics in the area? At BFVC we offer a high-tech, computer based Vision Therapy program. This allows the patient to complete the home based therapy more independently than with other methods. We also have a fun and engaging in-office therapy program specifically designed to meet the patient’s individual need. The process of completing Vision Therapy may be different from one office to another, but regardless of where you go, as long as the process is completed fully, the patient will show an improvement in skills and/or relief of symptoms. Can any professional perform the therapy my child needs? No. It is always best to obtain the care you need from someone who specializes in the area of concern. Dr. Johnson is a Fellow in the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD), the international certifying board for doctors who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of vision- based learning problems, including strabismus, and amblyopia for children and adults. Two of our therapists are Certified Optometric Vision Therapists (COVT) with over 13 years combined experience. What is Vision Therapy Pre-testing? Before we can start a unit of therapy, we need a complete set of data to assess a patient’s visual strengths and weaknesses, and to fully understand what areas are problematic. This will help us develop a plan which will specifically address each individual’s needs. The Pre-testing is a separate component from the Vision Therapy Unit and has a separate fee associated with it. How is testing scheduled? We will do our best to try to schedule your testing efficiently, but please understand that your insurance may require it to be split up over several days. Testing includes 30 minutes with Dr. Johnson and 1 hour with our staff. There is also a consult with Dr. Johnson at the end of testing. Do I need an eye exam? Patients who have not had a recent eye exam at our office will need to schedule one prior to pre-testing. This will ensure that there is in fact a need for Vision Therapy. If you are referred by another Optometrist, you will not need another eye exam. What does a unit of Vision Therapy look like? Typically, a vision therapy unit consists of a daily home therapy component, in office therapy for 30 minutes twice a week for 12 weeks, and post-testing. In office therapy is typically scheduled Monday/Thursday or Tuesday/Friday. The in-office therapy consists of a variety of activities to help patients develop or improve fundamental visual skills and abilities; Improve visual comfort, ease, and efficiency; and/or change how a patient processes or interprets visual information. The home therapy is completed via a computer several times a day. We understand that sometimes there are scheduling conflicts, and we work to accommodate those if we can. How do I schedule children who are in school? We do offer a limited number of before and after school time slots and these slots often fill up quickly. More than 50% of our kids in therapy will have to miss at least some school, and most schools will allow a modified schedule for these 12 weeks to accommodate the therapy. What does Vision Therapy cost? The cost of a unit of Vision Therapy varies depending on the frequency of office visits and severity of the diagnosis. Please contact our office for more information. Will my insurance company pay for Vision Therapy? Most insurance companies will pay for a portion of pretesting and post testing fees. Coverage for the therapy unit itself depends on your plan and diagnosis. Most of the cost is often denied; however, sometimes portions will be applied to deductibles first, and then patients often have a small co- insurance or copay for each visit. Our staff will provide all patients a predetermination of benefits ahead of time explaining their cost. Do you accept government plans such as Medicare, Medicaid or CHP? We do accept Medicare, Medicaid and CHP. Feel free to call the office with questions. We can give typical coverage information over the phone, but it is not a guarantee of individual coverage. Do you allow payment plans? We typically spread out patient fees over 4 months. This is automatically billed on the 15th of the month to your credit card on file. We also accept post- dated checks, but please note there are separate fees and agreements for bounced checks. We do not accept monthly cash payments. Do you give discounts for patients without health insurance? We offer discounted fees on our exams and testing for patients without insurance. We also offer a $100 pre- pay discount on Vision Therapy to cash paying patients who pay for their unit up front. Will I have to pay anything at the first visit? The first visit is typically an eval with the doctor. For patients who have insurance, we will predetermine your cost before meeting with the doctor, and those fees will be due in advance. For cash patients, payment will be made upon check-in. If the patient has not had an eye exam in the last year, the doctor may perform an eye exam as well as an eval, and those charges can be billed to a vision plan, if applicable.