I took my 76 year old mom for her quarterly glaucoma appointment to Dr. Chow and was unfortunately very disappointed. He cut her off multiple times when she was speaking and was too curt when speaking himself, to the point of unpleasantry.
We were willing to look passed that if he was a good doctor. But he said he needed to perform "many" tests to know what he was dealing with, and they would not be covered under Medicare. He said he would only charge us $40 for the $100 retinal scan. I was appalled as I had that scan done a month ago on my own eyes at America's Best for only $20, no insurance involved.
He also charged $39 for a refraction, which is the part where they test your vision. No other quarterly visit to the other ophthalmologists included a refraction. When we asked for the prescription, which comes from the refraction so she can use it to order glasses, he said there wasn't one. Again, I was not pleased. Every time I've ever had a refraction done, I've received a print out with the prescription.
He dilated my mom's eyes before telling us about the additional two $40 tests. When we questioned the charges, he said if we didn't do the tests, then my mom could not be his patient. I don't disagree with "my way or the Highway" itself. I get that it's his practice, his liability. But I would have much appreciated discussing the costs before making her get her eyes dilated. To add insult to that, he did not offer eye wear to her for the dilated eyes. Luckily it was cloudy out, and she was ok.
He also told her her eye pressure was very high. She goes to the ophthalmologist quarterly. It would be very unlikely due her pressure to jump across one visit. I don't trust that. She said her pressure has not been that high since her 20's. Something is not right there.
He also knows the "many" tests ARE covered fully under Medicare if done on separate dates. He refused to schedule separate appointments. His way or no way. I'm not against "do it now for ease," but I am annoyed by it. My mom shared that other eye doctors did spread tests out across multiple visits. So the tests themselves made sense, but the approach was vastly inconsiderate to the patient.
He went from curt to rude. When I asked his front desk gal about the costs to try to understand why this experience was so different from our other experiences, and where does this partial experience with them leave me as I am responsible for taking my mom to her needed medical appointments and this one did not pan out, he shooshed her to tell her to stop talking to me.
If you go to see him, don't just trust with a blind eye what he says. Use your own judgement. We will definitely not be going back. And I'm left to apologize to my mom for the horrible experience. She's too old to have to deal with this crap.
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