Pediatric Ophthalmology Associates, Inc.

I’ve brought my son here 3 seperate instances, and all three times felt very impersonal. The doctors are very professional and thorough . I’m very pleased with there analysis, but limited to that interaction many others i’ve had with staff have not been great. I am writing this review because I was a little disappointed in my sons fitting at the optical shop. This being a pediatric specific doctor , I was hoping they’d make the expierence exciting for me and my 1.5 year old since we are dealing with some complicated things! Instead of being met with kindness or welcoming energy I was immediately met with “DO YOU HAVE INSURANCE “ to which I said yes and then i was questions on if it was actually vision etc. I know this is essential to the purchasing process, but it felt extremely rushed and transactional only. No kind greetings, no assistance. I tried on every pair and had to initate any and all help i needed and i seemed like I was “bothering” them. Then I was proceeded to be pushed on warrentys . I just did not enjoy that expierence for me or my son at all. Was very disappointment made a scary time even more hard which is unfortunate. but like I said im extremely greatful for my sons care from the doctors but the other staff definitely needs some training on patient interaction.

My son’s doctor was phenomenal — kind, patient, thorough, and overall a great experience medically. Unfortunately, the experience with the reception staff afterward was incredibly frustrating. After the appointment, I went to the receptionist to ask about updating my son’s prescription lenses in frames we had already purchased through their optical shop previously. The optical staff member was on lunch break and wasn’t due back for another 20 minutes, which I completely understood. What was frustrating was the way the situation was handled. The receptionist, who was watching YouTube videos at the desk, dismissed me and simply told me to come back in 20 minutes. At that point, we had already been at the office for nearly two hours, my baby was screaming, and my three-year-old was completely overwhelmed and exhausted. I asked if they could just take my number and have the optical staff member call me when she returned since we already had the frames through their office and only needed updated lenses. I was initially told that wasn’t allowed. I came back at the time I was instructed, waited an additional 30 mins, only to then be told it was “first come, first serve” because someone else was already being helped. After waiting even longer, they finally agreed to take my number, after I had again repeated that the frames were from their optical shop. The doctor himself was wonderful, which makes this even more disappointing. Due to the unprofessionalism and miscommunication from the office staff, I will unfortunately be looking for a new eye doctor despite really liking the physician, dr golden.

We initially came to this pediatric ophthalmology office due to a referral evaluation. The doctor was thorough in explaining the diagnosis and discussed that glasses would be the first step, with patching being the likely next treatment depending on what was seen at the follow-up. One issue I wish had been communicated more clearly from the beginning was billing transparency. After the initial visit, I followed up when I received a bill and learned that a refraction (the brief measurement used to determine a glasses prescription) is often processed by insurance as a vision service rather than a medical benefit. Even though the office considers it part of the medical evaluation, it may not be covered under medical insurance, and this resulted in an unexpected out-of-pocket charge for both of my children since they don’t use vision insurance. After a later appointment for my younger son, we ran into another major issue: his pupillary distance (PD) was not measured or provided. PD is required to order glasses outside of the office, which was very important to me with the high costs of their optical shop. I opt to purchase glasses from online vendors for a fraction of the cost. When I followed up, I was advised that only Dr. Golden records PD and that other providers in the practice do not( my kids saw different doctors due to availability so I did not run into this with my older child since Dr Golden included it on the prescription as normal). This was surprising for a pediatric eye practice that advertises in-depth testing, and it creates unnecessary barriers for families trying to purchase affordable glasses elsewhere. I spoke with the office manager, Laura, who was professional and acknowledged they receive about 8 calls per day regarding PD and said they are working on improving how this is handled. She suggested i come back in., which is additional time, planning, energy & driving for my family. We are not local but luckily my older son had a follow up appointment that I could bring my younger son to as well. I communicated the plan and expressed I don’t want there to be any confusion when we come. However, when we arrived for that follow-up appointment, the front desk had no idea about this plan, which led to unnecessary back-and-forth and highlighted a lack of internal communication. We also experienced long wait times on both visits, followed by additional waiting to see the doctor. Additionally, the follow-up visit itself felt inconsistent compared to what was discussed at the first appointment regarding next steps for treatment, which made it difficult to feel confident moving forward. Ultimately, the PD issue was only resolved because we happened to have another follow-up visit already scheduled, but between the repeated long waits, inconsistent communication, lack of billing transparency, and the inconvenience of traveling out of our way for routine care, we’ve decided to request our records and transition our children’s care locally going forward. Especially since there is nothing additional the office does for my kids in comparison to a regular, local eye doctor.

NOT IMPRESSED! Couldn’t even get beyond scheduling - the reception staff needs some serious training! First call made, I was told they could not schedule, needed a referral sent and they would call me to schedule. Second call (the same day!), I got transferred by Nationwide and didn’t even KNOW I was back scheduling with POA, was told I did NOT need a referral and was scheduled right then…. Third call, I wanted to check on my insurance coverage/get more information about the appointment itself - spoke with a Cindy, who straight up had no phone etiquette and sounded like a teenager with their first job who had no idea what they were doing! Lots of uhhh’s, huh, and then she told me they did NOT take my insurance….even though I had confirmed that when making the appointment initially. Even IF they have 4.5 stars based on the great doctors there, you can’t even make it that far based on the severely undertrained and unprofessional support staff who run the place! Too much of a bad first impression, that I do not have the confidence to keep my appointment with this business.

This was our very first visit today on 01/16/2024. Despite my son absolutely hating the eye drops to dilate his eyes,we had an excellent experience! The lady who dilated his eyes did a wonderful job and was so sweet to my son! Next time I will get her name and post it because they all deserve to be recognized by name! Dr. Golden was wonderful, patient and thankfully did not rush us out of our appointment! My son ended up needing glasses and the front desk women and the lady who helped us with his glasses are absolutely wonderful! Very patient people we had a fast visit and everyone there is so sweet and friendly! Thank you ALL and please keep up the excellent work! We appreciate you all and what you do.