If you have a valid Medicare Card you are entitled to claim under Medicare for a full comprehensive eye examination once every 36 months, or if you are over the age of 65 years, once every 12 months. A full comprehensive eye examination includes not only the refraction, (which determines whether there is a need a prescription for glasses or contact lenses), but also assessing the health of your eyes. The optometrist Sydney CBD will also check for a wide range of ocular disorders including symptoms of glaucoma, diabetes, cataracts, and Macular Degeneration.
There is a wide range of services and examinations that our Optometrists here in the Sydney CBD can perform during a Medicare eye test. If you have an ocular health issue that cannot be treated immediately, we can refer you to an Ophthalmologist who is a medical doctor specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of ocular diseases. You can see an Ophthalmologist as a private patient in their rooms, or as a public patient at the Sydney Eye Hospital on Macquarie Street in Sydney City. Our Optometrists can write you a referral to do this.
There are many tests our Optometrist can bulk bill through Medicare, however, there are some limitations on which services Medicare can pay for. A contact lens eye test is one area that Medicare does not automatically cover you for. Usually, if your prescription is quite high (over 5 Dioptres) you may be able to claim some of the contact lens eye test fees back from Medicare. Our Optometrist at our George St Sydney CBD office can explain if we can bill Medicare and whether there will be any out of the pocket expense.
Recent advances in contact lens materials mean more people than ever can wear contact lenses comfortably all day. Even in the dry air-conditioned offices that are so prevalent in the Sydney CBD. Our Optometrist we will be able to advise you which are the most suitable options for you.
At Personal Eyes Optometry’s George Street Sydney office we have two full-time optometrists at your disposal, Mr. Colin Wood and Mr. John Della Marta. Both Colin and John have had over 35 years of experience each as optometrists and obtained their Bachelor of Optometry degrees from the University of New South Wales. Colin and John have vast experience in the fitting of all types of contact lenses including the new daily disposable contact lenses and are well versed in the issues faced by office workers who can spend 8 hours a day staring at computer screens.
During your Medicare eye test at our Sydney CBD office, a number of Ophthalmic instruments may be used to assist in the examination.
A Retinoscope will be used in the eye test to get an objective result of your refraction (prescription) by your Optometrist by observing the patterns of light shone onto your retina at the back of your eye.
A Refractor Head (Phoroptor) or Spectacle Lens Trial Set will be used to test your vision to determine if you need a prescription. Essentially, these two instruments do the same thing. The Refractor Head contains the trial lenses internally, whereas the traditional trial lens set involves the Optometrist manually changing the trail lenses to determine the best vision. This is a standard part of all the Medicare eye tests we conduct in our Sydney CBD office.
A Slit Lamp Bi Microscope will be used for a highly illuminated and magnified view of the structures of your eyes. It is particularly useful in determining if there are any issues with cataract developments as well as examining the cornea and other parts of the front portion of the eye. During your Medicare eye test, this instrument offers a really good view of eyelid margins which is important for the assessment and treatment of dry eye symptoms, which is becoming much more common because of the amount of time Sydney office workers spend staring at their computer screens.
An Ophthalmoscope is used to look directly into the back of the eye to examine the health of your retina. This part of the eye test takes very little time but gives our optometrist an excellent view of the back of your eye where they can look for any evidence of macular degeneration or bleeding blood vessels which are uniquely visible on the surface of the retina.
A Tonometer will be used to measure the Intraocular pressure in your eyeball and is covered by Medicare eye test in Sydney CBD. This is particularly useful to check for signs of any glaucoma.
At Personal Eyes Optometry we have a digital retinal camera to take a permanent high definition digital image of the retina at the back of your eyes. This is very helpful in tracking any changes that may occur to your retina over time.
If there are any issues with the pressure inside your eye or any suspicion of glaucoma, then a field screen test is done to measure the sensitivity of your peripheral vision. It is covered under Medicare during an eye test at our Sydney CBD office in George Street.
It is generally recommended that you get your eyes examined every 2 years. There is provision within Medicare for an eye test to cover this when required from our George Street Sydney location. Contact lenses wearers are recommended to you get their eyes checked at least once every year and if you have diabetes your vision and eye health should also be checked every 12 months. This can be covered by a Medicare eye test in the Sydney CBD. Our automatic recall system will remind you when your next eye examination is due.
For a Medicare eye test in the Sydney CBD call us on (02) 9233 2899 or you can go to our website and request an appointment time online. If using our online facility your appointment will be confirmed by the next business day. A standard Medicare eye test takes about half an hour. There is an Optometrist at our Sydney city location from 8.30 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday and until 6.30 pm on Thursdays.