Eye Exam for Peripheral Vision

My 12 year old daughter has an appt. soon in Nov. 2007 to have her peripheral vision tested.  The eye doctors office told me I would need to make an appt. to have her eyes examined first and then have the appt. for the peripheral vision test, which is also soon in Nov. 2007.

My question is this, my daughter just had her annual eye exam in Aug. 2007 by the same opthamologist, does she really have to have another eye exam before having her peripheral vision tested?

Thank you for a timely reply.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

In our office "no" , best you can do is call and explain the situation and see what their policy is.

JCH IIIMD

[Janice153]

Thank you for your reply.
I did already ask the office about this and they said yes,
my daughter has to be seen again.  They said instead
of billing it to our vision care coverage, it would be billed
under our medical coverage.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

That's fair. When we see a patient under visual care insurance we are not allowed to do any special tests or exams. We have to schedule another office visit if we find a medical problem and this second visit is billed under the health insurance.  

What I can't explain is why the visual field will not be done the same visit, that's the way we do it and it saves the patient a second (in your case a third) office visit.

JCH III MD

[Janice153]

Thanks again for your helpful reply.
Two reasons.  One is, they made the appt. for the peripheral vision test first, then must have realized my daughter would have to be seen again for the check-up to bill under medical and for all to be covered properly, so they called me back to schedule the check-up.
Second, I would like my daughter to see the same doctor; he is only there one day a week in the late afternoon/early evening hours and that doesn't coincide with when the peripheral vision test can be given as well as our schedule.  A balancing act on both sides.
But, thank you so much for your help.  This has really eased my mind about about this new exam appointment again.  You and this site have been a great help to me!

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

You're welcome.

JCH III MD